Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is claiming that Antifa, the decentralized far-left extremist group that was recently classified as a terrorist organization by President Donald Trump, does not exist. He has done so despite the existence of an infamous photo in which he openly supported the group.
Short for “antifascist,” the black-bloc group operates hundreds of chapters across the United States.
Antifa is most infamous for their activities in the Pacific Northwest, where dozens members in cities like Portland and Seattle have been arrested for acts of political violence. Dozens of Antifa members were charged for setting fire to federal buildings in downtown Portland during the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020, the murder of a Trump supporter by a self-identified Antifa member in August of that year, and numerous acts of arson during the peak of unrest in 2020 and 2021.
Antifa cells have also been linked to several riots, bombing and acts of violence in Europe, prompting President Trump to state during a press conference last week that he will move to designate the group as a foreign terrorist organization. This would give prosecutors enhanced tools to prosecute members, as well as anyone found to be financing their activities.