Coffee Break: ICE, Antifa, and the Ever Expanding Definition of Terrorism

The Trump administration has dramatically expanded the official definition of “terrorism” and is already getting accused Antifa members to enter guilty pleas for “providing material support to terrorists.”

NSPM-7 Casts a Very Wide Net

We’ve covered Trump’s September 25 National Security Presidential Memorandum titled Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence (NSPM-7) previously.

Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called NSPM-7, “The first time in American history that there is an all-of-government effort to dismantle left wing terrorism.”

Ken Klippenstein described the memo thus:

In NSPM-7, “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” President Trump directs the Justice Department, the FBI, and other national security agencies and departments to fight his version of political violence in America, retooling a network of Joint Terrorism Task Forces to focus on “leftist” political violence in America. This vast counterterrorism army, made up of federal, state, and local agents would, as Trump aide Stephen Miller said, form “the central hub of that effort.”

NSPM-7 directs a new national strategy to “disrupt” any individual or groups “that foment political violence,” including “before they result in violent political acts.”

In other words, they’re targeting pre-crime, to reference Minority Report.

The Trump administration isn’t only targeting organizations or groups but even individuals and “entities” whom NSPM-7 says can be identified by any of the following “indicia” (indicators) of violence:

• anti-Americanism,
• anti-capitalism,
• anti-Christianity,
• support for the overthrow of the United States Government,
• extremism on migration,
• extremism on race,
• extremism on gender
• hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family,
• hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on religion, and
• hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on morality.

“The United States requires a national strategy to investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts,” the directive states (emphasis mine).

NSPM-7 painted in broad strokes, now the Trump team is filling in the details.

Bondi Releases a Tactical Roadmap

In December, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a memo “On Countering Domestic Terrorism And Organized Political Violence” that Klippenstein described as “the war plan for how the government will wage (war on just about anyone who isn’t MAGA) on a tactical level.”

Bondi’s memo opens with a section titled, “Defining the domestic terrorism threat” which includes this sentence: “For some culpable actors, such as certain Antifa-aligned extremists, their animating principle is adherence to the types of extreme viewpoints on immigration, radical gender ideology, and anti-American sentiment listed below, with a willingness to use violence against law-abiding citizenry to serve those beliefs.”

The memo also vows that “where domestic terrorism is encountered or suspected, law enforcement agencies shall refer such matters to the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) for the exhaustive investigation contemplated by NSPM-7.”

Bondi also defines acts of domestic terrorism as:

Such acts may include organized rioting, looting, doxing, and swatting; and conspiracies to impede or assault law enforcement, destroy property, or engage in violent civil disorder. Law enforcement agencies shall refer these matters to the JTTFs for investigation. Upon receipt of these referrals, the JTTFs shall use all available investigative tools, consistent with law enforcement internal policies and statutory obligations, to map the full network of culpable actors involved in the referred conduct inside and outside the United States.

Note the inclusion of “doxing” in the list of proscribed acts.

Doxing Includes What Exactly?

Reason.com elaborated on the memo’s inclusion of “doxing”:

While undefined in the memo, “doxing” in this context is understood to mean the publishing of information that identifies law enforcement officers, which the Justice Department insinuates is a threatening activity used to “silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society.”

This definition mirrors previous statements by DHS officials earlier this year, including a statement made by Noem in July: “Violence is anything that threatens [agents] and their safety, so it’s doxing them, it’s videotaping them where they’re at when they’re out on operations.”

However, much of what the Trump administration tries to paint as the unacceptable “doxing” of law enforcement agents is often observers merely recording on-duty officers—an activity firmly protected by the First Amendment when no physical interference or danger is present, and an important tool for holding public officials accountable. By broadly defining domestic terrorism to include something as vague as “doxing,” the Trump administration has rolled out a “nationwide policy of intimidating and threatening people who attempt to observe and record DHS operations,” according to David Bier, the director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute.

Under such a broad definition, even the DHS’ own camera crews and media hired specifically to record and publish details of immigration operations could potentially be prosecuted for domestic terrorism. The only limiting factor in the memo seems to be whether the publisher is considered Trump’s political ally or opponent, i.e., an “Antifa-aligned extremist,” which the December 4 memo defines, in part, as someone with “extreme viewpoints on immigration,” such as “mass migration and open borders.”

Bondi’s memo does more than proscribe protected First Amendment actions, it also mandates an FBI tipline.

FBI To Open Tipline for Tattlers

Klippenstein describes the incentives outlined in Bondi’s memo:

Bondi directs the FBI to enhance the capabilities (and publicity) of its tipline in order to more aggressively solicit tips from the American public on, well, other Americans. To that end, Bondi also directs the FBI to establish “a cash reward system” for information leading to identification and arrest of leadership figures within these purported domestic terrorist organizations. (The memo later instructs the FBI to “establish cooperators to provide information and eventually testify against other members” of the groups.)

The payouts don’t end there. Justice Department grants are now to prioritize funding to programs for state and local law enforcement to go after domestic terrorism.

One has to wonder if the kind of organized opposition ICE encountered in Chicago will fall under the mandate of NSPM-7.

Neighborhoods Organized to Resist ICE

Melissa Gira Grant reported on “a network of rapid-response groups that have sprung up over the last few months to protect immigrant communities from the Trump administration’s brutal, far-reaching “mass deportation” program” for The New Republic.

