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.”

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.”

  • Ronno@feddit.nlEnglish
    3·
    7 days ago

    Come on Trump, you can do better. Here in The Netherlands the government has signed a motion banning antifa already last week! Try to keep up, will ya? /s

    It’s so unfortunate that journalism is dead, otherwise we could’ve had some interesting discussions on this topic. For instance, I would like really like to know what would happen if a WWII veteran would speak out against fascism. Will we (The Netherlands or in this case the US) lock that person up?

  • tidderuuf@lemmy.world
    15021·
    8 days ago

    One can be anti fascist whilst not being a member of Antifa. Don’t forget people, these are the dumbest people in the world running this show.

      • mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        51·
        8 days ago

        Yup, it’s just a new method to be able to kidnap people off the streets. First it was “they were an immigrant” and then “they looked like an immigrant”. And now it has progressed to “they looked like a domestic enemy of the state”.

      • SeeMarkFly@lemmy.mlEnglish
        302·
        8 days ago

        I am NOT a member!

        I would NEVER be a member of any club that would have someone like ME as a member.

      • DandyEgg@lemmy.zip
        723·
        8 days ago

        True, but they have yet to utilize their new terrorist distinction on me, an anti-fascist, so I think the general layperson is safe atm

        • floofloof@lemmy.ca
          59·
          8 days ago

          “They haven’t come for me yet, so we’re still safe” is not very good logic under a fascist regime.

        • henfredemars@infosec.pubEnglish
          12·
          8 days ago

          You’re safe until you’re not, at which point, nobody will know because you’ve been disappeared.

          So yes, we can hear from the people who we can still hear from. True equals true.

    • Almacca@aussie.zoneEnglish
      621·
      8 days ago

      There are no ‘members’ of Antifa. There are only people that are anti-fascist.

      Edit to add: The only people trying to make Antifa a thing are fascists trying to convince the dumbfuck masses that opposition to them is somehow a bad thing. And now they’re trying to make that a crime.

      • JargonWagon@lemmy.world
        311·
        8 days ago

        Weren’t the Portland riots committed by members of a group called “Antifa”? Also, apparently there are small sects that organize locally.

        “Antifa has no official national leadership, though followers have organized themselves into small, local cells that sometimes coordinate with other movements, such as Black Lives Matter.”

        "Some antifa adherents keep a very low profile, while other local groups venture to give themselves a more public profile with a name and a website. One of the oldest such groups appears to be Rose City Antifa, which says it was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 2007. According to its website, its main focus is “any work that prevents fascist organizing, and when that is not possible, provides consequences to fascist organizers. This is supported by researching and tracking fascist organizations.”
        Source

        • agit68@lemmy.zip
          19·
          8 days ago

          As a Portlander:

          No, yet again there are no organizations, just individuals committed to the same idea. This shit is spontaneous and if you actually knew anything about this city you would know why.

          Just like black blocs are an idea and a tactic, not an organization there are no leaders in a bloc and no members, just participants.

    • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      532·
      8 days ago

      No, “antifa” is, itself, the term for the position of being against fascism. There is no organization.

      They also will not care as they’re just going to accuse their enemies of it regardless of how left they are. They know exactly what they are doing, and they’ve been doing it way faster than I expected.

            • LillyPip@lemmy.caEnglish
              271·
              8 days ago

              I feel like you’re still thinking ‘antifa’ is an organisation, when it’s simply being opposed to fascism. It’s a concept, not a movement, and it only appears to be a movement when fascism is on the rise, which tends to cause* antifa people to group together more to oppose it. There are some groups explicitly for doing antifa action, but if you’re against fascism, you are antifa by definition. Also ‘antifa’ action can be anything from denouncing Nazis online to protecting trans rights to protesting to any number of other things.

              The right has tried to make ‘antifa’ into some sort of bogeyman for a decade, and we shouldn’t allow them to frame what it means.

