Trump could target Antifa with ‘powerful’ RICO Act, counterterrorism expert says

After President Donald Trump announced that he was designating the leftist agitation group Antifa as a terrorist organization in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, one expert said the president has “powerful” tools at his disposal to dismantle the group. 

Michael Balboni is an attorney and former member of the New York State Assembly and Senate. During his time in office, he chaired the state senate’s Homeland Security Committee, and was later appointed to the state’s Domestic Terrorism Task Force under Governors Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul. 

U.S. terrorism laws under the Immigration and Nationality Act only apply to foreign groups, so there is no federal statute for prosecuting domestic organizations as terrorists. Trump still has a tool available to combat Antifa, though, in the form of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). 

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“RICO doesn’t relate only to one specific act and one specific time,” Balboni told Fox News Digital. “It could be an analysis of an ongoing criminal enterprise.” 

He explained that for a defendant to be convicted under the RICO Act, there must be an existence of an enterprise, a pattern of racketeering activity within the past decade, a demonstration that the threat of continued criminal behavior exists and that the defendant must be associated with or employed by the enterprise. 

“Perhaps you could even use RICO or other statutes to try to do an enterprise-wide roll-up of these individuals, whether or not you need to designate them as a terrorist group,” Balboni said, adding that it’s a “very powerful tool.”

But, he warned, the Trump administration will have to be very careful not to impede upon the First Amendment rights of Americans who are peacefully protesting, versus far-left groups who commit violent acts like many across the country did in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 death or the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles earlier this year.

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“It’s a very fine line, but once somebody steps over the line and lights a building on fire, most people would assume, yes, that’s a criminal act, that’s arson, and regardless of your beef, of your argument, you’re going to go to jail,” said Balboni. 

Citing Trump’s past record, Balboni thinks that the president has a high probability of success in using current laws to make a significant impact to combat Antifa’s operations.

“So this is what President Trump has been able to do successfully,” he said. “He’s been able to take a concept and then kind of take the existing laws and wrap it around the concept.”

Balboni added that it’s “hard to imagine a less sympathetic group than Antifa.”

“If you’re advocating the overthrow of the United States, if you’re advocating the use of violence to promote your agenda, if you’re advocating civil disruption, I’m not sure who’s going to stand up for you,” he said. 

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“But, you know what I think the president is trying to do is trying to point out, in his own words, these are agitators, professional agitators that are out there and are trying to cause disruptions, and they should be called out for what they are,” Balboni said.

In what would be a long-term fix to control domestic terrorism, Balboni noted that Congress could pass a law against terrorism that includes domestic enemies separately from the anti-terror law in the Immigration and Nationality Act. They could also amend the current law to include domestic terrorists. 

Trump announced Wednesday that he would designate Antifa as a “major terrorist organization,” adding that he will be “strongly recommending” that those responsible for funding Antifa be investigated “with the highest legal standards and practices.”

Trump announced the designation a week after Charlie Kirk, a conservative titan and champion of open debate, was shot and killed on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University during the first stop on his “American Comeback Tour.” 

The suspect, Tyler Robinson, had been “radicalized” as he became more political and lurched to the left, according to his family members.