WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States will be designating Antifa as a terrorist organization.
The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2020
Antifa is short for anti-fascists, but the group is not easily defined. It’s said to be a political protest movement comprising of autonomous groups affiliated by their militant opposition to fascism and other forms of extreme right-wing ideology.
Trump’s announcement comes amid increasingly violent protests throughout the United States with people calling for an end to police brutality following the death of George Floyd.
Floyd died in police custody on Monday after an officer pressed his knee on his neck during his arrest. A video of the incident shows Floyd gasping for air as he says, “I can’t breathe.”
While speaking at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, Trump blamed the violence during the protests on groups like Antifa and the “radical left,” but he didn’t offer any proof.
"What we are now seeing on the streets of our cities has nothing to do with justice or with peace,” said Trump after the historic SpaceX and NASA launch. “The memory of George Floyd is being dishonored by rioters, looters, and anarchists. We cannot and must not allow a small group of criminals and vandals to wreck our cities and lay waste to our communities. My administration will stop mob violence and we'll stop it cold."
The president is calling for Americans to come together to work for a just society.
