President Trump finally declares Antifa a terrorist organization.

The National Guard deployed in response to the riots. BBC/Getty.

President Donald Trump has finally declared Antifa a terrorist organization after the riots continued throughout the United States. BBC. Antifa has been accused of violence and destruction in the current riots and have been involved in much of the civil unrest the United States has experienced recently. They are also loosly organized and do not have a traditional leadership organization. It is unclear how exactly Antifa will be declared a terror group, though it will likely come from an executive order. A potential problem is that it's not possible to designated a domestic group terrorists, however Antifa is a international organization.

My Comment:

I think one of President Trump's biggest mistakes is not taking this action all the way back in 2017. Even then is was pretty obvious that Antifa was responsible for most of the political violence that has rocked the country. I think the riots would have still happened without Antifa but it would have been considerably less damaging. 

And I don't think there is any doubt that Antifa bears responsibility for this violence. It's very clear that this violence was organized. As I was watching the various clips and footage from the riots one thing that showed up a lot of times was entire pallets of bricks that someone had obviously delivered.

It's also clear that a lot of the violence and looting wasn't just coming from black Americans but from white people, many of whom did not live the areas they were attacking. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of non-political or Black Lives Matter affiliated black people looting as well, but it was clear that there were a lot of white people using black block tactics.  

I have to say that Antifa's actions were incredibly racist. Though of course the African American community had their own bad actors and rioted, Antifa was essentially attacking them. They burned down black owned businesses and discredited the black communities demands on police reform. The biggest losers of these riots will be the law abiding people in the black community that have seen their livelihoods destroyed and communities devastating. 

And I know that some people will be making excuses for Antifa. They will be saying things like "how can is being opposed to fascists a bad thing" while ignoring the fact that Antifa defines pretty much everyone as fascists regardless of their political beliefs. Indeed, they label mainstream Republicans as milquetoast as President Trump, who is a fairly centrist, if populist, Republican. It's easy to justify violence against fascists if pretty much everyone to the right of Stalin is considered one. 

I don't buy the idea that Antifa can't be declared a terror organization because they are domestic. While it is true that a total domestic organization can't be declared a terror group, that's not what Antifa is. They have been active in Europe since the 1930's and have been participating in violent attacks that entire time. Though they don't have a central organization they boast international groups that are affiliated with them. 

What will happen though? I am not sure. I think it will take awhile for an investigation to occur. Though Antifa is loosely organized, it is organized and well funded. It will take awhile to build up a strong case against the members and leadership of the organization. 

I do think that much like the Unite the Right rally was for the Alt-Right, these massive riots are going to turn people against Antifa. People of all political stripes are sick and tired of these riots and even Black Lives Matter will likely distance themselves from them as they don't want to be blamed for the violence and destruction these riots have caused. I really think that after arrests are made that Antifa will be what the Alt-Right is today. A joke.