UN deletes tweet supporting Antifa after public backlash

The original tweet showed the Antifa flag with the text: “UN Human Rights experts express profound concern over a recent statement by the US Attorney-General describing Antifa and other anti-fascist activists as domestic terrorists, saying it undermines the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly in the country.”

The UN's defense of Antifa—a group that has taken part in vandalism, arson, burglary, and assault—caused a substantial backlash, with some calling on the US to defund the international entity.

President Donald Trump has expressed his intent to designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist group, and Andy Ngo has recently announced his intentions to sue Rose City Antifa following his assault in the summer of 2019.

The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed on Friday to commission a report on systemic racism and discrimination against black Americans.

The decision was prompted by a petition from the brother of George Floyd, Philonise Floyd, who called on the UN to investigate racism and police brutality in the U.S.

In response to the move by the international body, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the Human Rights Council is “a haven for dictators and the democracies that indulge them”.

“If the Council were serious about protecting human rights, there are plenty of legitimate needs for its attention, such as the systemic racial disparities in places like Cuba, China, and Iran,” Pompeo said in a statement on Saturday.

In 2018, the Trump administration withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council. America’s then-Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said at the time: “This step is not a retreat from human rights commitments. On the contrary, we take this step because our commitment does not allow us to remain a part of a hypocritical and self-serving organization that makes a mockery of human rights.”