Trump signs order designating antifa as a domestic terrorist organization'

"Antifa is a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law, the order reads. The president first made the announcement on his Truth Social platform last week, writing: I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION."

"The move comes after the killing of far-right commentator Charlie Kirk in Utah. Trump blamed radical left wing political violence for the shooting, saying it is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now. No evidence has been presented linking the suspected Kirk assassin to antifa. Some extremist experts are however questioning the president's authority to make such a designation."

"Because of that, Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism who has faced Congress as an expert witness on hate groups and extremism, said the move was ridiculous on its face and that Trump's declaration appears to have no basis in law or fact. There is no domestic terrorist organization list in the US, Beirich said. There is a mechanism to declare foreign organizations terrorist organizations, and when that happens there are legal mechanisms to hamper them"

President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. The order labels antifa as a militarist, anarchist enterprise calling for the overthrow of the U.S. government, law enforcement, and the legal system. Trump announced the move on Truth Social, calling antifa a 'sick, dangerous, radical left disaster' and urging investigations into alleged funders. The action followed the killing of far-right commentator Charlie Kirk, which Trump blamed on radical left-wing political violence. No evidence links the suspected assassin to antifa. Experts questioned the president's authority to designate domestic groups as terrorist organizations, citing First Amendment limits and lack of a domestic list; only foreign terrorist designations have legal mechanisms.

Read at www.theguardian.com