The Trump administration has promised to take on “Antifa”. This is what it looks likeExBulletin

NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe asks former federal prosecutor Mary McCord about the Trump administration’s promise to prosecute domestic terrorists and “Antifa.”

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

The Trump administration has vowed to go after protesters who officials say are part of antifa groups. Antifa is short for antifascist, a far-left movement or ideology. Last week, eight people were sentenced to prison terms of up to 100 years after a violent protest outside the Prairieland ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas, in July 2025. We are now joined by Mary McCord, former Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the Department of Justice. She is currently a professor at Georgetown Law. Thanks for being here.

MARY MCCORD: That makes me happy.

RASCOE: After the assassination of Charlie Kirk last year, President Trump released a document designating Antifa a domestic terrorist organization. Remind us what this memorandum does.

MCCORD: Legally, it does nothing because Congress has created no statutory system for designating domestic terrorist organizations. We have a legal system for designating foreign terrorist organizations because foreign organizations do not have First Amendment rights. Congress has never done this for national organizations.

So really, it’s just a label, a label that the president has decided to give to certain groups or even groups that aren’t groups like Antifa, which is an ideology, really to send a message – we’re looking at you. We are targeting you. This has no legal effect. There is no crime associated with being labeled a domestic terrorist organization by the president, but it sends a message.

RASCOE: Well, what do you think of these phrases in Texas? And let’s be clear: this was not a peaceful protest. For example, one of the protesters was convicted of shooting and injuring a police officer, but these were extremely long prison sentences.

MCCORD: These sentences are truly shocking. And you’re right, Ayesha, there was an act of violence. One of the alleged accomplices shot and seriously injured a local police officer. This is a violent crime, and I am not at all surprised that this person was charged. But the accusations extended beyond this person, to this group of eight people. And I think what the government tried to do in the indictment and what Judges O’Connor and Pittman apparently did through their convictions is to convey something more than just, this was a protest where a few people involved in this protest engaged in vandalism and violence because it was actually presented as a terrorist cell engaged in terrorism, and that’s how I think these judges framed it. addressed.

RASCOE: Is there anything to what the judges are saying, or do you feel like they’re going too far in just saying that if you’re anti-ICE, then somehow you’re antifa or somehow you’re a domestic terrorist?

MCCORD: There are national organizations that advocate and engage in violence. And besides, let’s think about January 6, right? Some militias advocated a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. The longest sentence was 22 years. The shooter’s sentence in the Prairieland case was 100 years. The sentences of others who did not personally participate in this act of violence are 50 years.

And our history in America shows that the lethality of violence perpetrated by those with white supremacist views far exceeds the lethality of violence perpetrated by more left-wing organizations. But this diversion of all government resources to one side of the ideological spectrum is what infringes on First Amendment rights.

RASCOE: Well, earlier this month, federal prosecutors in Minnesota filed charges against 15 people accused of obstructing federal agents, part of an alleged antifa plot. But other cases of this type have been closed recently. How do you see this playing out across the country?

MCCORD: In Minnesota, much of the content of this indictment is fully protected by the First Amendment. It is protected by the First Amendment to protest, to carry signs, to chant. It is protected by the First Amendment to record public officials, police and ICE agents doing their jobs in public. It is not safe to physically block ICE agents. And that is also included in this indictment. That, you know, if proven, can be valid charges. But I think if you read the whole text, it looks a lot like this effort and this attempt to suppress dissent.

RASCOE: So at a White House roundtable last year, President Trump accused the Biden administration of targeting Christians and, quote, “patriotic Americans” as domestic extremists. Is the Trump administration doing the same thing as previous presidents?

MCCORD: No, I don’t think so. I mean, if that particular comment was reflective of the January 6 lawsuits or the lawsuits against people who violated the FACE Act, it’s the Freedom of Access to Clinics Act. It’s for people who, you know, are sort of violently and physically blocking access to reproductive health care clinics – you know, these types of lawsuits are based in law. I’ve worked under presidents – Republican presidents and Democratic presidents, and you know, you’ve prosecuted acts that violated criminal law, regardless of ideology. But when you target one side of the ideological spectrum, it just raises very, very serious concerns.

RASCOE: That’s former federal prosecutor Mary McCord. Thank you very much for joining us.

MCCORD: You’re welcome.

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