Only a fascist regime would outlaw opposition to fascism
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday declaring “antifa” a “domestic terrorist organization.”
“All relevant executive departments and agencies shall utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations — especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa, or for which Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa provided material support, including necessary investigatory and prosecutorial actions against those who fund such operations,” the order read.
This follows an announcement the president made last week after attending a black-tie dinner at Windsor Castle with King Charles. “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,” he wrote on social media. “I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Nearly every word in the president’s post was a lie. Antifa isn’t an organization. There is no legal statute with which to declare antifa a “major terrorist organization.” Nor does antifa have a network of rich, shadowy benefactors who can be unmasked. (What little money antifa’s practitioners do have typically comes from their own pockets.)
“I guess the problem with antifa not being an actual organization is that almost nobody is going out and pumping out PR for us,” an American anti-fascist activist told me after the president’s declaration Wednesday. (They asked that their name be withheld for fear of reprisals from the far right.) In other words: Because antifa — short for “anti-fascist” — refers to a decentralized and largely underground subculture of leftists dedicated to combating the far right, most of whom conceal their identities, there are no official leaders or spokespeople to go on cable news to refute Trump’s lies. [Continue reading…]