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Trump's declared enemy: What is Antifa?

2025-09-22 23:50:53Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA THOMAS LATSCHAN
Trump's declared enemy: What is Antifa?
Antifa

Donald Trump blames the “radical left” for the murder of Charlie Kirk – and wants to classify Antifa as a “terrorist organization.” It is not a single organization at all.

The murder of right-wing nationalist political activist Charlie Kirk continues to stir heated reactions in the United States. Since he was shot dead on the campus of Ohio University, Donald Trump and his followers have increasingly stoked the atmosphere against the "radical left," which they believe was responsible for his murder.

Now the US President has announced that he will classify the Antifa movement as a “significant terrorist organization.” He described it on social media as a “sick, dangerous, left-wing disaster” and said those who fund Antifa should be fully investigated.

What does Antifa mean?

Antifa is an abbreviation for "Antifascist Action." It is not a centrally organized association, but rather a loose movement composed of groups and individuals who are dedicated to opposing fascism, racism, antisemitism, nationalism, right-wing historical revisionism, and other forms of right-wing ideologies.

Antifa is on the left-wing to far-left political spectrum and is active all over the world - particularly in Europe and North America. Its roots lie in Germany of the 1920s and 1930s, when during the politically turbulent times of the Weimar Republic, left-wing activists and groups opposed the increasingly powerful National Socialism.

It was founded in 1932 by the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) - not as an organization, but as a movement against the NSDAP. Antifa groups also appeared in other countries, for example in Italy against the fascist government of Benito Mussolini or in Spain in reaction to the Franco dictatorship.

From anti-capitalist to liberal

To this day, Antifa is more of a collection of various smaller groups on the left-to-far-left spectrum. Originally, "antifascism" was a communist militant term that also questioned capitalism - accordingly, the Antifa movement logo has two flags that symbolically point to the left: red, representing socialism/communism, and black, symbolizing anarchism.

However, the term anti-fascism has evolved over the decades. Today, there is also a "civic-liberal anti-fascism", which advocates for the preservation of democracy and the rule of law, which it believes are threatened by right-wing extremism.

Nonviolent or militant?

As broadly understood as the term "anti-fascism" is, the "Antifa" movement is as diverse as the group itself. Numerous groups that identify with it take a nonviolent stance against right-wing extremism and authoritarianism.

For example, they investigate and publish information about right-wing networks, organize protests and demonstrations, or remove right-wing propaganda. At the same time, there are militant groups that tolerate the use of violence to achieve their goals or even use violence themselves - in various forms. They call themselves "autonomous", "militant" or "independent" Antifa groups and thus consciously distance themselves from "civic" or "state conformist" antifascism.

Antifa therefore refers to a diverse collection of various smaller associations without a strong organizational structure. The question of whether and to what extent the use of violence in the fight against the right is considered a legitimate means is widely debated in public opinion - which has consistently brought the movement much public criticism.

Antifa in the USA

Today, Antifa groups exist in many countries around the (Western) world - including the USA. However, there is no central organization here either. Instead, Antifa USA also consists of local groups that are ideologically united by the concept of anti-fascism.

Since the 1980s, they have actively opposed the activities of American neo-Nazis, racist skinheads, and the Ku Klux Klan. Today, the most famous are "Rose City Antifa," which was formed in 2007 in Portland, Oregon; the group "Anti-Racist Action" (ARA), active in many Midwestern cities; and "Refuse Fascism," a group that was formed after Donald Trump's first victory in the 2016 presidential election and has since organized protests against fascism and authoritarianism.

From the beginning, Antifa has been a thorn in Donald Trump's side. On several occasions - and during his first term - Trump announced that he would classify the movement as a "terrorist organization." However, experts and agencies such as the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security consider this plan to be difficult to implement legally.

Legal doubts are high

In 2017, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray stated that it was not possible to classify Antifa as a terrorist organization because it lacked a formal structure or hierarchy. The agency views Antifa as a “potentially violent movement” and is investigating individual perpetrators with “a kind of Antifa ideology.” Overall, however, the movement is too heterogeneous to be labeled as a clear organization.

Another legal problem is that there is no formal mechanism for designating domestic groups as “terrorist organizations.” Under U.S. law, the classification of a terrorist group is the responsibility of the State Department—and so far, there is only a system for classifying “foreign terrorist organizations” (FTOs). While crimes committed by individuals in the U.S. can constitute acts of terrorism, the groups themselves do not receive formal terrorist status as they do in an international context.

Finally, there is the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects freedom of thought and assembly, as well as freedom of political belief - even radical anti-government views are protected by the Constitution. The terrorist designation could be interpreted as an attempt to criminalize legally protected political views - which would be contrary to the First Amendment to the US Constitution./DW

 

 


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