The United States President Donald Trump has declared that he will declare Antifa as a “terrorist organization”. He claims that the organization is behind the protests that have “wrecked the country”. The “protests” refers to the recent protests occurring all over the United States and other parts of the world over the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man killed by a police officer while he was unarmed.
The protests have shaken the entire Unites States with the public enraged over police brutality in the United States. The Antifa is a left-wing, anti-fascist, militant political activist movement that is made up of a number of autonomous groups who believe in taking action
directly to achieve their objectives. The movement has anti-racist, anti-fascist, anti-sexist, and anti-capitalist goals. The group gained popularity recently after its face-off with white supremacists at the Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally in 2017 and its face-off with the far-right group “The Proud Boys” in Portland last year. According to experts, Antifa is more of an ideology than an organization, there are a lot more Antifa members who use Non-violent methods to spread their ideology rather than those who walk the path of violence.
Trump’s declaration has been heavily criticized by the public, experts argued Trump has no legal authority to designate a domestic group as a terrorist organization and such a designation would cause violation of the First Amendment. Putting them on the same list as terrorist organizations like ISIS leads to the violation of a lot of citizenship rights.
Members of terrorist organizations can be detained for 7 days without any charge or interview; the police can do to citizens what they wouldn’t do in case of normal criminal activities. Trump’s declaration was so that he could solidify his political position for the November elections but his
decision will just lead to more police brutality adding oil to the fire. The United States can expect to dark times in the upcoming months.
