The murder of Charlie Kirk

Trump classifies Antifa as a terrorist organization

Donald Trump calls the left-wing movement Antifa a terrorist organization. In a post on Truth Social, the president calls Antifa “a sick, dangerous and radical left-wing disaster”.

Trump also wants to see an investigation into the financing of the movement. Antifa, “anti-fascists”, is an umbrella term used for several groups on the far left. It is unclear how much impact Trump’s statement will have because Antifa lacks a leadership structure and hierarchy, Reuters reports.

Since the right-wing debater Charlie Kirk was shot dead in Utah last week, Trump and his administration have claimed that the rhetoric from left-wing groups contributed to the murder.

Sources tell the news agency that the president is considering signing a presidential order against political violence and hate speech.

Experts: Trump cannot classify Antifa as a terrorist organization

Several American experts question whether Donald Trump’s idea of ​​classifying the left-wing movement Antifa as a terrorist organization can be implemented at all.

"You can't classify an idea as a terrorist organization. There is no organization called Antifa," writes terrorism expert Malcolm Nance on X, adding that there is also no law covering domestic terrorism.

The Guardian and the Washington Post, among others, draw the same conclusion, writing that the First Amendment to the Constitution with its far-reaching protection for freedom of speech leaves no room for a terrorist classification.

Trump wanted to classify Antifa as a terrorist organization as early as 2020, and even then he was met with skepticism from legal experts and concerns from human rights organizations.

- Terrorism is a fundamentally political label that is easy to abuse, Hina Shamsi of the American Civil Liberties Union told Al Jazeera at the time. 

Netanyahu: Israel was not involved in the murder

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is raging against conspiracy theories that Israel was involved in the murder of American right-wing debater Charlie Kirk in Utah last week.

- It's crazy. It's false. It's insane, he says in a speech posted on social media.

Netanyahu calls the conspiracy theories dirty rumors and praises Kirk as a "fantastic man."

- And a fantastic man deserves respect, not lies, says the prime minister.