‘There are no leaders. In fact, that is the whole point’: Why Trump can’t ban Antifa

Interview: Mark Bray, author of ‘Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook’, explains what the umbrella term ‘Antifa’ means, why Trump’s presidency has given it a greater role than ever – and why activists believe violence in the name of revolution can be justified. He speaks to Gareth Platt

Thousands gather at Seattle City Hall to protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd (Reuters)

How do you criminalise a group without any figureheads, or any formal leadership? How do you criminalise a group which, to all intents and purposes, doesn’t actually exist at all?

This is the challenge facing Donald Trump if he wishes to proceed with his pledge to criminalise Antifa, a repeat of the threat he made in August 2019.

Antifa, a contraction of anti-fascist, is best understood not as a single body, but as a movement that links hundreds of autonomous strands. Mr Trump may be adamant that Antifa is “a terrorist organisation”, but experts say it is more like a belief system, such as liberalism or conservatism.