In the wake of multiple acts of political violence targeting conservatives and Christians, President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order targeting left-wing domestic terrorist cells. “The continuing violence from Radical Left Terrorists, in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, must be stopped,” the president said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.

“We have already declared ANTIFA a Terrorist Organization, and I will be signing an Executive Order this week to dismantle these Domestic Terrorism Networks,” he continued. “The Trump Administration is fully committed to backing Law Enforcement, Strong Borders, securing our Homeland, deporting Violent Illegal Criminals, and fully rooting out the Left Wing Domestic Terrorism that is terrorizing our Country.”

The past several weeks have seen leftists commit acts of political violence such as the attack on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Texas, the assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in Utah, and the shooting of Catholic schoolchildren attending Mass in Minnesota. Over the past several years, leftist activists have killed conservative protestors, attempted to assassinate Republican-appointed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, tried to stab Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, run over and killed supporters of President Donald Trump, attempted to assassinate Trump at least twice, firebombed GOP offices, attacked ICE agents and rioted across Los Angeles, and vandalized or attacked hundreds of Catholic churches and pro-life pregnancy resource centers.

Particularly in the wake of Kirk’s murder, the violent left-wing organization Antifa has come under increased scrutiny, along with transgender-aligned militia organizations. Antifa rose to prominence in 2016, following Trump’s first election and, in 2017, made headlines by hurling Molotov cocktails at conservatives attending an event with speaker Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California Berkeley, causing over $100,000 in damages. Jesse Areguin, then the Democratic mayor of Berkeley, suggested classifying Antifa as a criminal gang following a second Antifa riot in 2017. In 2018, Antifa-affiliated activists attacked and vandalized the home of conservative news reporter and commentator Tucker Carlson. Antifa also played a role in the violent riots that occurred following the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020.

According to a report from the Washington Examiner, Antifa in the U.S. receives foreign funding from an organization called Antifa International, which covers tactical gear, bail and legal defense fees, fines, certain medical expenses, and “emergency relocations” for Antifa members. In addition to crowd-sourced funding, Antifa International also operates an online store, selling t-shirts with the slogan “KILL FASCISTS” emblazoned across the chest. Other t-shirt slogans include “I Don’t Argue With People John Brown Would Have Shot” and “No Rest Until The Last Dictator Dies.”

Antifa International has also provided funding to chapters of the John Brown Gun Club, left-wing militia cells named after the abolitionist who was later hanged for treason after conducting a guerilla raid against U.S. military forces at the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry. According to TPUSA spokesman Andrew Kolvet, a chapter of the John Brown Gun Club has been leaving fliers around Georgetown University’s campus to recruit students. The flier features a Q.R. code and one of the phrases written on a bullet intended for Kirk’s assassination: “Hey, Fascist! Catch!” The flier advertises the John Brown Gun Club as the “only political group that celebrates when Nazis die.”

In comments to The Washington Stand, Manhattan Institute fellow Heather Mac Donald, author of “The War on Cops,” said, “The most important rhetorical weapon of the Left is to designate speech that challenges elite orthodoxies as ‘hate speech’ and the people who express such unorthodox views a ‘haters.’ This rhetorical move turns principled disagreement into personal attack.” She continued, “Hate speech and haters must be silenced and excluded from such allegedly tolerant and inclusive ‘spaces’ as college campuses. Of course, the reality is just the opposite: there are no more narrow, rigid, and animus-filled environments than universities today.” Mac Donald observed, “Tyler Robinson justified his assassination of Charlie Kirk as the elimination of hate.”

“But it is not the government’s role to respond to or punish so-called ‘hate,’” Mac Donald stressed. She pointed to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s comments on “hate speech” as a “disastrous” response to Kirk’s murder. She urged, “The Trump administration must avoid any sanctions against ideas alone, so long as they do not patently endorse or promote violence.”