Trump to designate ANTIFA, KKK as domestic terrorist organizations

President Trump has announced “a bold vision that we can and will achieve over the next four years”. It’s called the Platinum Plan and is set out to address inequality in the black community. 

Over the next four years this plan is looking to achieve some bold initiatives regarding improving the black community’s access to health care, educational and economic opportunities: including creating three million new jobs for the black community, as well as 500,000 new black owned businesses, along with increasing access to capital in black communities by almost $500B. 

The plan was unveiled by Trump and his team just days before the presidential debate. Following the debate the mainstream media attempted to paint certain comments made by Trump during the debate as his refusal to denounce white nationalism, although he has done so on countless occasions. 

The plan lays out multiple major initiatives, one of which has recently garnered more massive media attention in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the events that ensued, that being justice reform.

Although some of these peaceful protesters have brought to light important issues, there is also a violent extremist element to the demonstrations. The ANTIFA movement has emerged as the driving force for much of the violent behaviour, although some argue that ANTIFA is not an organization but rather an idea with multiple local chapters or enclaves. 

This summer also saw a rise in white extremist violence aimed at the black community, this sentiment only being fuelled by the more extremist elements found within the protests.

Americans are more divided now than at any time in recent history, and are looking to have a much needed discussion so they can move forward with creative solutions that build the country up rather than tear it down.

Though in order for this to be possible the extremist groups need to be dealt with. Enter President Trump. The latest initiative from the Trump camp seeks to designate both ANTIFA and the KKK as domestic terrorist organizations. 

In a statement Trump said “the violence instigated and carried out by ANTIFA and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly.”

America currently only has a list of Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTOs), no list of domestic terrorist organizations, although the act of domestic terrorism is characterized by the commission of a criminal act dangerous to human life that appears to be intended to intimidate or coerce. 

The first amendment protects the right of assembly for all Americans and the supreme court has thus ruled that the freedom to engage in association for the advancement of beliefs and ideas is an inseparable aspect of the ‘liberty’ assured by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (2010), the Supreme Court stated that although the government could outlaw FTOs; they could not extend these same prohibitions on material support to domestic organizations. All this makes designating domestic organizations as terrorist groups a little complicated as there may be some constitutional challenges. 

That being said there is always the possibility of designating such domestic organizations as FTOs. The only requirement to classify such acts as foreign terrorism is that they somehow, in some way, transcend national boundaries. 

In the case of ANTIFA this would not be a difficult case to make seeing as ANTIFA organizations have been found to operate throughout Europe (UK, Germany, Italy, etc.). 

The KKK on the other hand mostly exists by name only in the US these days, although the ideology itself does permeate in other race based groups throughout the world.

In his plan Trump would also be looking to make lynching, one of the preferred methods of the KKK, a hate crime. Which could further ideologically tie the group to foreign organizations with similar methodologies.

Americans have been charged under counterterrorism laws simply for conforming, and acting, on ideologies connected to FTOs. There are no requirements for how organized a group must be for designation.

It is therefore not out of the realm of reason that these laws could be used against Americans who are members of both ANTIFA and the KKK if they are to receive the proper designation, one which President Trump is now looking to establish.

Karl Fluri is the co-host of The National Telegraph’s Conservative Jam and co-host/co-founder of The Chance of Fluri podcast.