President Donald Trump announced on Sunday plans to designate the violent leftist group Antifa as a terrorist organization.
“The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
The president commented after consecutive days of heightened rioting in several major cities after a black man George Floyd died after an officer knelt on his neck for several minutes while detaining him.
Attorney General Bill Barr issued a statement after the president’s declaration.
“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,” he wrote.
Barr also said that 56 regional FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces would be used to identify “criminal organizers and instigators” fueling the violence.
Trump blamed the violence on “Radical Left Anarchists” thanking the National Guard for helping quell the riots in Minneapolis.
He urged other cities and states to do the same.
“The National Guard did a great job, and should be used in other States before it is too late!” he wrote.
The president lamented that Democrats in Minnesota waited to fully deploy the National Guard, and warned other localities not to make the same mistakes.
“Should have been done by Mayor on the first night and there would have been no trouble!” he wrote.
The president on Saturday afternoon called for an end to looting and destruction, during a speech at NASA headquarters in Florida.
“It does not serve the interests of justice or any citizen of any race, color, or creed for the government to give into anarchy, abandon police precincts, or allow communities to be burned to the ground,” he said. “It won’t happen.”
Congratulations to our National Guard for the great job they did immediately upon arriving in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last night. The ANTIFA led anarchists, among others, were shut down quickly. Should have been done by Mayor on first night and there would have been no trouble!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2020
Other Democrat run Cities and States should look at the total shutdown of Radical Left Anarchists in Minneapolis last night. The National Guard did a great job, and should be used in other States before it is too late!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2020
The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2020
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