Columbia News

U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) has called on the State Department to designate Antifa and its supporting networks as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Schmitt referenced recent comments from President Trump at a roundtable on Antifa’s activities, in which the president stated his intent to dismantle what he described as the group’s international infrastructure.

“I write to you today to urge you to designate the foreign networks, organizations and financiers that enable and support Antifa operations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). 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,” Schmitt wrote.

Schmitt also referred to an executive order signed by President Trump on September 22 that designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. He argued that this action did not go far enough due to what he described as Antifa's international character.

“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 stated.

He continued by describing what he called Antifa's “transnational ‘black bloc’ structure,” noting its presence in multiple countries including Canada, the U.K., continental Europe, and the United States. According to Schmitt: “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.”

Schmitt cited Europol's 2023 “Terrorism Situation and Trend Report” for further evidence of what he describes as left-wing extremism's cross-border connections: “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, writing: ‘Left-wing and anarchist extremists see themselves as part of an international movement and international contacts are a key feature of the scene. They connect through social media as well as physical attendance at various events and demonstrations,’ operating via ‘wider international contacts’ in the U.S. and elsewhere. The report notes that this international collaboration goes above and beyond mere information-sharing, pointing to ‘the creation and use of squats, so-called free autonomous spaces,’ which are used by Antifa and other left-wing extremists ‘as hide-outs as well as operations bases, and are also utilized to host left-wing and anarchist terrorists and extremists from abroad.’”

Concluding his letter Schmitt wrote: “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.”