“This isn’t an attack on antifa,” said Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Healthcare. “It’s an attack on our rights.”The executive order states that antifa, a portmanteau of the term “anti-fascist,” will be designated a “domestic terrorist organization.” The movement is comprised of autonomous individuals and loosely affiliated groups who oppose fascism, but has no central organizational structure or leaders. “This would appear to have no direct legal effect beyond acting as a statement of policy for the executive branch,” said Reichlin-Melnick. “Trump’s new executive order is written so that anyone protesting against the US government, ICE, or even top politicians can potentially be deemed a terrorist.”“It’s federal weaponization against free speech and the right to protest itself. “And it’s un-American as hell.”Common Dream’s work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.