Trump to brand Antifa as a terrorist group, experts say the label is unconstitutional

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The U.S president announced that they are to name Antifa as a terrorist organization, although authorities said Trump has no power to do so.
• Antifa is often associated with left-leaning groups but does not comply with the beliefs of the Democratic party.
• Trump’s remarks were following the rising number of violent protests in several states in the U.S.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump posted on Twitter that the U.S is to consider Antifa as a terrorist group. The American government, though, is not allowed by law to brand any domestic organization in such a way similar in labeling international extremist organizations.

Both former and incumbent government officials all say that declaring such will be deemed unconstitutional for the government of the U.S., citing the First Amendment the U.S protected legitimate domestic groups and organizations.

U.S. law sanctions terrorist labels for overseas groups since being members of those groups doesn’t apply to the constitution’s protections.

Described as a group of individuals with left-leaning political beliefs, anti-fascists or Antifa, though, does not follow platform presented by the Democratic party.

While the stand of the Antifa groups is not easy to determine, it was said that several members support oppressed people and objects the accrual of riches by elites and large corporations.

Some members also utilize radical or revolutionary schemes to make themselves heard.

Groups who were known as Antifa does not have centralized governance, but authorities from federal law enforcement said the organization’s localized activities are highly organized, making it challenging for the agency to address violence acts by some members associating themselves with the group.

The U.S President’s labeling of the group as a terrorist was following Trump, and Attorney General Bill Barr’s accusing far-left organizations as the one to blame for violent demonstrations across the nation.

CNN reported that federal law enforcement agencies are looking into outside forces g the ones responsible for property damage and violence, hiding behind genuine demonstrations in Minneapolis and other states.

Those local extremist groups include far-left extremists, white supremacists, and radicals, of which some have contradicting connections.

The Justice Department said on Sunday that they’d use Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the U.S to probe into some of the violence in critical cities, focusing on leftist Antifa activity. However, U.S. law enforcement authorities said there are clusters from both the radical left and right involved in the disturbances and even assaults on police officers.

Trump’s and Barr’s effort against left-leaning organizations is also on the contrary to frequent warnings by the U.S. law enforcement saying the growth of supremacist groups will be the biggest terrorism threat, locally.

FBI director, Christopher Wray, has confirmed concerns were rising over white supremacist activities across the nation, with cases even higher than that of foreign terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) National Security Project Director Hina Shamsi said that Trump has no legal power to label a local group as a terrorist organization, also referring to the First Amendment.

Source: CNN Politics