By design, antifa is a decentralized, left-wing movement of loosely knit “resistance” networks operating primarily in Democratic strongholds. But in recent years, antifa’s forces have become highly organized and increasingly sophisticated, with organized crime cells cropping up across the country. This Washington Examiner series, Antifa, Inc., will document antifa’s rise in America, dispel modern misconceptions surrounding it, and examine whether RICO charges or a domestic terrorist organization designation could happen in the future.

Part 1: How the antifa movement has metastasized

“Antifa is an idea, not an organization,” Joe Biden, then the Democratic presidential nominee, declared on the 2020 debate stage.