Designation of groups from Italy, Germany and Greece labelled ‘ridiculous’ as experts say no active threat posed

Experts have told the Guardian the same anti-fascist groups the US state department recently named as foreign terrorist organizations and accused of “conspiring to undermine foundations of western civilization” barely qualify as groups, let alone terrorist organizations, and pose no active threat to Americans.

“The whole thing is a bit ridiculous,” said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, which tracks extremist movements worldwide, “because the groups designated by the administration barely exist and certainly aren’t terrorists.”

In a release put out earlier this month, the Trump administration, which has made no secret of its hatred for leftists in the US and abroad, named Antifa Ost in Germany, the Italy-based International Revolutionary Front, and two organisations in Greece – Armed Proletarian Justice and Revolutionary Class Self Defense – to its long list of designated terrorist organizations.

  • TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 hours ago

    There are many millenials here right? Do you remember the time when it was a standard being against fascism? It was a synonym for pure evil. Saying fascism was similar to saying concentration camps and genocide.

    Now it’s considered ‘domestic terrorism’ in the US being against fascism while they fund an active genocide in Gaza.

    The boomers running the show were raised by the people who actually fought against fascism during the Second World War. I guess they all have Alzheimer disease.

    • seaplant@slrpnk.net
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      1 hour ago

      Alzheimer’s doesn’t make you a genocidal fascist, don’t let them off the hook that easy. Also turning Alzheimer’s into an insult is kinda hurtful for people who actually have it and their loved ones.

  • death_to_carrots@feddit.org
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    8 hours ago

    Bist du Anti-Antifa, bist du FA!

    If you’re anti Antifa, you are FA!

    Fascism – by design – is all or nothing. There is no “just a little bit”. Either you are part oft the regime or against it.

    I’m proud not be able to visit the US, because I’m pro democratic and therefor Antifa!

  • Formfiller@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    So you’re a terrorist if you’re not a facist because you hurt the facists feelings by peacefully protesting while they’re engaging in illegal state sanctioned terrorism

  • apftwb@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Remember when the Trump administration designated a random gang named MS13 a major terror organization? What did that event lead to? What parallels can be drawn between that event and this event? Hmmmm

  • 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    14 hours ago

    Experts have told the Guardian the same anti-fascist groups the US state department recently named as foreign terrorist organizations and accused of “conspiring to undermine foundations of western civilization”

    They’re saying fascism is the foundation of western civilization. LMAO

    • Doomsider@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Fascism is corporatism. Corporatism’s final evolution through corruption is a corportocracy.

      Did you wonder why Antifa was so against the World Trade Organization’s negotiations, where a bunch of corporations were deciding the laws of all the nations.

      I know this is an unpopular opinion, but the whole world is pretty much fascist at this point.

      • leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        10 hours ago

        Fascism is corporatism.

        In case anyone isn’t clear on that…:

        Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power.

        Benito fucking Mussolini. You know, the fascist who arguably invented fascism, or at least popularised its name.

        It’s a shame the name based on a bundle of sticks became the popular one instead of the one that tells it like it is, but I suppose not even fascists would support fascism if it was named appropriately.

  • KoboldCoterie@pawb.social
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    23 hours ago

    Antifa Ost in Germany

    Aww man, I didn’t know there was an official soundtrack for Antifa! Germans get all the cool stuff.

  • falseWhite@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    You really don’t need to be an expert at all to know how stupid this is.

    You do need to be a complete lunatic to believe Trump’s propaganda though.

    Unfortunately, that’s a huge chunk of Americans, and lunatics don’t believe in facts, reason or common sense, so whatever experts say, won’t change a thing.

    • jaybone@lemmy.zip
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      19 hours ago

      It’s just more pretense to manufacture whatever evidence against whoever they want.

    • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      The point isn’t to actually go after these specific tiny foreign groups. The goal is to brand any organization that’s labeled “Antifa” as a foreign terrorist group. There could be some non violent antifa group in Portland, with no ties to any foreign organization whatsoever. The DOJ can go in, arrest all members, and charge them with terrorism for being members of a foreign terrorist group. Would these charges actually stick in court? No. After years and tens of thousands in attorneys fees, the charges will be dropped. But the process is the punishment.

      • falseWhite@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        Are they going to invade Poland, their NATO ally, to arrest them? Because USA laws only apply in the USA.

        It’s just a fucking farce, with no consequences other than Trump scoring some points for “fighting far-left radical terrorists”.

        Unless he really lost his mind and plans to invade Europe to get rid of these “terrorists”.

        • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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          19 hours ago

          Who said anything about foreign action? I just told you exactly what the purpose of this rule is. It’s to maliciously prosecute domestic peaceful protesters. This isn’t some farce or distraction. It’s the core purpose of the thing.

            • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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              18 hours ago

              Ah yes, I remember reading in history class about that time Stalin and Hitler signed a secret treaty to divide up the territory of the Portland metropolitan area. :D

          • falseWhite@lemmy.world
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            18 hours ago

            How can you prosecute domestic terrorists if they are actually foreign terrorists?

            I think you’re mixing up the two.

            FYI, the article is about foreign terrorist groups, not domestic .

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      At this point, calling Trumpists “lunatics” is an insult to the moon. We need new superlatives to express the depths of how fucked up they are.

  • Bone@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    It’s all right wing terrorism these days. FBI confirmed. Someone gave the keys to the terrorists and now they are calling the shots. Up is down, down is up.

    • apftwb@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Pffff surely there are no recent examples of anyone doing anything remotely like that.

  • Lumidaub@feddit.org
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    22 hours ago

    Antifa Ost

    What, why specifically them? Are we not good enough? Time to burn some cars, comrades!

    (dear friends in the US administration: this is a joke.)

    • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      Foreign terrorist groups can be prosecuted, and the president has a much freer hand constitutionally going after foreign than domestic groups. There is no actual federal law to designate and go after domestic terrorist groups. But there is for foreign.

      Here is the plan:

      1. Designate a handful of foreign branches of antifa as terrorist groups.

      2. If anyone in the US is a member of an antifa group, arrest them for being member of a foreign terrorist group, even if the group they are a part of is completely unconnected to the European groups.

      3. Make the defendants spend thousands of dollars and years of their lives fighting anti-terrorism charges, and get “arrested for terrorism” as part of their criminal records.

      • Lumidaub@feddit.org
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        9 hours ago

        I wasn’t seriously asking why, I was pretending to be offended that antifascists from eastern regions of Germany (“Ost”) are supposedly more important than those from western regions :) this whole affair is obviously ludicrous and nothing but an excuse to persecute and intimidate their opponents.

    • fonix232@fedia.io
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      22 hours ago

      Watch this admin fuck things up even further and tomorrow label Aldi Süd as a terrorist org.

  • khepri@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    It is ridiculous. The countries these groups are in, which are advanced first-world democracies just like the US, say these groups are well under control and far less active than they were years ago. But even these “barely a group” European groups are far more formal and organized than any antifa-leaning organization in the US, the Trump admin just needed someone, anyone, to slap a terrorist label on.