The former U.S. President, Donald Trump, initiated a broad-scale effort to counteract left-wing extremism and organizations like Antifa, as indicated by a memorandum he signed on Thursday. Trump portrayed Antifa members as professional provocateurs who receive significant financial backing from wealthy individuals. Some of those individuals, Trump claimed, are well-known figures.
Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, characterized Trump’s action as unprecedented. He stated that this represents the first occasion in U.S. history where the government has united to counter left-wing extremism, to dismantle groups like Antifa that have been linked to acts of political violence and alleged terrorism.
Trump referenced the civil unrest that enveloped the U.S. in the wake of George Floyd’s death in 2020, the recent actions against officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among others. The memorandum highlighted numerous cases of political violence, including the murder of Charlie Kirk, the 2024 assassination of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, and assassination attempts targeting Trump himself, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and others.
The memorandum made it clear that such politically charged violent acts are not isolated occurrences, nor do they spontaneously erupt. Instead, it claimed such violence is a manifestation of planned, well-organized campaigns of intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence. The purpose of these aggressive campaigns is purportedly to suppress opposing voices, restrict political activities, influence policy outcomes, and obstruct democratic societal functioning.
The document urged the need for developing a novel law enforcement strategy that encompasses investigation into all those implicated in these alleged criminal and terrorist conspiracies. It includes entities, organizations, network structures, sources of funding, and any actions which led to these conspiracies.
According to the memorandum, the ‘anti-fascist’ stance is opposed to American ideology and depicts core American values, such as support for law enforcement and border control, as ‘fascistic’ to rationalize and incite violent revolutionary acts. It also suggested that Antifa’s motivation is drawn from anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christian ideals. Key themes are an endorsement of the U.S. Government’s overthrow, extremism in migration, race, and gender, and animosity towards those adhering to traditional American perceptions pertaining to family, religion, and morality.
The memorandum tasked the National Joint Terrorism Task Force and its local offices with directing and supervising an extensive national strategy. This strategy aims to scrutinize, prosecute, and disrupt organizations and individuals involved in acts of political violence and intimidation, intended to suppress lawful political activity or impede the enactment of law.
The task forces are charged with investigating potential federal offenses and looking into ‘institutional and individual funders’ that assist such criminal conduct. The investigation will also focus on ‘non-governmental organizations and American citizens residing abroad’ implicated in supporting or promoting domestic terrorism.
In addition to this, the memorandum demanded the secretary of Homeland Security, the attorney general, the secretary of the Treasury, the commissioner of the IRS, and all federal law enforcement agencies to contribute to this effort. They are expected to provide guidance, assist in investigating funding sources, prevent tax-exempt entities from funding terrorism, and prioritize related crimes.
Trump more than once referred to George Soros, the Hungarian American billionaire who established the Open Society Foundations. This organization supports myriad philanthropic initiatives and left-wing organizations. Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder who previously held an executive position at PayPal, was also mentioned by Trump.
On this matter, the president said, ‘Soros is a name that I hear, I hear a lot of different names, I hear names of some pretty rich people.’ Responding to Trump’s implicit insinuation that Soros funds violent activities, the Open Society Foundations, founded by Soros and currently chaired by his son, Alex, issued a statement.
The foundation clarified that they neither support nor fund violent demonstrations, contradicting the allegation. It warned that such allegations were unfounded, and branded any threats against their founder and chair as highly reprehensible.
The post Trump Initiates Comprehensive Strategy Against Antifa and Left-Wing Extremism appeared first on Real News Now.
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