Donald Trump tweets that Antifa is a “major organization of terror” and that he wants the government to classify it as such. This might be his first attempt at convincing supporters that anti-Trump and Black Lives Matter protesters are actually terrorists.
However…
Antifa, a.k.a. anti-fascist, is not an organization. It is an ideology against fascism and white supremacy. More than anything, Antifa is a label that some on the left use on social media.
There are local organizations throughout the world called “Antifa” that are dedicated to stopping the spread of fascism and identity-based violence within those communities, but there’s no nationwide or transnational operation. The closest thing that exists to a large organization is a Tumblr blog.
Also, there hasn’t been a single murder or act of violence tied to Antifa.
Trump is following the playbook of Uzbekistan dictator Islam Karimov. Karimov invented an imaginary terrorist group as justification for the murders and imprisonment of Muslims in 2005.
Sources
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/27/us-rightwing-extremists-attacks-deaths-database-leftwing-antifa
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1155205025121132545
Photo: Informed Images
