There is no organization in the United States called “Antifa.” Insofar as the word connotes anything, it’s applicable to groups that track and expose white supremacists, and then impose consequences. Sometimes they will get people fired from their jobs. They also seek to disrupt white-supremacist rallies.
Researchers on these groups insist that they are filled with anarchists and far left groups that have no use for either the Democratic or Republican parties. What unites them is opposition to racism and fascism, but they also have a strong anti-capitalist bent.
They’ve been known to use violence against white supremacists. I’ve rarely seen much beyond fistfights, though, to be honest. Sometimes they’ll carry sticks or clubs and do property damage, which is annoying and counterproductive.
They’re not much a problem from a legal perspective. When people commit assaults or destroy property, they can be prosecuted accordingly, and the same is true for most white supremacist groups.
Law enforcement should monitor both extremes for signs of some kind of terror plot, but short of discovering something I can’t support classifying either as “a major terrorist organization.”
When it comes to the funding of Antifa, this would generally be something on the order of paying for some bus or plane tickets and hotel rooms as part of a plan to counter-protest a Neo-Nazi rally. I don’t think there are any major funders of these groups. Certainly, George Soros has nothing to do with them.
If you’re reading this and you have mainly heard about Antifa from right-wing media outlets, here is how you’ve been misled.
What Antifa folks generally do is expose people who are posting racist shit anonymously on the internet. They also try to identify the people that go to white supremacist rallies. And the reason they do these things is because they want there to be a cost for spreading hatred. This is the same reason why they will sometimes violently confront white supremacist rallies. These folks get to know each other online just like people who like certain video games get to know each other online. They aren’t actually organized beyond that. They have no recognized leader. They don’t have any mastermind funder. I don’t think most of them would even agree that they’re a member of a group called Antifa.
It’s silly to insist that Antifa is “a major terrorist organization” for two main reasons. First, it’s not really an organization at all. Second, they don’t have a record of committing terrorist acts.
However, if the federal government starts insisting that anyone who opposes racism and fascism is a member of Antifa and is therefore a terrorist, that is a major problem for free speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of conscience. This is what Trump just announced that he will seek to do.
