The RecordExhibit 52
Treating left-wing politics as terrorism
Alleged means: Serious, credible accusations of illegality that no court or watchdog has decided yet.
After Charlie Kirk's assassination, Trump declared 'antifa' a domestic terrorist organization and signed NSPM-7, a memo directing agencies to investigate networks that foment political violence.
What happened
The memo lists warning signs like anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity and 'extremism on migration, race, and gender.' It lets the IRS go after nonprofits, and DOJ opened probes of George Soros's Open Society Foundations. The FBI created an NSPM-7 mission center.
Where it stands
U.S. law has no mechanism for designating domestic groups as terrorist organizations, and antifa is a movement, not an organization. Civil liberties groups say the memo targets beliefs, not actions. The administration has since won convictions in the first terrorism case it tied to antifa: in March 2026 a federal jury in Texas found eight people guilty of providing material support to terrorists and other charges over a July 4, 2025 shooting that wounded a police officer outside the Prairieland immigration detention center, and one of them was convicted of attempted murder. The defendants denied any antifa affiliation and said they went to show support for the immigrants held inside. In June 2026 federal prosecutors charged 15 people with impeding the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, describing them as antifa members who conspired to block arrests and deportations. In that Minnesota case a defense lawyer has filed exhibits on how the Justice and Homeland Security departments put the memo into practice and has asked the judge to order the government to disclose more. In August 2026 civil liberties groups from across the political spectrum, including FIRE and the Cato Institute, filed a brief supporting that request. In the reporting we found, no court has ruled on the memo itself.
The administration's side
Stephen Miller called it the first all-of-government effort to dismantle left-wing terrorism. The administration says it is about stopping political violence.
Sources
Permanent link: https://unredactedrecord.com/e/nspm7/