by Patrick G Eddington @ The Cato Institute

On September 22, President Trump issued his long-threatened executive order (EO) designating an idea—antifascism, known by its shorthand version, Antifa—a “domestic terrorist organization.” 

Yes, on the surface, the EO is idiotic on multiple levels. The notion that an idea can be designated an organization is one. The fact that there’s no constitutional provision or statute granting any president the power to designate a domestic civil society organization a “domestic terrorist organization” is another. 

The EO’s declaration that “Antifa is a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law” is more than false—it is designed to act as a justification for legal and coercive action against anyone or any entity that the administration designates as engaged in …efforts to obstruct enforcement of Federal laws through armed standoffs with law enforcement, organized riots, violent assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement officers, and routine doxing of and other threats against political figures and activists.

I’m only aware of one anti-ICE raid incident in California over the summer in which a single agitator pointed a pistol at federal agents, and that person is apparently still at large. That’s not the “organized riot” the administration has claimed, and they’ve produced no evidence that the individual is connected to any group calling for the overthrow of the federal government. 

And none of those things matter, contrary to a lot of the legal or political commentary you may have already seen. What matters is that the administration asserts the authority to do this, and it has thousands of armed and armored federal law enforcement agents ready and able to carry out Trump’s orders—just as ICE and other federal agents (including mobilized National Guard troops) have been carrying out “immigration enforcement” operations of dubious or no legality for months.

Complete Post @ The Cato Institute https://www.cato.org/blog/trumps-anti-antifa-executive-order