Deeming certain conduct of members of Antifa as domestic terrorism and designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.

IV 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 202 Deeming certain conduct of members of Antifa as domestic terrorism and designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 7, 2023 Ms. GREENE of Georgia (for herself, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. HUNT, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. MCCORMICK, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. BIGGS, and Mr. SANTOS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Deeming certain conduct of members of Antifa as domestic terrorism and designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. Whereas the extremist organization Antifa is motivated by communism, anarchism, socialism, and violence, and has continuously demonstrated their commitment to lawless- ness and criminal behavior; Whereas, in 2016, the Department of Homeland Security for- mally classified Antifa activities as ‘‘domestic terrorist vi- olence’’; Whereas one chapter, Rose City Antifa, has rejected the civil treatment of perceived enemies, stating, ‘‘We can’t just argue against them; we have to prevent them from orga- VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR202.IH HR202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 202 IH nizing by any means necessary.’’, and this same chapter publicly stated, ‘‘We are unapologetic about the reality that fighting fascism at points requires physical mili- tancy.’’; Whereas the far-left militant organization held signs reading, ‘‘We are ungovernable’’ and ‘‘Abolish ICE, no cops, pris- ons, borders, presidents’’, illustrating their dedication to lawlessness; Whereas, in response to the 2017 violent riots, an Antifa ex- tremist stated, ‘‘Sometimes you have to use direct action to stop it because protesting, signs, yelling is not going to do anything. You have to make them afraid.’’; Whereas Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Chris- topher Wray stated in a testimony to the House Home- land Security Committee, ‘‘We have seen folks who sub- scribe or identify with the Antifa movement, who coalesce regionally into small groups or nodes and they are cer- tainly organized at that level’’, proving these extreme, violent attacks, disguised under the name of protests, are coordinated, organized events that are orchestrated by Antifa; Whereas the Congressional Research Service reports that Antifa literature urges followers to publicize information such as home addresses, phone numbers, photographs, and social media profiles of perceived enemies; Whereas, in June 2018, at least 1,500 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (referred to in this resolution as ‘‘ICE’’) employees were doxed by an Antifa-linked Twit- ter account and were subjected to violent threats and harassments; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR202.IH HR202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 202 IH Whereas, in February 2017, black-bloc, Antifa-affiliated riots resulted in $100,000 worth of damage at the University of California at Berkeley; Whereas, in February 2017, over 200 rioters were indicted on charges of assaulting police officers, torching a limousine, and smashing windows of several businesses, and other Antifa-affiliated rioters were armed with hammers, crow- bars, bricks, rocks, flares, firecrackers, and other explo- sive devices; Whereas, in August 2017, approximately 100 Antifa rioters incited violence during a peaceful rally in Berkeley, Cali- fornia, where these terrorists were repeatedly punching and kicking innocent people, sending several peaceful protestors to the hospital, and ultimately 13 rioters were arrested on a range of charges including assault with deadly weapons and obstructing a police officer; Whereas, in July 2020, a self-proclaimed member of Antifa, Willem Van Spronsen, tossed lit objects at vehicles and buildings, caused a car fire, attempted to ignite a 500- gallon propane tank, and attempted to firebomb the ICE detention facility in Tacoma, Washington; Whereas, in February 2021, the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon stated that Antifa caused more than $2,300,000 in riot damage to Federal property in Oregon, not including any damages to private businesses or State, county, and city buildings; Whereas, over the summer of 2020, Antifa assisted in inflict- ing over $2,000,000,000 in damages against churches, Federal buildings, businesses, and other downtown struc- tures across 20 States, resulting in the death of at least 30 individuals as well as 700 injured police officers; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR202.IH HR202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 202 IH Whereas, over the summer and fall of 2020, Portland District Attorney Mike Schmidt refused to file charges in approxi- mately 70 percent of the approximate 1,000 protest- and riot-related cases brought by police officers; Whereas, in May 2020, the Department of Justice formally labeled Antifa violence as domestic terrorism in a public statement saying, ‘‘The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated ac- cordingly.’’; Whereas Black Lives Matter-Antifa rioter Malik Fard Mu- hammad was sentenced to 10 years in Federal prison for ‘‘repeatedly and intentionally jeopardizing the lives of po- lice officers, destroying public property, and encouraging others to commit violence during protests that occurred in Portland in 2020’’; Whereas, in January 2021, Portland Police Bureau officials reported that Antifa rioters attacked officers in down- town Portland shooting commercial-grade, aerial fire- works and firebombs, and destroying government prop- erty and over a dozen downtown businesses; Whereas in that same riot, police were also attacked with bricks, rocks, and frozen water bottles, and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler reported at least tens of thousands of dollars in damage had been done; Whereas, in August 2022, Antifa ardently defended the sexualization of children by guarding a ‘‘kid-friendly’’ drag show at a North Texas distillery; Whereas, in January 2023, Atlanta police arrested 6 extrem- ists on charges of domestic terrorism following violent riots carried out by members of Antifa who shattered VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR202.IH HR202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 202 IH windows, destroyed businesses, torched a police car, and vandalized the walls of the city; Whereas, in January 2023, Antifa issued a statement telling its followers to bring pipes, spray paint, kerosene, and lighters to New York City to ‘‘Burn it all down’’; Whereas, in March 2023, Antifa-affiliated rioters set fire to the future Atlanta police training facility by launching fireworks, Molotov cocktails, and other destructive items at police officers and into the facility’s construction site resulting in arrests of 23 extremists on charges of domes- tic terrorism; Whereas these coordinated, destructive acts of hate carried out by Antifa are attacks against the Nation’s law en- forcement as well as the American people and have no place in the United States; and Whereas members of Antifa are relentlessly dedicated to using acts of domestic terrorism in order to suppress op- posing political ideologies: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That— 1 (1) this conduct of Antifa members, or any un- 2 lawful conduct performed at an Antifa-affiliated 3 demonstration, is deemed to be domestic terrorism 4 (as such term is defined in section 2331 of title 18, 5 United States Code); 6 (2) the House of Representatives designates 7 Antifa, and any other affiliated group or subsidiary 8 of Antifa, to be a domestic terrorist organization; 9 and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR202.IH HR202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HRES 202 IH (3) the House of Representatives calls on the 1 Department of Justice— 2 (A) to prosecute these crimes of domestic 3 terrorism (as such term is defined in section 4 2331 of title 18, United States Code) by Antifa; 5 and 6 (B) to use all available tools and resources 7 to combat the spread of domestic terrorism (as 8 such term is defined in section 2331 of title 18, 9 United States Code) committed by Antifa. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR202.IH HR202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS