Trump Admin Terrorist Designations Show Latest Attempt to Target Domestic Enemies

[douglas9]

When Secretary of State Marco Rubio added four European anti-fascist groups to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations last week, he failed to tell the public one thing: how, exactly, these groups threaten Americans.

It’s a critical omission. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary of State can only label a group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization — a powerful tool that blocks access to the U.S. financial system and makes it a felony to provide support — if three criteria are met.

First, the group must be foreign. That’s straightforward: of the four “violent Antifa” groups Rubio designated, one is German, two are Greek, and the fourth is Italian.

But the other two findings are more complicated. Rubio must show that the groups engage in terrorism and that their activity threatens Americans or American national security interests.

The State Department accused the groups, with some evidence, of planning violent attacks in Europe, including bombings and street fighting. But nothing in the Department’s announcement suggests that any of these groups pose a threat to Americans, particularly given the history of applying this law to groups like Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. There’s no claim of deaths, and, more critically, no claim that any American or American interest was harmed. From the announcement, the groups come off as local extremists, willing to do small-scale acts of violence in their home countries.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-admin-terrorist-designations-show-latest-attempt-to-target-domestic-enemies