Fears are mounting that newly appointed director of the FBI, Kash Patel, will make good on past comments about crackdowns on anti-fascists and Black Lives Matter protesters, the Guardian reports. For years, Donald Trump has also called for designating “Antifa” or more broadly, all anti-fascist activists – as an official domestic terrorist organization. While that has not materialized into official policy, Trump’s top national security leaders at the FBI, CIA and the Pentagon are all hardcore loyalists intent on carrying out his political agenda. Even from inside the FBI, an anonymous agent has publicly warned that the domestic counter-terrorism strategy could switch from inquiries against the hyper-violent far right to leftwing protest movements. Though the bureau has never been a friend to anti-fascist or Black protest movements in the past, today’s activists have taken note of the electoral changes and the promises for retribution in store for what Trump called “enemies from within” at his many rallies. “We see opposition to fascism under Trump’s fascist rule to be an increasingly dangerous endeavor,” said Walter Tull, a member of the Antifa international social media collective. “Many of us are taking far more precautions than we’ve ever done before.”
Counter-terrorism experts have also spoken out over the dangers of diverting policing resources to pursuing leftists, which according to data, do not pose a serious danger to public or national security.
“If you asked 10 non-partisan counter-terrorism analysts where the most significant domestic terrorism threat emanates from, close to 10 would say the far right,” said Colin Clarke the director of research at the Soufan Group who considers himself among those types of apolitical watchdogs. “That’s not an opinion, it’s based on data and empirical evidence.” Clarke did make clear there is a small and growing threat from organizations he described as “far left”. “But when it comes to allocating resources to counter-terrorism,” said Clarke, “going after Antifa instead of homegrown violent extremists motivated by jihadism or white supremacy, makes little sense.”