A Facebook Post Is Enough for the DOJ to Say You’re “Antifa”
The Department of Justice indicted 15 people involved with Direct Action Minnesota, accusing them of being “antifa” members with thin evidence.
The Justice Department is indicting 15 Minnesotans on charges of conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, using vague Facebook posts and anti-ICE actions as grounds to deem them “antifa.”
All 15 people are involved with Direct Action Minnesota, which the administration accuses of “aggressive use of shields against law enforcement, surveillance, operational planning, and rapid mobilization against law enforcement actions.” The U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Daniel Rosen, alleged that the group “advocates, promotes, and utilizes militant tactics and violence.”
These are people who are using non-electoral tactics—many of which are legal, like observing—after watching federal agents kidnap immigrants and shoot their neighbors dead in the street. The administration even pointed to a Facebook post in which defendant Cameron Kennedy stated that they needed to become “ungovernable” as a flimsy example of antifa activity. And even with all that, it’s worth mentioning for the umpteenth time that antifa is not a cohesive, established group that exists. There is no leader, no headquarters, no yearly conference.
The Trump administration is cracking down on people who took action against what they saw as a violent occupation of their city by following and impeding ICE officers and making mean posts on Facebook. This crusade against antifa is a cover for a wide net of First Amendment suppression against any kind of left-leaning individual or group–from Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil to these 15 Minnesotans.
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