Internal documents from fusion centers in Florida and Texas show that local police are adopting the Trump administration's language to categorize First Amendment-protected activities, such as the distribution of zines and the use of specific clothing, as indicators of domestic terrorism.
The shift in local policing strategy follows a September 22 executive order from Donald Trump that sought to designate antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. According to documents obtained by The Intercept, this federal posture has seeped into the operational bulletins of regional fusion centers—hubs created after the September 11, 2001, attacks to share intelligence between federal and local authorities.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson defended the approach as a “new law enforcement strategy.” Jackson stated that the President’s Memorandum focuses on “investigating, disrupting, dismantling, and prosecuting individuals and entities engaged in organized political violence and domestic terrorism.”
Florida Fusion Center Targets Legal Observers and Aesthetics
A 28-page confidential bulletin produced by the Southeast Florida Fusion Center, housed within the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, explicitly defines antifa as terrorism and claims its goal is the “violent overthrow of the United States government.” The report is marked “for official use only” and reproduces the text of Trump’s executive order in full.
The Florida report relies on sources including Andy Ngo, Jack Posobiec, and an X account called Far Left Watch. It instructs officers to monitor “aesthetic markers” of dissent. Specifically, the bulletin warns that inflatable animal costumes—a reference to the Portland Frog Brigade—are used as “propaganda implemented by Antifa to soften their image.”
The document also identifies the National Lawyers Guild, a legal collective founded in 1937, as the “legal representation” of antifa. Xavier de Janon, director of mass defense for the National Lawyers Guild, called this characterization false, noting that “antifa is not an organization” and there is no retainer agreement between the National Lawyers Guild and such a movement.
Further targeting in the Florida report focuses on the use of zines, which the bulletin describes as “educational tools” used to recruit sympathizers. This mirrors arguments used by federal prosecutors in the Prairieland ICE detention center protest case.
Texas Intelligence Briefs and Pro-Palestine Monitoring
In Texas, the Dallas Regional Fusion Center produced an “intelligence brief” in December centering on the Turtle Island Liberation Front, a group accused of plotting bombing attacks in Southern California. While the Turtle Island group was the primary focus, the Dallas report expanded its scope to include groups with no apparent connection to the bombing plot.
The bulletin singled out the Direct Action Movement for Palestine Liberation and Unity of Fields, labeling them “another far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-Zionist extremist group.” Despite acknowledging that these groups had no known presence in Dallas, the center urged local police to monitor encrypted messaging platforms and social media “ghost accounts” or VPNs.
Corbin Rubinson, a spokesperson for the Dallas Police Department, declined to comment on the specific contents of the report, stating that such assessments are developed to support “information sharing and situational awareness among our public safety partners.”
FBI Alerts and the ‘Anarchist Violent Extremist’ Label
The FBI has issued its own guidance to local police using the term “Anarchist Violent Extremists” (AVE). On January 30, the FBI’s Office of Partner Engagement and Counterterrorism Division released a “public safety awareness report” titled “Anarchist Violent Extremists Pose Persistent Public Safety Threat.”
The report was issued four days after federal officers shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. The FBI cited “indicators” of AVE violence in Minneapolis, including a social media post by an individual who self-identified as antifa and encouraged others to “get your guns” to oppose ICE. This individual is believed to be Kyle Wagner, whose videos were featured in a recent indictment of 15 anti-ICE protesters.
Brendan McQuade, a professor at the University of Southern Maine who studies fusion centers and domestic surveillance, criticized the FBI’s analysis. McQuade stated that claims such as “anti-capitalist graffiti” being an indicator of a threat would not “pass peer review” and characterized the reporting as “bad analysis.”
Civil Liberties Concerns and Historical Precedents
The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged the Justice Department in a 2024 public records lawsuit to uncover how Joint Terrorism Task Forces and fusion centers respond to protests. The ACLU argues that the current administration is treating political dissent as a threat.
Sara Robinson, an attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project, pointed to a July 2018 Department of Homeland Security bulletin that listed “indicators” of anarchist activity. These indicators included wearing black and red clothing, using “Guy Fawkes” masks, and the “use of public transportation.”
Robinson stated that “merely wearing certain colors and taking the bus to a protest should not be enough to justify heightened scrutiny,” adding that such broad terms open the door to “pretextual law enforcement investigations.”
The current climate of surveillance echoes previous eras of domestic intelligence gathering. The National Lawyers Guild, for instance, was infiltrated by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI and targeted during the Senate hearings led by Joseph McCarthy in the 1940s and 50s.
The ongoing implementation of NSPM-7 and associated executive orders remains a focal point for legal challenges. The next phase of this legal conflict is expected to unfold as the ACLU’s public records lawsuits proceed through the federal court system.