Should Antifa be labeled a terrorist organization?

It’s neither an organization or terrorist.

But the police and military are both.

Antifa is a terrorist organization.

There is plenty of footage of them attacking in large numbers people with clubs, pipes, chains, fame throwers,,and caustic chemicals, setting buildings ablaze, all while wearing masks.

Ironically, the recent ‘protests’ that have decimated hundreds of businesses, have mostly been African American businesses—they even attacked CNN in Atlanta.

Yes

Yes.

Antifa is anti-Neo Nazis, White Supremacists and fascists. And trump the chaos inciter that he is is once again making fools out of whoever still supports him. I just hope he doesn’t get more American blood on his hands. Not one American life should have been extinguished, no not by a reality TV show host playing clown president.

Antifa is a movement, not an organization. So your question is basically the equivalent of asking if the civil rights movement should be labeled a terrorist organization. You might think that some of the people who are part of Antifa have engaged in terrorist activities, the same way that some people in the civil rights movement were accused of engaging in various extremist activities. But any movement that consists of several different groups with divergent ideologies fighting for a shared goal will have these kinds of internal divisions.

The failures of one group (or even one individual within a group) are not necessarily failures of the movement as a whole (unless you are willing to paint, say, Martin Luther King, Jr. with exactly the same brush as you might paint Louis Farrakhan, who leads a bona fide hate group). And treating movements comprised of different groups as if they are monolithic betrays a fundamental ignorance of what is going on both within those movements and within the broader area of politics in general.

Yes! Let’s call it what it is!

I trust the intelligence community on all levels is hard at work. In my own musings, I have entertained the possibility that Antifa is part of good cop / bad cop routine to raise tensions, strew information, be physically present and morally discouraging. Who or what is the alter ego in the routine, if so, is not fooling our intelligence community. Is it a terrorist organization? I am more likely to agree with whatever findings our intelligence communities’ leadership shares.

It isn’t an organization. @Yellowdog saying it is doesn’t make it so.

@Irukandji I agree. Antifa is not a single organization. There are various unassociated groups that use the label “Antifa”, but it is not an organization with central leadership that other groups answer to, so labeling it a “terrorist organization” doesn’t make much more sense to me than labeling the “alt-right” a terrorist organization. Now, terrorist actions should be punished as such and if it’s discovered that a certain group is engaged in terrorist activities, it could be labeled a terrorist organization. But in this case, I’m not sure what the designation means. Any group that uses the name “Antifa” is banned? Any group that has “anti-fascism” as one of their principles is banned?

This hasn’t left the “bluster” stage yet, I’m afraid.

You understand Trump’s follower include Neo-Nazi, Three Percenters and all kinds of ultra right-wingers, ANTIFA is the the opposite; so the Trump is declaring the the opposer to Fascist groups a terrorist group.

He’ll be protected by the skinheads and other Fascist groups.!

~ ~ ~Next it will be the Jews; the boxcars will come and get them for the showers.

Trump is taking the country and sending it back to 1930’s Germany.

Oh good grief

He is destabilizing the country and his favorite books to read were ones authored by Hitler.

Hitler polarized the Germany in the 1930’s and by 1937 only his media was allowed; he removed all other media (maybe like Twitter and Silicon Valley).

He has declared are past allies enemies.

Yes, Antifa is a terrorist group.

No surprise that conservatives are enthusiastically pro-fa.

Yes.

Would those who’ve only answered “yes” or “no” mind explaining the criteria they’re using to determine a terrorist group, and how they see Antifa in relation to that criteria? I won’t be weighing in, I’m just wondering if people could explain their thinking a bit more.

My answer is “no” because Antifa is not a single organization. But if there is a certain organization that uses the label “Antifa” and they are engaged in terrorist activities, that specific group can be labeled a terrorist organization and that goes for any group that engages in those same activities regardless of their label or ideology. I don’t know enough about how “terrorist organization” is used in official contexts regarding foreign and domestic groups or what criteria the FBI uses to label such groups, so I can’t go into more detail than that. If anyone does know more or has a good link that explains it, I’d be interested.

@Tropical_Willie The tactics of “Antifa” are identical with those of the Brownshirts and Hitler’s efforts. While your at it, has there ever been a moment’s peace from the left as far as Russia hoaxes, impeachment, and some really out there accusations? That is what has been polarizing and destabilizing this nation. We are not used to seeing the criminalization of political differences or the set up and imprisonment of political rivals in this country, yet you are cheering for it daily.

@Yellowdog

Lets get this RIGHT anyone that opposes TRUMP “KING FOREVER” is to be declared a terrorist!

HITLER never had so good !

@Demosthenes Right. If it could be proved that “Antifa of Seattle” or “the Antifa group that meets on Fridays at 1533 Courtier Street” had engaged in terrorist activities, then the label would be warranted. But saying Antifa is a terrorist organization because some people in the movement might be terrorists is like saying that Christianity is a terrorist organization because some Catholics have been terrorists. It overgeneralizes, and it fundamentally misunderstands the relationship that the parts have to the whole.

But understanding that requires nuance, which is something in short supply these days when it comes to political thinking.

Antifa at worst can be catalogued as proponents of civil unrest. Antifa is no more a terrorist organization than looters in the wake of civil rights demonstrations. They’re opportunists who assemble to disrupt announced demonstrations of intimidation by right wing zealots. Those who view the phenomenon with alarm are left to posit a rational defense against Nazis.

