Trump targets Antifa with terrorist designation

US President Donald Trump has announced his intention to designate the anti-fascist activist movement Antifa as a “major terrorist organization”.

Announcing on his Truth Social platform, he called Antifa as “a sick, dangerous, radical left, disaster.”

“I will also be strongly recommending that those funding Antifa be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices,” he added.

The announcement has been made in light of the recent assassination of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk.

Earlier, White House representatives blamed the political violence on a “vast domestic terror movement” effectuated by left-wing activists.

Nevertheless, the announcement encountered technical and legal difficulties at once.

According to legal experts, there is no mechanism to declare a domestic organization a terrorist organization as the U.S declares foreign ones.

Moreover, Antifa is a disorganized movement that lacks leadership, but is a loosely organized group, making it ambiguous on whom or what would be targeted specifically.

According to critics, the murder of Kirk is seen as an excuse by the administration to shoot at political opponents, particularly since investigators have not publicly linked a motive or an association to any organized group.

This is not the first time Trump has threatened this action.

He had already promised to take such a move in 2020 amid countrywide demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd, which experts on the law said cast considerable doubt on the First Amendment.

The practical impact of such a designation remains unclear.