Eight months after designating four Antifa groups as foreign terrorist organizations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is convening an international delegation to discuss political violence.
Rubio has invited more than 60 countries from Asia, Europe and the Western Hemisphere to Washington, D.C. on July 16 to participate in a “ministerial on resurgence of political terrorism,” a State Department official confirmed with The Center Square.
Tommy Pigott, spokesman for the State Department, highlighted “far-left” political violence, echoing the Trump administration’s commitment to addressing the threat both domestically and internationally.
“The resurgence of violent far-left political terrorism is not a new phenomenon – it is an old threat re-emerging with strong transnational links and new convergences. Because this threat has not been adequately addressed in the past, each engagement, designation, or security assistance program creates a compounding effect supporting countermeasures at home and abroad,” Pigott posted on X. “Our efforts target violent activity meeting the definition of terrorism: assassinations, kidnappings, violent threats against U.S. facilities and law enforcement, as well as attacks on critical infrastructure, military personnel, and civilian population.”
In November, the State Department officially designated four foreign Antifa groups as foreign terrorist organizations, coming nearly two months after President Donald 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 designations come after The Center Square asked the president if he would designate the group a foreign terror organization during a roundtable in October at the White House on Antifa, comprised of independent journalists, to which Trump responded, “Let’s get it done.”
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 groups include German-based Antifa Ost, which the State Department says has been known for “wielding hammers in premeditated attacks.” The group was designated a terror organization in Hungary in September after a “series” of attacks in Budapest occurring in February 2023. The group has also been accused of several attacks in Germany between 2018 and 2023.
The second group, The International Revolutionary Front, an Italian-based group, is described as a “coalition of violent anarchists,” which has claimed responsibility for a shooting and injured several people after the group “sent a series of bombs” to political leaders, embassies, and civilians. The State Department stated that, despite the group operating out of Italy, it has “proclaimed affiliates” in Europe, South America and Asia.
The third group, a Greek-based organization, the Armed Proletarian Justice group, is described as anarchists who have waged “armed conflict against police officers and state infrastructure.” State said in a failed attack, the group planted a homemade dynamite bomb near a riot police headquarters in 2023.
The final group, also a Greek-based anarchist organization, known as the Revolutionary Class Self Defense, claimed responsibility for an attack on the Greek Ministry of Labor in 2024 and recently targeted major railway offices in April. The State Department says that the group used improvised explosive devices in those attacks.
“Building on [Trump’s] historic commitment to uproot Antifa’s campaign of political violence, the Department of State is designating four Antifa groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specifically Designated Global Terrorists. The United States will continue using all available tools to protect our nation from these anti-American, anti-capitalist, and anti-Christian terrorist groups,” Rubio posted on X in November.
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.
“All property and property interests of designated individuals or groups that are in the United States or that are in possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked,” according to a fact sheet from the State Department. “U.S. persons are generally prohibited from conducting business with sanctioned persons. It is also a crime to knowingly provide material support or resources to those designated, or to attempt or conspire to do so.”
The foreign designations came less than two months after The Center Square asked the president in the Oval Office if he would designate the leftist group a domestic terror organization, which he said he’d do. A week later, the group was officially designated a domestic terror organization.
