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At a White House policy meeting, Kristi Noem this week compared the loose network of antifascist activists to MS-13, the Gaza-based organization, the Iran-backed group and the Islamic State, calling the loosely affiliated street activists “just as dangerous” as officially recognized terror groups.

“They are just as sophisticated as Mara Salvatrucha, as the Tren de Aragua, as the Islamic State, as the Lebanese militia, as Hamas, each one of these, they pose the same level of threat,” Noem said. “They have an agenda to destroy us, similar to other extremist groups we’ve dealt with for many, many years.”

The roundtable included rightwing social media journalists including Andy Ngo, Nick Sortor, Katie Daviscourt and others who report on anti-fascist demonstrations.

Several organizations mentioned by the secretary – Hamas, Hezbollah and Isis – are formally designated terrorist organizations that control territory, operate military wings, maintain command structures and have executed mass casualty attacks including bombings, abductions and assassinations.

Specialists in radical movements have frequently characterized the anti-fascist movement, by contrast, as having no centralized leadership, official membership or organizational structure, and it has often been portrayed by federal law enforcement as a loose network of activists who participate in demonstrations, portions of which involve damage to belongings and street violence.

This meeting comes after an executive order signed last month classifying anti-fascist activists as a “homegrown terror group”.

Days before the announcement, a Proud Boys leader previously convicted and later pardoned for his role on January 6 posted on X: “Who is prepared to pursue anti-fascist activists? Since I am acquainted with several individuals.”