zlacker

Not following the news for my sanity. Was he referring to antifa or actual anti fascists?

>>westme+(OP)
Antifa is an umbrella term. From Wikipedia:

> Antifa is not an interconnected or unified organization, but rather a movement without a hierarchical leadership structure, comprising multiple autonomous groups and individuals

>>yayada+g1
In his tweet, I do believe POTUS was referring to Antifa in the same way as the question--as a fictional, hierarchical organization.

>>westme+(OP)
He said "antifa," but that's a term that's about as meaningful as "Christianity" or "the free software community." There's no single, overarching organization, there's no membership rolls (individual groups that share affinity with the movement might have some idea of membership, but there's nothing beyond that), and there's even a fair bit of internal disagreement on who really counts.

The practical effect is that if you're accused of being a member of "antifa" there's no coherent way to demonstrate you aren't, and certainly people opposed to fascism, whether or not they themselves identify with the label, are going to get accused of being "antifa."

(Also, to be clear on the news, he simply said that he intends to do this in a tweet - even if it were a coherent thing to do, there is no procedure for designating domestic groups as terrorist organizations.)