Columbia News

U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) has called on the State Department to designate Antifa as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Schmitt argued that Antifa operates as an international network and not solely as a domestic group.

Schmitt referenced a recent roundtable discussion on Antifa’s activities, during which President Trump stated his intention to dismantle what he described as the group’s international structure. Quoting the president, Schmitt wrote: “Yesterday, at a roundtable on Antifa’s terrorist activities, President Trump affirmed his intent to dismantle the far-left group’s international architecture, and expressed his desire to see the network designated as an FTO, saying: ‘Let’s get it done.’ As the President’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, noted at the event, Antifa possesses ‘extensive foreign ties,’ and an FTO designation ‘would be a very good step to take.’ I enthusiastically support the administration’s assessment.”

The senator also pointed out that on September 22, President Trump signed an Executive Order designating Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization. Schmitt stated: “On September 22, President Trump signed an Executive Order: ‘Designating Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization.’ This E.O. rightly highlighted the fact that Antifa’s ‘organized effort designed to achieve policy objectives by coercion and intimidation is … terrorism.’ However, the Antifa network is fundamentally international in nature, Antifa militants are not independent domestic actors. They are one node of a global system, which enables, funds, and provides critical operational support to Antifa activities across the West. The political violence that Antifa-linked terrorists perpetrate on American streets is inextricably tied to this broader international system. Thus, the Antifa network is better designated as an FTO than a domestic terror organization.”

Schmitt further elaborated on what he sees as evidence of coordinated transnational activity among various cells associated with Antifa: “As noted above, Antifa is a fundamentally international network, active in nations across the West. Its transnational ‘black bloc’ structure includes organized cells in the United States, Canada, the U.K., and across continental Europe. While seemingly decentralized, these cells often work in direct coordination with one another, sharing tactics and strategies, planning militant activism, utilizing shared funding streams, and even collaborating on in-person ‘direct actions.’ Time and time again, at major Antifa actions across the world—including in the U.S.—this international character surfaces.”

He cited findings from Europol's 2023 "Terrorism Situation and Trend Report," which discusses left-wing extremism's cross-border connections within Europe and beyond. According to Schmitt: “Notably, European security services track the same ecosystem. Europol’s 2023 'Terrorism Situation and Trend Report' explicitly treats left-wing and anarchist terrorism as a transnational problem... operating via 'wider international contacts' in the U.S. and elsewhere... pointing to 'the creation and use of squats... utilized to host left-wing and anarchist terrorists and extremists from abroad.'”

Concluding his letter Schmitt said: “For these reasons among many others I urge you to identify and designate organizational backers of the Antifa network as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and I stand by ready to assist however possible in completing this designation and opposing this dangerous network.”