During the aftermath of the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump’s administration has directed Joint Terrorism Task Forces to investigate alleged instances of “domestic terrorism and organized political violence.” National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 directs the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in conjunction with state and local law enforcement, to commit JTTF resources to investigating groups and movements operating under the umbrella term of “anti-facism.”
Titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” NSPM 7 asserts that recent acts of political violence are not isolated ones, but are “a culmination of sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society.”
The memorandum cites recent high-profile political assassinations or assassination attempts as a justification for the new directive of JTTF, including Kirk’s assassination is, the alleged assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and an assassination attempt on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022. The two separate attempts on Trump’s life during his 2024 Presidential campaign are mentioned as well.
Notably, the high-profile assassination of Democratic State Lawmaker from Minnesota, Melissa Hortman, is absent from this list.
These acts of political violence have spurred the Trump administration to order JTTFs to investigate organizations, individuals, funding networks or other entities allegedly involved with these acts.
The memorandum states that common threads of motivation for these movements include, “Anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”
The order asserts that organizations exhibiting these ideals support a “movement that embraces and elevates violence to achieve policy outcomes, including justifying additional assassinations.”
This order will see JTTF resources committed to investigating organizations and individuals allegedly supporting political violence. While the implementation plan for this order is largely undisclosed, the order states that it will investigate acts committed by the aforementioned organizations that recruit and radicalize persons with the intent to commit acts of political violence, or engage in conspiracy against rights, or violently deprive any citizen of their rights.
Additionally, investigations will be conducted into organizational and individual funders of the aforementioned organizations. The Justice Department will work in conjunction with the U.S. Department of the Treasury to “identify and disrupt financial networks that fund domestic terrorism and political violence.”
The American Civil Liberties Union has condemned NSPM 7, alleging that the Trump administration will use the order to prosecute political dissidents.
“After one of the most harrowing weeks for our First Amendment rights, the President is invoking political violence, which we all condemn, as an excuse to target non-profits and activists with the false and stigmatizing label of ‘domestic terrorism,’” Hina Shamsi said, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. “This is a shameful and dangerous move. But the President cannot rewrite the Constitution by memo.”
The JTTF has been in operation for approximately 45 years, originating as a joint operation between the FBI and the New York Police Department, with the original model being expanded nationwide as the FBI acted to counter a surge of nationalist violence in the 1980s. Following the attacks on 9/11, JTTF operations expanded nationwide with a mandate that a taskforce be created in every FBI field office. Currently, JTTFs operate with approximately 4,000 personnel from the FBI, state, local and other federal agencies.
