Tommy Pigott to Newsmax: US Terror Listings Aim to Dismantle Violent Antifa Groups

The designation by the U.S. of four entities in Germany, Italy, and Greece as global terrorists “open up a variety of tools to allow us to target and dismantle these terrorist groups,” says Tommy Pigott, principal deputy spokesperson for the Department of State.

“We have seen a campaign of terror being waged by these groups, by these Antifa groups against Western civilization, against the United States, with some of these groups having as their stated goal the overthrow of Western civilization and the United States,” Pigott said Friday during an appearance on Newsmax TV’s “National Report.”

“So these designations, these four designations across Germany, Italy and Greece, open up a variety of tools to allow us to target and dismantle these terrorist groups, including financial tools in terms of freezing some finances, including, in addition, being able to prosecute when deemed applicable, those that provide material support to these groups.

“We have been clear: we will target, identify and dismantle these groups that are targeting the United States, threatening our national interests, and we will act to dismantle these groups,” he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement last week that he had designated German-based Antifa Ost as "Specially Designated Global Terrorists," along with three other groups in Greece and Italy, in an effort to build on President Donald Trump's "commitment to confront Antifa’s campaign of political violence."

Trump and his Republican allies have accused Antifa followers of fomenting political violence following the September assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk during a Turning Point USA public event held on the campus of Utah Valley University, and amid protests against federal immigration authorities in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon.

Trump threatened to pursue Antifa during his 2017-2021 term in office, and in September called antifa a terrorist organization in an executive order.

Antifa, short for "anti-fascist," is a decentralized movement without a clear structure, command hierarchy or leader, according to a 2020 Congressional Research Service report.

The State Department said Antifa Ost conducted numerous attacks against those it "perceives as 'fascists' or part of the 'right-wing scene' in Germany between 2018 and 2023 and is accused of having conducted a series of attacks in Budapest in mid-February 2023."

Germany's domestic intelligence service identified the Antifa Ost group as a violent network in a 2024 report.

Four people connected to the group were arrested between December 2023 and November 2024, accused of targeting those they considered right-wing extremists in violent attacks.

While the arrests are thought to have weakened the group, the 2024 report warned that its members continued to target Germany's far-right AfD party, which has courted ties with the Trump administration.

In addition to Antifa Ost in Germany, Washington designated as terrorists the Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front in Italy as well as Armed Proletarian Justice and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense in Greece, according to a separate statement.

Newsmax wires contributed to this report.

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