The Trump administration is set to initiate a “whole-of-government” approach to investigate and dismantle all funding networks supporting Antifa, the recently designated domestic terrorist group and movement.
In September, following President Donald Trump’s executive order officially designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, GOP officials told reporters that Antifa is an extremist far-left movement that operates under the guise of “opposing fascism.” They noted that the group is known for ongoing violence, riots, and property destruction, which it claims are methods to “fight” fascism.
This latest initiative was highlighted at a White House roundtable on Wednesday.
President Trump stressed the need to track financial support for Antifa. They have been accused, most recently, of organizing and carrying out violent riots and other attacks targeting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and agents.
Antifa members have also been involved in violent confrontations with police, including throwing projectiles, setting fires, and engaging in physical altercations.
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On Wednesday, Trump asserted that Antifa “have been very threatening to people, but we’re going to be very threatening to them, far more threatening to them than they ever were with us, and that includes the people that fund them.”
“And that includes the people that fund them, probably some of the people I know, some of the people I dine with,” Trump continued. “But if they do, they’re in deep trouble, so we’re going to be looking very strongly at the people that are funding these operations.”
At the roundtable, the GOP president hosted a group of independent journalists who have experienced violent run-ins with the extremist group. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were in attendance as well.
Seamus Bruner, a research director at the Government Accountability Institute, was also in attendance and he confirmed that the “whole-of-government” approach to investigating and exposing Antifa’s funding network is underway.
He described the network as a corporate-style operation comprising various divisions such as PR, legal, and marketing, funded by a network of NGOs and dark-money sources. Bruner also noted that this network has channeled over $100 million to numerous radical organizations, including Antifa, to fuel nationwide unrest.
“President Trump is taking it very seriously,” Bruner stated. “It’s not just Antifa, but there is a whole ecosystem of radical, professional protesting organizations.”
Shortly afterward, Bondi addressed the roundtable, pledging to dismantle the far-left network “brick by brick.”
“Fighting crime is more than just getting the bad guy off the streets. It’s breaking down the organization brick by brick, just like we did with cartels. We’re going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa, destroy the entire organization, from top to bottom. We’re going to take them apart,” Bondi stated, noting that the administration is “deploying the full might of the federal law enforcement.”
However, the prospect of “taking down” Antifa and its outside funding may prove to be challenging, as the group is a “decentralized, leaderless movement composed of loose collections of groups, networks and individuals,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
President Trump’s administration has announced a plan to completely eradicate Antifa off the face of the Earth.
Pam Bondi said no stone will be left unturned and everyone involved, from top leaders to street members, will be treated as terrorists. pic.twitter.com/TDkFhMDhA9
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