The Wire - September 18, 2025

//The Wire//2300Z September 18, 2025//
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//BLUF: TRUMP STATES INTENT TO CLASSIFY ANTIFA AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. CHICAGO MAYOR LAMENTS IMPENDING NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT.//

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-HomeFront-

Illinois: Statements by local mayor Brandon Johnson have continued to escalate as the National Guard deployment to Chicago draws near. Johnson stated that “Jails and incarceration and law enforcement is a sickness that has not led to safe communities”, and that he intends to "eradicate" this "sickness".

Analyst Comment: It is often a hard sell to convince the public that putting violent criminals in prison is against the best interests of the taxpayer, but Johnson continues to make that argument nonetheless. Right now there is no real confirmation of how the National Guard QRF is to be deployed around the city, though city and state opposition has been high.

California: Following yesterday's statements by the FCC Chairman, the ABC network has pulled the Jimmy Kimmel show from it's timeslot indefinitely.

Analyst Comment: The network does not care about the crass statements that were made, as it encouraged this behavior for many years. However, getting their license yanked at a time where their ratings are already down would not have been a positive outcome for them.

Washington D.C. - Yesterday evening President Trump stated his intent to designate ANTIFA as a terrorist organization on social media.

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Analyst Comments: Beyond President Trump's short post on social media, no details have been provided on this designation yet, or how it's going to work out paperwork-wise. ANTIFA certainly has foreign roots, but in most cases is not explicitly foreign-controlled, so a designation by the State Department as being an FTO might not be an adequate fit. Nevertheless, if the intent is to create a label that ensures more federal charges can be pursued against militants (instead of the catch-and-release that ANTIFA is used to), there are plenty of options. The White House is probably also looking at RICO options regarding the bail-fund practices for ANTIFA members, which have industrialized the process of rotating through the court system.

More directly, ANTIFA activities are certain to increase due to this designation, whatever it works out to be. Low-level demonstrations are certain to take place in the usual areas, and more kinetic "Direct Action" attacks are also quite likely to spring up, though larger efforts may take some time to organize. Either way, ANTIFA can certainly mobilize faster than government forces can respond in most cases, though the biggest barriers to ANTIFA operations right now are funding and a lack of coherent picture at higher levels of organization. 

For many years, ANTIFA has had no natural predators in their environment, and has been allowed to conduct all manner of activities without any sort of barriers at all. Designating this group as a terrorist organization also isn't really necessary; almost all ANTIFA publications directly state that they seek to use violence to further their political goals...which is the textbook definition of terrorism. Where a federal "terrorism" label (however it works out) can be applied, is in cases where local prosecutors won't prosecute terrorist attacks, or more importantly, in the dismantling of the financial networks which have openly been operating under shady LLCs and nonprofit groups, which have acted as shell corporations for ANTIFA funding sources. This still requires federal agencies and prosecutors to *actually prosecute* under the current laws that exist, which is still a bridge too far in most jurisdictions.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
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