President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Thursday ordering the federal government’s top law enforcement heads to collaborate to chase down domestic terrorists and organized political violence in the United States.
Riots and protests this summer against U.S. Immigration and Law Enforcement, the two assassination attempts on Trump, and the political assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk were examples listed in the White House memo to demonstrate that political violence has increased in recent years.
“This political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and does not emerge organically. Instead, it is a culmination of sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society,” per the memorandum.
The enforcement follows Trump’s recent action designating antifa as a major terrorist organization.
Law enforcement’s plan of attack
During the press conference, FBI Director Kash Patel said the task force would “follow the money” they believe is funding these groups.
Names mentioned during the press conference included longtime Democratic Party donor, billionaire and philanthropist George Soros and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
“Soros is a name certainly that I keep hearing,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. “I hear names of some pretty rich people that are radical left people. ... We’re going to find out, and if they are funding these things, they’re going to have some problems, because they’re agitators and they’re anarchists. These are anarchists, really bad.”
The New York Times also reported on Thursday that a senior Justice Department official has instructed several U.S. attorneys’ offices “to draft plans to investigate” the international philanthropic organization, Open Society Foundation, which Soros founded.
According to the news outlet, potential charges included a range “from arson to material support of terrorism.” The organization has since released a statement where it says it condemns and does not fund terrorism:
“Our activities are peaceful and lawful, and our grantees are expected to abide by human rights principles and comply with the law. These accusations are politically motivated attacks on civil society, meant to silence speech the administration disagrees with and undermine the First Amendment right to free speech. When power is abused to take away the rights of some people, it puts the rights of all people at risk.”
Part of the White House’s evidence linking larger entities and foundations to funding criminal conspiracies concerns the organization of the events themselves.
Trump noted the signs sometimes used in political protests. “When you see the signs, and they’re all beautiful signs made professionally, these aren’t your protesters that make the sign in their basement late in the evening because they really believe it. These are anarchists and agitators, professional anarchists and agitators. And they get hired by wealthy people.”
The federal task force responsible for implementing the president’s memorandum includes the FBI, Justice Department and Treasury Department. Vice President JD Vance said that it is finally time for the federal government to take action.
“They don’t come from nowhere. These are paid people. This is organized,” Vance said during Thursday’s press conference. “They’re committing acts of political terrorism on American soil. It’s time we had a government that looked out for the American people, rather than the people who are committing violence against the American people.”