(The Center Square) – A day after President Donald Trump endorsed the prospect of designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, Washington State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh says he is convinced, like the president, that many Antifa protesters are “paid agitators.”
“We’ve seen examples of that sort of behavior here in Washington,” Walsh texted The Center Square on Tuesday.
The movement has historical roots in the Pacific Northwest, including forming one of the nation’s earliest modern such groups, Rose City Antifa, in Portland, Ore., in 2007.
On Monday, The Center Square asked the president if he would designate Antifa a domestic terror organization in the wake of growing political violence, including last week’s assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“It’s something I would do, yeah,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “If I have support from the people back here.”
He motioned to cabinet members standing with him, including U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“I think it would start with Pam, but I would do that 100%,” the president said.
Antifa and Black Lives Matter protesters took over six blocks of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood in the summer of 2020, following demonstrations and riots after the killing of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis when a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly 10 minutes. The officer was later convicted of murder and sentenced to prison.
Seattle Police had constructed a barricade to defend the East Precinct building, but violent protesters attacked officers with bricks, bottles, rocks and explosive devices. Several officers were injured, and police ended up abandoning the precinct.
Protesters, including many who were armed, then seized control of the neighborhood and declared it the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ. It was also known as the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, or CHOP.
Seattle has paid more than $12 million in settlements related to the 2020 CHAZ/CHOP zone damage, including a $500,000 settlement to the family of a teenager killed in a shooting inside the occupied area.
Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, brought up Seattle’s 2020 violence in discussing the idea of Antifa being designated a domestic terrorist organization while speaking on Fox News on Tuesday morning.
“Those were all brought to you by Antifa, and the thing I love that the president said is maybe RICO charges are warranted,” she said. “Who is funding this? Because they are responsible.”
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is a federal law enacted in 1970 to combat organized crime by targeting criminal enterprises.
“The president’s idea to use federal RICO law to investigate and possibly prosecute the people and organizations funding these paid agitators is interesting,” Walsh, who also serves in the state House of Representatives, said. “It assumes – rightly, in my opinion – that the paid agitators are really just pawns in a larger political strategy to attack our constitutional rights of free speech and peaceable assembly. I think all reasonable people would like to see those rights protected.”
The Center Square reached out to state Democrats for comment on statements by Trump and Walsh about Antifa and the potential application of RICO charges for groups funding Antifa, but did not receive a response.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, has asked for a select congressional committee investigation into the funding of groups like Antifa.
“Enough is enough. We must follow the money to identify the perpetrators of the coordinated anti-American assaults being carried out against us and take all steps under the law necessary to stop them,” he said in a Sept. 11 news release. “The best option is a full, stand-alone committee with complete authority to elevate and investigate these matters. However, I respectfully request that we establish such a committee. It should be comprised of Members and staff with prosecutorial and/or law enforcement backgrounds, and we should grant it full subpoena powers and authority to deliver results.”
