United States President Donald Trump has said the US would designate ‘Antifa’ a terrorist organisation.
“The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization,” Trump tweeted from his official account on Sunday.
The announcement came after violent protests erupted across the nation following the death of George Floyd. President Trump largely attributed the violent protests to the left-wing group.
“Congratulations to our National Guard for the great job they did immediately upon arriving in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last night. The ANTIFA led anarchists, among others, were shut down quickly. Should have been done by Mayor on the first night and there would have been no trouble!” Trump had tweeted earlier.
The designation would place the civil movement in the same league as international terrorist organisations such as ISIS and Al Qaeda. This would also place them under the same laws as apply to those organisations, a Forbes report said.
Civil unrest flared up across the US after initially peaceful protests following the death of Floyd, a black man, turned violent. Protestors looted and burnt down stores and other public property, Reuters reported. Curfew was imposed in several major US cities on Saturday to control the protests, the report said.
Police had resorted to a huge number of arrests, and firing tear gas and plastic bullets in a bid restore order, it said.