              It’s similar to liking video games. I’m a ‘gamer’ because I like to play games, but I don’t belong to any gamer groups, I don’t go to conventions, and I don’t compete in tournaments. Some people do those things, but I’m no less a gamer because I don’t.

              Yes, I am antifa. Enough that I own this book (which I actually recommend everyone read who wants to resist fascism):

    • Donjuanme@lemmy.world
      41·
      8 days ago

      I would argue there is no organization known as “antifa”. Certainly nothing with structure or presence like tpusa or the proud boys, ya know the organization that terrorized the seat of our nation 5 years ago…

          • Fushuan [he/him]@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            37·
            8 days ago

            They knew about it because they implied in the second that that the first would pass in the current administration because they are that dumb. They know.

            Sending gif trying to look smart while missing the obvious point is kinda embarrassing ngl.

            • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
              81·
              8 days ago

              You steel manning and imposing your own assumptions is kinda embarrassing (ngl). You don’t know their mind yet you insist on reading past their words. You just look like a dork who wants there to be more than there is to a thing.

      • Revan343@lemmy.ca
        3·
        8 days ago

        Attend the planning meetings of any anti-fascist group that uses ‘antifa’ in their name, of which there are many; in my experience the ‘membership’ is almost identical to the ‘membership’ of the local Anarchist Book Fair planning committee.

        Or show up to an anti-fascist rally, even as a bystander, get arrested for nothing, and now your name is on a ‘known members’ list in some pig’s office :P

    • flandish@lemmy.world
      6·
      8 days ago

      explain how so? consider that there is no way to “be” a member of a group that does not exist in that manner. being of the cohort of people who are antifascist is not the same as being a “member.” I suppose we are saying the same thing. :)

    • Luouth@lemmy.world
      51·
      8 days ago

      So, so dumb that I can fully imagine a scenario like this playing out amongst the orange knobhead and his staff on the daily

    • DarkFuture@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 days ago

      Yeah but the more you read up on the Nazis the more you find out they were pretty dumb too. Still killed millions of people.

  • evenglow@lemmy.world
    80·
    8 days ago

    In the last 30 years, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has documented only one killing committed by an alleged antifa supporter. On August 29, 2020, Michael Reinoehl shot and killed fascist Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a member of Patriot Prayer, during a protest in Portland, Oregon. On social media following the killing, Trump encouraged police forces to kill Reinoehl. “Do your job, and do it fast. Everybody knows who this thug is,” Trump said. Reinoehl was murdered by police and federal agents on September 3, 2020.

    While there have been virtually no documented killings committed by alleged antifa members, there have been hundreds of murders and tens of thousands of assaults committed by self-declared fascists, antisemites, far-right militia elements and white supremacists over the last 30 years.

  • chillpanzee@lemmy.mlEnglish
    57·
    8 days ago

    Since that name is now burned, maybe we could start a new organization to fight fascism. And to let the world know that we’ve reached a point of fascism we can’t turn back from, we can call it Turning Point.

    It’d be fun to let them wrestle with calling brand Turning Point a terrorist group.

  • Jaysyn@lemmy.world
    50·
    8 days ago

    I’m still going to protest, because I’m not the coward that these fascists are hoping for.

    Getting arrested for holding a sign on public property will be a slam dunk lawsuit.

    Executive Orders cover the federal executive branch. They aren’t federal law, they aren’t state law & the certainly don’t override the Constitution.

    Grow a fucking spine.

    • ShadowRam@fedia.io
      351·
      8 days ago

      ^^^ Look at this guy with his…

      “I’ll be protected by the law” attitude…

      • ski11erboi@lemmy.world
        30·
        8 days ago

        I get what you guys are saying but this idealogy is what makes this a reality. People must continue to protest in large numbers. Only once the numbers dwindle will they sweep in and start charging people with terrorism. There is safety in numbers.

      • LillyPip@lemmy.caEnglish
        16·
        8 days ago

        We need to protest even if we’re not protected. We need to protest even if we wind up hanging for it, like Sofie Scholl.

