Kristi Noem compares antifa to MS-13, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic State | Kristi Noem
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday compared antifa to MS-13, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic State, calling the loosely affiliated network of antifascist street activists “just as dangerous” as designated terrorist organizations during a roundtable discussion at the White House.
“They are as advanced as TDA and MS-13 [Tren de Aragua]“Like ISIS, like Hezbollah, like Hamas, they are all equally dangerous,” Noem said, adding: “They, like the other terrorists we have been dealing with for many years, have an agenda to destroy us.”
The roundtable featured right-wing social media journalists like Andy Ngo, Nick Sortor, Katie Daviscourt, and others who cover left-wing protests.
Some of the groups Noem mentioned—Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS—are officially designated terrorist organizations that control territories, operate military wings, maintain command structures, and carry out mass casualty attacks, including bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations.
Extremist experts have long defined Antifa as an organization without a centralized leadership, formal membership, or organizational structure, and is generally described by federal law enforcement as a decentralized movement of activists engaged in protest activities; Some of these include property destruction and street violence.
The roundtable came after Donald Trump signed an executive order in September designating Antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization.”
Days before the announcement, Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs was convicted and later pardoned for his role on January 6. Published on X: “Who’s ready to go hunting for ANTIFA? Because I know some guys.”
At Wednesday’s roundtable, Attorney General Pam Bondi sat next to Trump and repeated her condemnations of antifa. “This isn’t activism, it’s anarchy,” he said. “We cannot and will not allow masked terrorists to burn our buildings, attack our law enforcement, and terrorize our communities.”
Trump also listed examples of attacks on federal agents that he attributed to Antifa and suggested that the man accused of shooting Charlie Kirk was a member of the group. Law enforcement officials have not linked Tyler Robinson to any group.
“The epidemic of left-wing violence and terrorism from antifa has been escalating for nearly a decade,” Trump said.
The witnesses who spoke during the roundtable were all conservative influencers or partisan right-wing journalists, all of whom claimed, without providing any evidence, that Antifa was a terrorist organization.
