(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump’s Wednesday night announcement on social media that he is designating Antifa a “major terrorist organization” is welcome news to Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan.
Solan and fellow Seattle police officers have endured years of violent protests – often involving Antifa – that have left many SPD officers battered and bruised.
Antifa is a decentralized organization that claims to oppose fascism. Adherents have been active in Washington state, particularly in urban areas like Seattle, which is known as a hub for left-wing activism.
“These people are vile, and they should be treated as such,” Solan told The Center Square on Thursday. “They should be held accountable. So, I’m so glad that they’re finally going after the resources of the people who are propping up these Antifa thugs with money, assets, influence, and legal cover. Let’s go after it all.”
On Monday, in the aftermath of last week’s assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, The Center Square asked the president about the possibility of designating Antifa a domestic terrorism group.
At the time, Trump said he would consider it, and late Wednesday, Trump posted on X that he was following through.
“I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices,” read the president’s post.
“The critical question to me is still the money,” Washington State Republican Party Chair and state Rep. Jim Walsh told The Center Square on Thursday. “Where does the money that supports Antifa and other radical left organizations come from? The real question is who pays for these people to show up to agitate and to interrupt? To me, that’s the essential issue in all of this investigation and potential prosecution of these criminals.”
Legal experts say this designation will give the FBI and Justice Department more authority to pursue people with connections to Antifa, although some question this approach in dealing with a decentralized organization that lacks real leadership or a unifying message.
“I think it’s a big win for public safety in the communities across the nation,” Solan said. “Finally, the federal government can get in and start going after the resources that fund Antifa and start holding them accountable, because they have been just crushing law enforcement.”
Solan recalled the violent attacks on police officers in Seattle and other large cities during clashes that followed the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. The police officer was found guilty of murder and is currently in prison.
“Not just physical injuries, such as broken bones, lacerations, eyes being damaged, but also, more importantly – equally as important, I should say – is the stress put on these officers,” he said. “PTSD was a significant issue that we’re dealing with years later.”
Despite pay increases, SPD is still struggling to recruit officers. Washington state has for years had the fewest number of law enforcement personnel per capita in the nation.
In the midst of the Floyd protests five years ago, Trump raised the prospect of designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. Then-FBI Director Christopher Wray said Antifa was more of an ideology, not an organization, which he said would hamper designating it as a terrorist organization.
“The communist cell structure of these organizations is not new. And federal prosecutors are familiar with those tricks and those gimmicks. So, I don’t think that’ll be an impediment,” Walsh said. “One of the interesting elements of the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act is it gives investigators and prosecutors flexibility … to adjust to trickiness on the part of the criminals.”
Walsh says uncovering the layers of the money trail for funding Antifa and other left-wing organizations will, in his opinion, expose that many non-governmental organizations are involved.
“They use the non-governmental organizations, NGO networks, to obscure the money trails. And not all that money is necessarily coming from wealthy left-wing individuals. We know they’re involved, but the shocking part is a lot of the money comes from government grants,” Walsh said. “When you commingle dollars, that makes the racketeer influence corrupt organization an investigable and prosecutable entity.”
Solan said officers feel like the administration has their back.
“Finally, we feel as if our political leaders are calling out these thugs for what they are, as domestic terrorists, and we’re going to see some action,” he said. “And frankly, as a police officer professional for now 27 years, I have confidence that people are finally recognizing that there are aspects of individuals in our nation that want to overturn the rule of law and our Constitution.
“And it’s police officers that are on the front lines of this to defend our Constitution that these Antifa thugs are so against. It’s about time our political leaders found the courage to call it up for what it is.”
The Center Square contacted state Democratic leadership for comment, but did not receive a response.
The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs said it had no comment on the matter.
