President Trump supports designating Antifa a terrorist organization following Charlie Kirk assassination

President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that he supports designating Antifa a domestic terrorist organization following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a cold-blooded murder that plunged left-wing political violence into the spotlight.

"It's something I would do, yeah. I would do that 100 percent. Antifa is terrible," Trump said in response to a reporter asking him if he would consider the designation. "Also, I've been speaking to the attorney general about bringing RICO against some of the people...who have been putting up millions and millions of dollars for agitation. These aren't protests, these are crimes what they're doing."

Trump made similar remarks in 2020 during the infamous anti-police Black Lives Matter riots following the death of George Floyd, writing at the time, "The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization." However, his first administration did not follow through with the designation.

The president also stated, speaking about Kirk's accused assassin, Tyler Robinson, that it appeared he had been "radicalized on the internet," which may have prompted him to carry out the heinous attack.

Robinson, 22, of Utah, has been arrested on capital murder charges for the September 10 assassination of Charlie Kirk, a prominent faith leader and conservative activist known for debating left-wing students on college campuses.

FBI Director Kash Patel said that several leftist groups are already under investigation following Kirk's murder. The state of Utah announced it would seek the death penalty against Robinson, a radical leftist who was raised in a conservative family.

Antifa militants and their leftist extremist networks have been involved in violence against Americans over the past decade, using political violence in multiple circumstances. The black clad extremist group, which organizes crime and rioting, operates throughout the nation, but is most prominent in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington.