President Trump declared via Twitter on Sunday that he will designate anti-fascism activists as terrorists.
Under the law, Trump does not have the authority to do so, Mary McCord, a former head of the Department of Justice's National Security Division, told The New York Times. "If such a statute were passed, it would face serious First Amendment challenges," she said, adding that currently, the only terrorist authority is for foreign organizations.
Protests continued across the United States on Sunday against police brutality, and in the evening, Trump simply tweeted, "LAW & ORDER!" This is a turn from earlier this month, when Trump supported protesters in Michigan, including many who were armed, that decried restrictions placed on businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Trump, Attorney General William Barr, and National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien have all painted left-wing anti-fascist protesters — also known as antifa — as agitators, with O'Brien saying on Sunday's This Week that "it's the violent antifa radical militants that are coming out under cover of night, traveling across state lines, using military-style tactics to burn down our cities."
In response, host George Stephanopoulos told O'Brien, "The Department of Homeland Security, which reports to you, has put out intelligence notes over the weekend warning that domestic terrorists from the far-right and the far-left, both, are looking to exploit this. It's not just antifa and the left, they're saying they're worried about the far right as well."
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