President Trump said he is considering declaring the left-wing activist group antifa a terrorist organization.
“Consideration is being given to declaring ANTIFA, the gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with baseball bats, a major Organization of Terror (along with MS-13 & others),” Trump said Saturday on Twitter. “Would make it easier for police to do their job!”
Consideration is being given to declaring ANTIFA, the gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with baseball bats, a major Organization of Terror (along with MS-13 & others). Would make it easier for police to do their job!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2019
Last month, journalist Andy Ngo was assaulted in Portland, Oregon, during a rally in which he was covering antifa. The group has been known for violence in the past with members justifying their actions by saying they are fighting fascism.
Sen. Ted Cruz sent a letter earlier this week to Attorney General William Barr, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, and FBI Director Christopher Wray asking for an investigation into antifa.
Today I penned a letter to Attorney General William Barr, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, and FBI Director Christopher Wray calling for an investigation into Antifa under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). pic.twitter.com/ptY0syxPrn
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) July 23, 2019
At a Senate hearing last week, Texas Republican asked Wray if he could investigate antifa under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which is designed to target organized crime in the U.S.
Wray said the FBI views antifa as more of an ideology and noted the bureau does not investigate ideology. But he stressed that the FBI takes violence on behalf of any ideology seriously and has a number of smaller-scale inquiries underway. “We have a quite a number though, I should tell you, of properly predicated investigations of what we categorize as anarchist extremists. People who are trying to commit violent criminal activity that violates federal criminal law and some of those people do subscribe as what we would refer to as a kinda of a antifa-like ideology,” Wray told Cruz.