Gira Grant details the legal steps taken by Illinois elected officials (some of which I’ve covered here previously):

The mayor signed an executive order designating city-owned property as “ICE Free Zones.” A federal judge required some of those overseeing the operation, such as Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, to testify under oath, and set schedules for them to update the court on the operation. But neither political nor legal interventions have managed to meaningfully interrupt what’s going on. ICE-free zones, residents report, do not stop ICE. And the slow-moving legal system can’t prevent agents from violating residents’ constitutional rights; indeed, the system largely functions to offer redress after the fact. Even when courts have ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement or CBP to cease some violent action, such as lobbing tear gas into residential neighborhoods, agents ignored them. The scores of terrifying arrests continued.

Gira Grant contrasts the acts of the electeds with the community response to ICE:

The one response that has been genuinely effective has come from community members—ordinary residents who have come together, trained one another, and connected across neighborhoods to form groups like the Southwest Side Rapid Response Team. They have eyes on the street, the trust of their neighbors, and the ability to intervene practically instantaneously, sharing information with the ICE-activity hotline that operates across the state. They can record evidence and pass it along in seconds to rights groups, news media, and social media. Blending protest and direct action, they are offering something concrete to Chicagoans who want to express their opposition to Donald Trump’s war on immigrants. This is true movement-building, a project that may endure after this particular threat to immigrant communities, even after this regime. ICE, CBP, and others have violently retaliated against these groups in part because the agencies correctly understand what many do not: Organized neighbors are mounting an effective defense, and an organized movement is a formidable adversary.

DHS was widely reported to have left Chicago in November, perhaps because of the organized resistance it encountered.

Turns out Chicago was just getting a brief respite.

Sorry Cicero, Bovino’s Back

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino spent a good deal of time in New Orleans in early December, but returned to Illinois on December 17:

Bovino, who was at the center of several use-of-force lawsuits and the most violent, controversial actions of Operation Midway Blitz, was back in the Chicago area Tuesday morning.

The enforcement action sends a clear message that although some declared Operation Midway Blitz to be “over,” it is not.

A source tells CBS News Chicago this will not be the only day the city will see federal agents out in force. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CBS News that Bovino has temporarily come to Chicago to continue immigration enforcement, and would not confirm when he intends to return to Louisiana.

In a video shared with CBS News Chicago by an immigration rapid response group, Bovino can be seen on the sidewalk standing with a group of Border Patrol agents, talking and laughing. The video was taken near Midway International Airport, which is not far from the initial sightings of him in Cicero.

Bovino and his team of agents in tactical gear wasted no time taking people into custody, seemingly at random off the street. Federal agents sped through Little Village, making frequent stops and meeting protesters at every turn.

Neighbors tried to use a large rock to block agents from making their way down 26th Street through the neighborhood, but it did not work. Groups of residents and protesters were out throughout Little Village, blowing whistles, filming, and confronting agents as they continued their operations.

If the Chicagoland resistance thought it had run ICE out of town on a rail, they may have other thinks coming.

DHS Investigations Across the Country

A Guardian piece on FBI “domestic terrorism investigations” included the below map, note the dark blue area covering Chicagoland:

pic.twitter.com/GSohr0FUfA

— Nat Wilson Turner (@natwilsonturner) December 29, 2025

Time will tell how Chicago’s organized resistance fares against an ICE armed with NSPM-7, but so far a group of Texas resisters isn’t faring so well.

Antifa Accusations Garner Guilty Pleas

I’ve covered the July 7 incident that U.S. and Texas law enforcement is calling the “Prarieland attack” previously, but there are new developments.

Another Guardian piece details the Trump administration’s “first trophy” in its NSPM-7 campaign:

The justice department announced it was bringing terrorism charges against two people in Texas who were part of a “North Texas antifa cell”. Prosecutors said the cell had planned an attack at ICE’s Prairieland detention facility and ended with two correctional officers being shot at and a police officer sustaining a non-fatal gunshot wound. Ultimately, 18 people were charged – some donning all black gear, masks and radios – and the government said they had carefully plotted the attack.

It was the first time the government had ever filed terrorism charges against antifa. In total, 15 people were charged with providing material support for terrorism. They also face state charges as well as numerous other federal charges relating to rioting, carrying an explosive, firearms, and attempted murder of a federal employee.
…
There is no doubt a police officer was shot at the protest. Prosecutors have also brought charges against people they say helped the alleged shooter escape. But the case has drawn considerable alarm because of the way that prosecutors have sought to create a criminal enterprise – a “North Texas antifa cell” – among a group of demonstrators who were uninvolved in the shooting. Legal experts say it is a thinly veiled effort to crack down on leftwing groups and deter protesters. Six defendants have already pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists.

“It should concern everyone else in the country, because their community, their circles, might be next,” said Xavier de Janon, who is the director of mass defense at the National Lawyers Guild and has been closely following the case. “This precedent could result in people facing terrorism charges for doing very simple mainstream activism.”

The case is more complex than Trump officials have let on, according to a Guardian review of court records and interviews with defense lawyers and family members. The evidence so far raises considerable questions about whether those charged believed they were going to a protest that would result in violence or destruction of federal property. Family members and lawyers for several of those charged said in interviews the defendants had nothing to do with antifa. And experts say the terrorism charges the government has filed have nothing to do with the ideology of the defendants.

Perhaps most significant in the Texas case is the way that prosecutors have sought to create a criminal enterprise – a “North Texas antifa cell” – among a group of demonstrators, some of whom say they did not know each other and met for the first time at the protest. Prosecutors have pointed to leftwing zines and flyers seized from the protesters, their use of the encrypted messaging app Signal, all-black clothing worn at the protest, and general discussion of firearms to argue that those at the protest were part of a terror cell.

Time will tell how successful the Trump administration will be in applying NSPM-7’s broad definitions of “terrorism” against those resisting the administration.

For our part, we will work to keep Naked Capitalism readers apprised.