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During a White House roundtable discussion, Kristi Noem this week likened the loose network of antifascist activists to MS-13, the Gaza-based organization, Hezbollah and the Islamic State, describing the loosely affiliated protesters “just as dangerous” as designated terrorist organizations.

“They operate with the same complexity as Mara Salvatrucha, as the Tren de Aragua, as Isis, as Hezbollah, as Hamas, as all of them, they pose the same level of threat,” Noem said. “Their goal is to dismantle our society, just like the other terrorists we have confronted for decades.”

The roundtable included conservative online reporters such as several prominent commentators among others who report on antifa protests.

Some of the groups Noem cited – Hamas, Hezbollah and Isis – are officially classified as terror groups that hold land, operate military wings, maintain command structures and have carried out large-scale assaults such as explosions, abductions and targeted killings.

Extremism experts have frequently characterized antifa, by contrast, as lacking a central command, official membership or organizational structure, and it has generally been described by federal law enforcement as a decentralized movement of activists who engage in protest activity, some of which has included damage to belongings and public clashes.

This meeting comes after an executive order issued last month classifying antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization”.

Shortly prior to the declaration, Joe Biggs previously convicted and later pardoned for his actions during the Capitol events wrote on social media: “Who’s ready to go ANTIFA hunting? Since I am acquainted with several individuals.”