Trump broadens crackdown on ‘organised’ political violence

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Sept 25

broadened a crackdown

on what he has characterised since Mr Charlie Kirk’s assassination as organised left-wing efforts to stoke political violence.

He signed a presidential memo that directs administration officials to “detect, prevent and protect” radical groups from performing acts of violence and shut off the groups’ funding.

He is pushing his attorney-general to prioritise countering “organised doxing campaigns, swatting, rioting, looting, trespass, assault, destruction of property, threats of violence and civil disorder”.

He is asking the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service to weed out any philanthropic groups funding political violence.

In the aftermath of Mr Kirk’s killing on Sept 10 and a shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas on Sept 24, the Trump administration has repeatedly blamed left-wing groups, without evidence, of being part of a coordinated campaign of political violence.

Mr Trump has downplayed violence from right-wing groups, insisting political violence is a problem rooted in the left.

His memo on Sept 25 called political violence “a culmination of sophisticated, organised campaigns of targeted intimidation”, backed by “structures, networks, entities, organisations (and) funding sources”.

It spotlights “common threads animating this violent conduct”, including “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States government; extremism on migration, race and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion and morality”.

The memo did not mention prominent examples of violence targeting left-wing figures or promoted by Mr Trump’s sympathisers.

Domestic terrorism experts said political violence is bipartisan and that historically more attacks have been inspired by right-wing ideology.

Officials have found no evidence that the suspect in Mr Kirk’s shooting or the Dallas shooting acted in concert with any group.

Pressed for examples on Sept 25 of who could be targeted in a domestic terrorism probe, Mr Trump said: “I hear a lot of different names.”

He specifically mentioned two prominent Democratic donors, Mr Reid Hoffman and Mr George Soros, without presenting evidence of any wrongdoing by them.

“If they are funding these things, they’re gonna have some problems,” the Republican President said.

Asked specifically whether Mr Soros was the target of a Justice Department probe, Attorney-General Pam Bondi said: “I don’t have any comment on whether there is or is not a pending investigation, but everything is on the table right now.”

Mr Soros’ Open Society Foundations, a charity, said it condemns terrorism and Mr Trump’s “politically motivated attacks on civil society, meant to silence speech the administration disagrees with”.

The New York Times reported on Sept 25 that a senior Justice Department official instructed several US attorneys’ offices to draft plans to investigate the Foundations, and suggested possible charges against the organisation from arson to material support of terrorism.

On Sept 22, Mr Trump signed an order calling the

anti-fascist Antifa movement a “terrorist organisation”

. That has raised questions as to how law enforcement would pursue what the Anti-Defamation League has called a “leaderless movement composed of loose collections of groups, networks and individuals”.

Federal law enforcement officials already investigate violent and organised crime associated with a variety of hate groups and ideological movements.

The US government does not currently officially designate solely domestic groups as terrorist organisations, in large part because of constitutional protections.

Also on Sept 25, Mr Trump signed a separate order pushing law enforcement officials to seek the death penalty in some Washington, DC crime prosecutions.

Former FBI director James Comey was indicted on criminal charges of false statements and obstruction on Sept 25, a person familiar with the move said, escalating a campaign against a frequent target of Mr Trump’s anger. REUTERS