Trump’s Antifa Terror Label: A Pretext to Jail His Enemies?

Donald Trump just, in a roundabout way, made it a federal crime to oppose fascism. On Thursday, Donald Trump did something that seems baffling, but on-brand. He declared four Antifa groups as foreign terrorist organizations in what seems to be a weird overreaction to the release of a rather damning batch of Epstein emails that are heavily incriminating of Trump. But why would he choose today to do this? If you think he might be up to something, you’re likely right.

Back in September, Trump designated “Antifa” — the idea that fascism is bad — as a “domestic terrorist organization.” This is red meat for MAGA, but the designation lacks legal teeth — specifically because “domestic terrorism” is not a standalone crime. This is by design, as the First Amendment protects “freedom of association.” In NAACP v. Alabama, the Supreme Court affirmed that it is not a crime to be a member of a group — in this case, a hate group. “Domestic terrorist group” is an investigative classification.

So while Trump wanted to, he did not have a mechanism by which to lock up people he doesn’t like with little to no reason. And since his attempts to go after his enemies thus far could be best described as “nearly complete failures,” he needs a new tactic. Enter the “foreign terrorist” classification.

Trump has sent his weaponized Justice Department after Letitia James and James Comey, with Trump regularly tossing out a “wish list” of people he wants to prosecute. But since he mostly relies on misrepresentations and fabrications, he hasn’t exactly been successful. However, he seems to intend to use his actions on November 13 to change that. Trump designated four antifascist groups — Antifaschistische Aktion Ost, Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front, Armed Proletarian Justice, and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense — as foreign terrorist organizations. Notice he made sure one of them has the word “Antifa” in it in some form. That’s important.

Antifa Is A Terrorist Organization

See that flag? It’s been everywhere for quite some time — protests, people’s cars, social media profiles, and more. It’s the internationally recognized symbol representing anti-fascism. And since groups like Antifa Ost don’t have their own flags, it’s also their flag. Under Trump’s new rules, displaying it could be “material support” to terrorism. Welcome to the Trump Reich. This isn’t about terrorism or those groups specifically. It’s about abusing the “foreign terrorist organization” part.

Unlike domestic terrorist groups, recognized foreign domestic groups have an entire legal framework targeting them — one that is rife with abusable language. Providing “material support” to foreign terrorist entities, criminalized for obvious reasons in a more ethical presidential administration, is vague as hell as it relates to 18 U.S.C. § 2339B. This says it is illegal to “knowingly provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.”

Normally, this would mean sending money to ISIS or something like that, but here it means:

• The student studying abroad who was photographed at a protest in which members of Antifa Ost were present.
• Journalists who have or may in the future interview members of the organization.
• The organizer who raised funds for “Lina E,” defendants, far-Left extremists in Germany who were sentenced for a series of violent attacks on Nazis (the sentencing judge praised their “respectable” motive), or who is raising money to fund appeals.
• The owner of a messaging app that members use to communicate.
• Banks where members happen to have accounts
• People who declare, “I am Antifa.”
• People who display the well-known and general-purpose Antifa flag
• People who attend a pro-Palestine rally where that flag and “Antifa” rhetoric is expressed

Yes, really.

Obviously, they wouldn’t hit you for the protected speech itself. Your retweet of “Antifa” messaging or your Venmo to another person deemed a member of the group by the US Government would be “evidence of intent.” It would be “Exhibit A.” And while you might assume Americans won’t stand for this, we’ve prosecuted Americans who have declared themselves to be members of ISIS — and a man in Virginia was locked up for running a pro-ISIS Twitter account. While ISIS is obviously a dangerous terrorist organization, “Antifa” is now effectively classified at that level. So, replacing “ISIS” with “Antifa” should give you an idea of what’s coming.

What About Epstein?

Already, Trump and his allies are framing the release of the damning Trumpstein emails as a “manufactured hoax.” Trump has long been laying the groundwork that anyone who opposes fascism — Antifa — is targeting him and America. He has misrepresented left-wing violence as a bigger issue than it is in this or any reality, and he and his cronies have typically linked whatever left-wing violence does exist to “Antifa.”

Since Antifa is the idea that fascism is bad and most people are “Antifa,” what if the Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability were “colluding” with Antifa “groups” to attack Trump? It doesn’t need to be true. Trump has nearly complete control at this point of every aspect of our government. If the law mattered, Letitia James and James Comey would be in a much better place right now, but instead they are battling “Trumped-up” charges.

A weaponized DOJ like Trump’s could easily falsely accuse House Oversight Dems of engaging in a criminal conspiracy with “Antifa” and providing material support. And the Foreign Agents Registration Act would absolutely be abused to claim they acted as “agents” of a “foreign principal.” For instance, if any member of Antifa Ost has ever posted that Democrats should look into Epstein, it’s game on.

We don’t know how the Trump administration will abuse this latest order, but the timing is at a minimum suspect. All we can do is “speculate” based on the past and current actions of a criminal administration that declares Americans its enemies, an idea a terrorist organization, and engages in hostile targeting of those a President who views himself as a dictator chooses to declare his enemies. And if we’re being accurate, what some may call “speculation” is more accurately referred to as “pattern recognition.”

If you’ve ever said “Punch a Nazi,” you may be in danger right now. But despite the risks, post the flag. Say the word. Declare that you oppose this. If we don’t fight now, there won’t be a “next time.”