One year later: Antifa terror designations yields convictions, global crackdown

Tuesday marks one year since President Donald Trump designated Antifa a domestic terror organization, paving the way for convictions and a global crackdown on the militant leftist group.

The designation was put into motion less than a week after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which raised concerns about rising left-wing violence in the U.S.

The Center Square – present for a public safety announcement in the Oval Office on a late Monday afternoon Sept. 22, 2025 – asked the president if he was considering designating Antifa a domestic terror organization.

Trump responded, telling The Center Square that he was “100%” on board with designating Antifa a domestic terror organization following a rise in left-wing violence.

“I would do that 100% and others also, by the way, but Antifa is terrible,” said Trump. “These aren’t protests. These are crimes. What they’re doing, where they’re throwing bricks at cars of the of ICE and border patrol.”

The administration said the move to target Antifa would allow the government to go after funding sources, with the president saying they are “looking at the funders of these groups.”

The Center Square previously reported that a foundation funded by billionaire George Soros has given $80 million to groups tied to “extremist violence,” including Antifa. 

In designating it as a domestic terror group, the White House has described Antifa as a “militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law.” The designation added that Antifa uses “illegal means” to carry out “violence and terrorism nationwide” to achieve its goals.

The White House cited “coordinate efforts” to “obstruct” federal law enforcement, specifically immigration enforcement operations through “organized riots” and “violent assaults,” including doxing, which has led to many immigration officials masking their faces as protection.

The group, with a strong foothold in the Pacific Northwest, has a global reach, eventually leading to Secretary of State Marco Rubio designating several arms of the group in Europe as foreign terror organizations after The Center Square asked the president a few weeks later if he would expand the terror designation to include foreign ties.

The U.S. State Department officially designated four foreign Antifa groups as foreign terrorist organizations last November, nearly two months after Trump designated Antifa a domestic terror organization.

The designations paved the way for the State Department to target individuals or groups by cutting off or freezing their access to global financial systems to curb potential attacks.

The State Department identified four European-based organizations, which either claimed or have been accused of carrying out a series of violent attacks in a handful of countries.

The State Department indicated that there could be more organizations designated as the Trump administration continues to “identify and disrupt Antifa’s terror networks across the world.”

The foreign designations are essential in “denying them access to the U.S. financial system and resources,” which can aid in attacks.

In a historical first, nine individuals were convicted by a federal jury on domestic terrorism charges connected to Antifa in March.

The group was accused of being a part of the North Texas Antifa Cell, and was found guilty of rioting, using weapons and explosives, providing material support to terrorists, obstruction, and attempted murder, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced.

The group was convicted of the attempted murder of an Alvarado, Texas, police officer and correctional officers at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center occurring on July 4, 2025.

One Antifa member was sentenced to 100 years in prison following a guilty verdict in a plot to target an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Texas. Several others also received lengthy prison sentences for the same attack.

Benjamin Song, who was identified as the group’s leader, received the harshest punishment of 100 years in prison. Maricela Rueda was sentenced to 70 years in prison; Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Meagan Morris, and Elizabeth Soto received 50-year prison sentences; and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada received 30 years.

In July, Rubio convened a ministerial at the State Department comprising representatives from over 60 countries.

The secretary warned against the growing threat of left-wing violence against Western civilization, noting that the threat is getting worse.

“You are here because this is real and it is getting worse, and it can no longer be denied, and it can no longer be ignored because it’s time to crush this evil forever,” Rubio told the international coalition.

The secretary tried to debunk critics’ dismissive claims that the threat is not real or is inflated by conservatives.

“The simple fact is, none of this that I’ve described is new. Far left political terrorism is not a recent day modern novelty,” Rubio said. “It’s not a fiction manufactured by conservative politicians for most of the modern era. It was in fact the dominant form of political violence.”

Rubio broke down the pipeline between Antifa in the U.S. and Europe, characterizing it as a dark, underground network.

“Antifa militants and their comrades travel from across Europe and to the Americas to participate in each other’s attacks, to funnel propaganda and training, materials and target information through shared encrypted channels, moving through underground networks of safe houses, and finance and sustain their operations through transnational funds,” the secretary added.

He went on to connect “hostile nations,” like Iran and Cuba, working with Antifa, claiming they “share their mission” to destroy the West.

As part of the Trump administration’s commitment to fight the scourge of political violence, Rubio vowed to “dismantle” the terror networks “brick by brick.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also took part in the summit, focusing on targeting the financial network funding the movement.

“We are examining where tax-exempt status has been exploited, where charitable entities have become financial conduits for foreign influence, and how those entrusted with stewardship of these organizations have instead enabled violence,” said Bessent.

Most recently, the State Department imposed sanctions on an Italian leftist group, known as Autistici/Inventai, also known as the A/I Collective, which was accused of digitally supporting Antifa groups, including Rose City Antifa out of Portland, Ore.

The groups used the technology to “organize and incite violent and criminal acts, domestically, including an attack on Customs and Border Patrol helicopters,” according to the State Department.