The Homeland Security Secretary Equates Anti-Fascist Activists to Mara Salvatrucha, Hamas, the Lebanese Faction and Islamic State
At a White House policy meeting, the homeland security secretary on Wednesday compared antifa to the notorious gang, Hamas, Hezbollah and ISIS, describing the decentralized protesters “equally threatening” as officially recognized terror groups.
“They are just as sophisticated as MS-13, as the Tren de Aragua, as Isis, as Hezbollah, as the Palestinian faction, each one of these, they pose the same level of threat,” Noem said. “Their goal is to dismantle our society, just like the other terrorists we’ve dealt with for many, many years.”
The roundtable included conservative online reporters including Andy Ngo, Nick Sortor, Katie Daviscourt and others who report on antifa protests.
Several organizations Noem cited – Hamas, Hezbollah and Isis – are officially classified as terror groups that control territory, operate military wings, have hierarchical leadership and have carried out mass casualty attacks including bombings, abductions and targeted killings.
Specialists in radical movements have long described antifa, by contrast, as lacking a central command, formal membership or organizational structure, and it has generally been described by national authorities as a loose network of activists who engage in protest activity, some of which has included damage to belongings and street violence.
This meeting follows an executive order issued last month designating anti-fascist activists as a “homegrown terror group”.
Shortly prior to the declaration, a Proud Boys leader who was convicted and then pardoned for his role on January 6 posted on X: “Who’s ready to go ANTIFA hunting? Because I know a few guys.”
