Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invited senior ministers from more than 60 countries to a meeting about what the Trump administration views as a major peril: the ‘resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism,’ according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

International Cooperation

The meeting has prompted consternation among career and political U.S. officials, some European allies, and independent analysts who do not see the threat in the same terms. Some U.S. officials told The Post that they worry it is part of a Trump administration effort to use powerful counterterrorism tools to crack down on U.S. activists they view as left-wing extremists.

The administration’s counterterrorism czar, Sebastian Gorka, has had discussions with colleagues about using foreign terrorism labels for antifa to justify going after Americans with links to the movement, a loosely knit association of far-left activists who militantly oppose fascism and right-wing ideologies.

Concerns and Criticisms

Some Trump administration officials fear that a future Democratic administration could use the tactic against conservative activists. The use of these tactics has raised concerns among career and political officials inside the Justice Department and the White House Counsel’s Office.

President Donald Trump has made no secret of his disdain for antifa, going so far as to issue an executive order in the fall branding it a ‘domestic terrorist organization,’ a rhetorical label that experts say carries no legal weight.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.