They should be sent home to their mommy’s & suffer a severe smacking of their entitled arsecheeks until snot runs down their noses from crying so much.
This I would pay to see

Sure.. But then we have to have that talk about these guys.

They went there with the intent of intimidating the government into bending to their political will. Kinda the definition of terrorism.

They are not an organization. Thanks for setting that straight.

They know where to attack based on the movements of Venus, Mars, and Saturn. plus a good gut sense of psychic intuition. Perhaps that is why most of their targets are not right wing zealots.

(btw—the Klan, various neo-Nazi groups, and several gangs are designated domestic terror groups, although the ACLU has arbitrarily declared that domestic groups cannot be designated terrorist)

“Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate and violent agenda,” Barr added. “In many places it appears the violence is planned, organized and driven by anarchic and left extremist groups, far-left extremist groups using Antifa-like tactics, many of whom traveled from outside the state to promote the violence.”

,,,And more wise words from Killer Mike.
“I’m duty-bound to be here to simply say that it is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy,” he added. “It is your duty to fortify your own house so that you might be a house or refuge in times of organization, and now is the time to plot, plan, strategized, organize and mobilize. It is time to beat up prosecutors you don’t like at the voting booth. It is time to hold mayoral offices accountable, chiefs and deputy chiefs. Atlanta is not perfect, but we are a lot better than we ever were.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/were-sick-of-it-protesters-explain-why-violence-has-erupted-across-the-us/ar-BB14QY4z?li=BBnb7Kz

If evidence determines they are, then yes. (This didn’t require any more than a yes, did it?)

Yes
And here is why in my opinion.
Some people want to protest. In our Constitutional system they are entitled to march, to carry signs, to shout slogans, to give speeches, to pass out pamphlets etc. That is a distinctly American tradition. These people are virtuous and we should listen to their grievances and discuss them.

They are not entitled to burn and loot. Those people should be regarded as criminals, or perhaps terrorists. They are not worthy of your respect.

It isn’t right that the two parties should be regarded as related or the same. There has to be a way to distinguish them.

Trump has done a favor for the legitimate protesters. He has figured out a way to make sure that they are not grouped in with the burners and looters, thus giving them some cover and more legitimacy.

@Tropical_Willie My 3% acquaintance told me to tell you this:

‘There are a LOT of 3%s that are not Trump supporters. Most members within the 3% movement do not take sides with republican or democrat party affiliation. Like me for instance, i’m not a Republican. I vote constitution party.’

It should be remembered that Antifa is anti-Capitalism.

They define Capitalism is Fascism in all their rhetoric.

@Yellowdog Capitalism IS fascism. When the government is more concerned about property than it is about lives, it is time to restructure the society.

Tell that to someone who has lived in a Soviet-bloc country or a Socialist regime in Latin America.

Its true that they don’t care much about anyone’s property, but they don’t care about lives, either,

“Capitalism IS fascism”

Um, no. It is not.

Fascism has often been the result when capitalism fails.

And Socialism / Communism takes over when Capitalism works and people forget how bad it is under anything else.

@Yellowdog “They are not an organization. Thanks for setting that straight. They know where to attack based on the movements of Venus, Mars, and Saturn.”

When two bands go on tour together, they don’t become one band. When the Republicans and the Democrats pass a bipartisan bill, they don’t become one party. The ability of separate groups to coordinate with one another doesn’t make them a single organization.

“although the ACLU has arbitrarily declared that domestic groups cannot be designated terrorist”

It’s not arbitrary. The fact that US law contains no mechanism for officially declaring a domestic group to be a terrorist organization has been pointed out by many, including politically opposed outlets such as FactCheck.org and Reason Magazine.

But you don’t have to take their word for it. You can read the Congressional Research Service’s report on domestic terrorism, including the section starting on page 57 titled “Designating Domestic Terrorist Groups” which states:

“The federal government lacks a process for publicly designating domestic terrorist organizations. In other words, there is no official open-source roster of domestic groups that the FBI or other federal agencies target as terrorist organizations. The lack of such a designation may spring partly from First Amendment concerns.”

Or you can read the State Department’s description of the Legal Criteria for Designation under Section 219 of the INA as amended, which says:

“1. It must be a foreign organization.

2. The organization must engage in terrorist activity, as defined in section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the INA (8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)), or terrorism, as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. § 2656f(d)(2)), or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism.

3.The organization’s terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.”

Or you can watch the testimony of Michael McGarrity (former Assistant Director of Counterterrorism at the FBI). Right after the 2:50 mark he testifies that “there’s no ‘domestic terrorism’ charge like 18 USC § 2339 ABCD for a foreign terrorist organization.”

Or you can read 18 USC § 2339A, 18 USC § 2339B, 18 USC § 2339C, and 18 USC § 2339D for yourself to confirm his testimony.

^^^^^This post needs 100’s of GA and needs to be memorialized. Non partisan statement of the facts.

I commend all the research and length.

But this is supposing that Antifa does not receive funding and support outside the U.S.

George Soros supports it mightily, and he’s Hungarian

@Yellowdog can you tell me what bank account he is sending money to ??

Is it because of his religion ?

He is a target because he is a rich Jew?

^ Yes, @Yellowdog just happens to believe that a rich capitalist is funding a non-organization that is purported to be an anti-capitalist organization. Good stuff.

@Yellowdog George Soros has been an American citizen since 1961. Stop getting all of your information from propaganda sources. It’s not good for you.

Capitalism is a terrorist organization that wants to overthrow itself! ;-0