What is antifa, and can Donald Trump label it a 'terrorist' group?

What does antifa mean?

Antifa, which stands for anti-fascist, is not an organization, but rather a decentralized movement based on anti-authoritarian and anti-racist ideologies.

The word antifa was first used in 1946, according to the Meriam-Webster dictionary. It comes from the German word Antifa, short for antifaschistisch (anti-fascist), in Antifaschistische Aktion, which was a coalition of political parties started by the German Communist Party in 1932 to counter the rise of Nazism.

The modern movement first gained traction in 2017 during the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia when conservative extremists held a demonstration protesting the removal of a confederate monument. Anti-fascist activists staged a counter protest, which has since sparked others aligned with the ideology to counter protest at far-right rallies.

Who are the antifa leaders and members?

Because antifa is not an organization, it does not have set members or leaders. It is impossible to know just how many people are aligned with the movement.

This means that there is also no way of identifying where funding for antifa activism — if there is any — comes from. As the demonstrations are organic, participants typically contribute themselves.

"Antifa, short for anti-fascist, is a broad, community-based movement composed of individuals organizing against racial and economic injustice. Those who identify with the label represent a large spectrum of the political left," according to The Southern Poverty Law Center. The group notes that Trump has used antifa to describe groups opposed to his far-right policies.

SPLC also notes that while those affiliated with antifa movements may be involved in property crimes or "skirmishes," those connected to antifa groups do not often pose a threat of lethal violence, which "pales in comparison to that posed by far-right extremists."

Can Trump label antifa a terrorist organization?

Because antifa is not an organization with set members and leaders, it is unclear how Trump could label it as a "terrorist" organization. The U.S. Secretary of State has the ability to designate foreign groups as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) with seven-days notice to Congress, but there is no statute authorizing the same for groups designated as domestic terrorist organizations.

It is illegal to provide funding to FTOs, and the U.S. has the authority to freeze the financial assets of those involved, which is something the Trump administration could attempt to extend to domestic groups. If that were the case, they would still need to prove an individual's involvement, which would be difficult without official membership.

Former FBI director under Trump, Christopher Wray, testified to Congress in 2020 that it would be difficult to treat antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, as he said “It’s not a group or an organization. It’s a movement or an ideology.”