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At a White House policy meeting, the homeland security secretary on Wednesday likened antifa to the notorious gang, the Gaza-based organization, Hezbollah and the Islamic State, calling the loosely affiliated protesters “equally threatening” as officially recognized terror groups.

“They operate with the same complexity as MS-13, as the Tren de Aragua, as the Islamic State, as Hezbollah, as Hamas, as all of them, they pose the same level of threat,” Noem stated. “They have an agenda to destroy us, just like the other terrorists we have confronted for decades.”

The discussion featured rightwing social media journalists including several prominent commentators and others who report on antifa protests.

Several organizations mentioned by the secretary – the Palestinian, Lebanese, and jihadist factions – are officially classified as terror groups that control territory, operate military wings, have hierarchical leadership and have executed mass casualty attacks such as bombings, abductions and targeted killings.

Specialists in radical movements have long described the anti-fascist movement, in comparison, as lacking a central command, official membership or structured hierarchy, and it has generally been described by federal law enforcement as a loose network of activists who engage in protest activity, some of which has included property destruction and public clashes.

The roundtable follows an executive order issued in September classifying antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization”.

Days before the announcement, Joe Biggs who was convicted and then pardoned for his actions during the Capitol events posted on X: “Who’s ready to go ANTIFA hunting? Because I know a few guys.”