        In a sane world, yeah, it would be a slam-dunk lawsuit, but we’re in uncharted territory now, so who knows if that will remain true. The direction we’re moving in will be so much worse. If we don’t protest now, when we might possibly have some protection, we’ll wind up in a world where our protest will absolutely cost us our life.

  • Noxy@pawb.socialEnglish
    517·
    8 days ago

    Shit news source generally (tankie as all hell), but in this specific case the article seems solid.

    Fuck fascism. Fuck this entire administration. Fuck Charlie Kirk and every other nazi like him.

  • NoWay@lemmy.world
    38·
    8 days ago

    Historically the War Dept was anti fascist… Which means Trump just declared the U.S. military a crimanl terrorist organization… Time to go arrested those serving in the military. Let’s start at the top: The good old commander in chief.

    • BeeegScaaawyCripple@lemmy.world
      17·
      8 days ago

      I had a horrible stepgrandfather. He’s done two good things: first, die, second, instill in us the value of fighting fascism. He fought nazis in europe. He went off about Constant Vigilance or something. Fighting fascists is a traditional united states value.

      • NoWay@lemmy.world
        5·
        8 days ago

        Don’t suppose he had signs of PTSD? Not defending him for any horrible actions but WWII messed with a lot of men’s heads and gave lasting repercussions generations down the line. Helps to identify toxic traits that flow from it to stop it in your family and community.

        Men of america were known to weep in the streets prior to WWI. Being open to showing emotion was robbed from men due to war.

        • BeeegScaaawyCripple@lemmy.world
          5·
          8 days ago

          oh definitely had that. he got ptsd after the war. it’s a very long story that would probably identify me. short version, he served in a different theater than just about everyone from where he lived and thus felt ostracized by the veterans groups. because of that he never got the support he needed, which was partly a self-inflicted wound. as one of his favorite targets, i find i’m more able to empathize/sympathize with other folk who’ve been in his position than him.

    • TheThrillOfTime@lemmy.ml
      1·
      8 days ago

      Idk historically the war department was used to push fascism on people outside the country. Go ahead and ask the Vietnamese or the Iraqis how they feel about the US military.

      • NoWay@lemmy.world
        1·
        7 days ago

        After WWII the war department became the department of defense (and still is,just this year it has a nickname of war depart.) So Vietnam and both the gulf war and war on terror was a different department. However the war on terror and this year for Venezuela the DoD actions are very much like terrorism. The nickname executive order and the antifa executive order lays out the return of the historical war dept which the last war was WWII against Nazis (and against racism) as such the 2nd executive order rightly names the DoD as a terroristic organization

    • slevinkelevra@sh.itjust.works
      452·
      8 days ago

      Not really though. They were just anti German-Nazi. Just look at all the lynchings, the Jim Crow laws, segregation etc.

      • Deflated0ne@lemmy.worldEnglish
        12·
        8 days ago

        The fact that our govt didn’t really give a shit about the nazis until Pearl Harbor forced our entry into the war.

      • bigfondue@lemmy.world
        9·
        8 days ago

        Also helping to overthrow democratically elected governments in Guatemala and other Latin American countries to protect the interests of capital.

  • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
    342·
    8 days ago

    Is Antifa even an organization, and not just a general term for people who oppose fascism, which should be the majority of the population?

      • tedd_deireadh@lemmy.world
        23·
        8 days ago

        I love that this is their sole response, hosted on a .org domain and that there’s nothing else there. No Contact Us page, no upcoming events, nothing to indicate they actually do anything or are even a group. Just that dumbass tweet and BLM support.

    • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
      13·
      8 days ago

      There is no general “antifa”, but there are many individual (often regional) organizations with some form of “anti-fascist” or “antifa” in the name, like “rose city antifa”.

      In addition, there are many organizations that are not specifically antifascist, but would describe an opposition to fascism as part of their core beliefs. This includes a lot of media organizations.

      Lastly, anyone with political views that do not support fascism are automatically anti-fascist.

      The goal is to oppress all 3 categories of people.