Since “antifa” as a formal organization does not exist, Trump’s executive order amounts to a blanket authorization to brand opposition to his fascism as “terrorism.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/54018469

On Monday, just one day after the Republican Party staged a Horst Wessel-style memorial for Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating “antifa” a “domestic terrorist organization.”

The order claims that antifa is a “militarist, anarchist enterprise” that uses “illegal means to organize and execute a campaign of violence and terrorism nationwide.”

Antifa, as even FBI Director Christopher Wray was forced to admit in a September 2020 congressional hearing, is not an organization but a broad current of opposition to fascism. “Antifa is an ideology, not an organization,” said Wray, who also testified that the bureau had no data showing any lethal violence committed by the organization.

Since antifa as a formal organization does not exist, Trump’s executive order amounts to a blanket authorization to brand political dissent and opposition to his fascist regime as “terrorism.”

  • ravenaspiring@sh.itjust.works
    10·
    2 days ago

    …

    Antifa, as even FBI Director Christopher Wray was forced to admit in a September 2020 congressional hearing, is not an organization but a broad current of opposition to fascism. “Antifa is an ideology, not an organization,” said Wray, who also testified that the bureau had no data showing any lethal violence committed by the organization.

    Since antifa as a formal organization does not exist, Trump’s executive order amounts to a blanket authorization to brand political dissent and opposition to his fascist regime as “terrorism.”

    The order signed by Trump on Monday did not present any specific incidents or examples of alleged “antifa terror.” It claimed without evidence that antifa elements “coordinated efforts to obstruct enforcement of Federal laws through armed standoffs with law enforcement, organized riots, violent assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement officers, and routine doxing [sic] of and other threats against political figures and activists.”

    The executive order directs all agencies to “investigate, disrupt, and dismantle” the activities of anyone alleged to act on behalf of antifascism or to provide “material support.”

    As of this writing, no evidence has been publicly presented that Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old alleged to have shot and killed Kirk on September 10, was part of any organized left-wing or anarchist group, including antifa.

    …