Trump blames Antifa for violence at George Floyd protests
President Donald Trump announced Sunday a left-wing group he thinks are leading the violence at anti-police brutality protests will be officially labeled as terrorists.
“The United States of America will be designating ANTI FA as a Terrorist Organization,” Trump said in a tweet.
Anti fa–short for“antifascists ”– is the name for loosely affiliated, left-leaning anti-racist groups that have been involved in some violent clashes in recent years. The movement has no unified structure or national leadership.
Trump has railed against the left-wing agitators at other times in his presidency, referring to the group as the “alt-left” in 2017 following violent confrontation s between white nationalists and counter protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“The violence and vandalism is being led by Antifa and other radical left-wing groups who are terrorizing the innocent, destroying jobs, hurting businesses and burning down buildings,” Trump said during remarks at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday.
In his first tweet Sunday, Trump kept up his criticism of Minneapolis' Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey for not being tough enough on the protesters who turned violent. Frey's city was rocked by several nights of demonstrations last week after George Floyd, an African American man died in police custody. Before his death, video captured Floyd desperately telling a police officer with his knee in Floyd's neck that he couldn't breathe.
“Congratulations to our National Guard for the great job they did immediately upon arriving in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last night,” Trump tweeted. “Should have been done by Mayor on first night and there would have been no trouble!”
Trump said that thanks to the National Guard, the “ANTIFA led anarchists, among others, were shut down quickly.”
Attorney General William Barr on Sunday also blamed Antifa and other similar groups over the violent protests around the country, calling the acts “domestic terrorism.”
Barr did not say what specific groups may have been involved or where they came from, but he said the Justice Department and the FBI will work on identifying “criminal organizers and instigators” to be arrested and charged.
“With the rioting that is occurring in many of our cities around the country, the voices of peaceful and legitimate protests have been hijacked by violent radical elements. Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate, violent, and extremist agenda,” Barr said.
“It is time to stop watching the violence and to confront and stop it,” Barr said. “The continued violence and destruction of property endangers the lives and livelihoods of others, and interferes with the rights of peaceful protestors, as well as other citizens.”
Barr said that in order to “coordinate federal resources with our state and local partners ,” he would use the “existing network of 56 regional FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces.”
“The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly,” Barr said.
The American Civil Liberties Union said Trump did not the power to label domestic terror groups.
“Terrorism is an inherently political label, easily abused and misused,” the organization said in a tweet. “Let's be clear: There is no legal authority for designating a domestic group. Any such designation would raise significant due process and First Amendment concerns.”
“He can call it whatever he wants, but he has no authority to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization,” David Cole, t he ACLU's national legal director, told USA TODAY.
Trump' s national se curity Robert O'Brien told CNN Sunday that the administration planned to “get to the bottom” of Antifa's role in the protests. And he said the president and Barr want to know what the FBI is doing “to track and dismantle and surveil and prosecute Antifa.”