Make Ready: Safeguarding Our Movements against Repression
How to Respond to Donald Trump’s Threats
#CrimethInc, 2025-09-18
"In a post on Truth Social yesterday, Donald #Trump declared that he is designating '#Antifa' as 'a major terrorist organization.' What does that mean? How can we prepare to weather the storm? Everyone should read this guide.
"It’s always difficult to tell how seriously to take Trump’s performative declarations. He makes wild statements to see what plays to his audience, throwing things against the wall to see what sticks, and then doubles down wherever there is no pushback. But this time around, his administration has stuck very close to the classic fascist playbook, with one supporter going so far as to declare without any irony that the shooting of #CharlieKirk 'is the #AmericanReichstag fire.' The obvious next step in that playbook is to expand from targeting immigrants to go after #anarchists, #leftists, and other opponents of the #regime as well.
"Yes, Trump has previously declared that he would designate 'Antifa' a 'terrorist organization,' most famously at the outset of the #GeorgeFloydRevolt. But at that time, the rest of the federal government largely acted as a brake on his impulses — whereas today, the entire executive branch of the federal government is comprised of toadies and sycophants who are incapable of distinguishing their interests from his.
"Granted, there is no law authorizing the president to designate domestic terrorist organizations. But even without new legislation or an executive order, Trump has direct control over the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and other federal agencies. What he says on social media is probably indicative of what he will direct his underlings to do.
"The fact that 'Antifa' is not an organization at all, but rather a nebulous category that could include virtually anyone who disapproves of Trump’s #autocratic agenda, is convenient for Trump.
"This means that, regardless of who you are or what you do, you, too, could become a target. That’s why everyone should review the following suggestions, whether or not you think they apply to you. Rather than spreading panic, preparing ourselves in concrete ways will enable us to approach this situation calmly and effectively.
"While no 'domestic terror organization' designation currently exists — and nor does any obvious mechanism to establish one — far-right prosecutors already have a track record of groundlessly pressing trumped-up terrorism charges as a means of terrorizing activists and supporters of social movements. Trump has explicitly called for the use of #racketeering charges to suppress his critics. #FarRight Republican senators are already sponsoring a bill that would add rioting to the list of offenses that the Justice Department can use as part of a probe under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations [#RICO] Act.
"There are obvious precedents for how this might go. Two years ago, a wide range of defendants in #AtlantaGA were randomly charged under the RICO act as part of the repression of the #StopCopCity movement. The cases have been endlessly delayed—and earlier this month, a judge dismissed most of the charges on a technicality.
Under Donald Trump, many federal agencies are disorganized and focused chiefly on managing perceptions. This precisely describes the authorities who brought the haphazard RICO charges in #Georgia two years ago. If the trajectory of the Stop Cop City RICO case offers any indication of how other RICO persecutions of accused activists might go, the chief threat may not be that the crackdown Trump is calling for will send people to prison, but rather that the charges will discourage and immobilize people, creating the conditions for the Trump administration to eventually supersede this form of repression with something worse.
"It remains to be seen how seriously the administration will carry out Trump’s threats, and whether they will start by attacking #grassroots groups or proceed from the top down, targeting massive liberal institutions and fundraising platforms. In either case, our long-term prospects will depend on whether we can enable large numbers of people to act in solidarity with each other, taking up the kind of grassroots direct action tactics that can be effective regardless of whether the people who control the state wish to listen.
"We all live in Atlanta now.
"Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself and your community, proceeding from the immediate to the general."
Read more:
https://crimethinc.com/2025/09/18/make-ready-safeguarding-our-movements-against-repression-how-to-respond-to-donald-trumps-threats
#SolidarityIsPower #Solidarity #Authoritarianism #TrumpIsAFascist #NoDAPL #Resistance #SilencingDissent #StopCopCitiesEverywhere
