The Trump administration has dramatically expanded the official definition of \u201cterrorism\u201d and is already getting accused Antifa members to enter guilty pleas for \u201cproviding material support to terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n
NSPM-7 Casts a Very Wide Net<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve covered<\/a> Trump\u2019s September 25 National Security Presidential Memorandum titled Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence<\/a> (NSPM-7) previously<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called<\/a> NSPM-7, \u201cThe first time in American history that there is an all-of-government effort to dismantle left wing terrorism.\u201d <\/p>\n Ken Klippenstein described the memo<\/a> thus:<\/p>\n In NSPM-7, \u201cCountering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,\u201d President Trump directs the Justice Department, the FBI, and other national security agencies and departments to fight his version of political violence in America, retooling a network of Joint Terrorism Task Forces to focus on \u201cleftist\u201d political violence in America. This vast counterterrorism army, made up of federal, state, and local agents would, as Trump aide Stephen Miller said, form \u201cthe central hub of that effort.\u201d<\/p>\n NSPM-7 directs a new national strategy to \u201cdisrupt\u201d any individual or groups \u201cthat foment political violence,\u201d including \u201cbefore they result in violent political acts.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, they\u2019re targeting pre-crime, to reference Minority Report.<\/p>\n The Trump administration isn\u2019t only targeting organizations or groups but even individuals and \u201centities\u201d whom NSPM-7 says can be identified by any of the following \u201cindicia\u201d (indicators) of violence:<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States requires a national strategy to investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts,\u201d the directive states (emphasis mine).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n NSPM-7 painted in broad strokes, now the Trump team is filling in the details.<\/p>\n Bondi Releases a Tactical Roadmap<\/strong> <\/p>\n In December, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a memo \u201cOn Countering Domestic Terrorism And Organized Political Violence<\/a>\u201d that Klippenstein described<\/a> as \u201cthe war plan for how the government will wage (war on just about anyone who isn\u2019t MAGA) on a tactical level.\u201d<\/p>\n Bondi\u2019s memo opens with a section titled, \u201cDefining the domestic terrorism threat\u201d which includes this sentence: \u201cFor some culpable actors, such as certain Antifa-aligned extremists, their animating principle is adherence to the types of extreme viewpoints on immigration, radical gender ideology, and anti-American sentiment listed below, with a willingness to use violence against law-abiding citizenry to serve those beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n The memo also vows that \u201cwhere domestic terrorism is encountered or suspected, law enforcement agencies shall refer such matters to the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) for the exhaustive investigation contemplated by NSPM-7.\u201d<\/p>\n Bondi also defines acts of domestic terrorism as:<\/p>\n Such acts may include organized rioting, looting, doxing, and swatting; and conspiracies to impede or assault law enforcement, destroy property, or engage in violent civil disorder. Law enforcement agencies shall refer these matters to the JTTFs for investigation. Upon receipt of these referrals, the JTTFs shall use all available investigative tools, consistent with law enforcement internal policies and statutory obligations, to map the full network of culpable actors involved in the referred conduct inside and outside the United States. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Note the inclusion of \u201cdoxing\u201d in the list of proscribed acts.<\/p>\n Doxing Includes What Exactly?<\/strong><\/p>\n Reason.com elaborated<\/a> on the memo\u2019s inclusion of \u201cdoxing\u201d:<\/p>\n While undefined in the memo, \u201cdoxing\u201d in this context is understood to mean the publishing of information that identifies law enforcement officers, which the Justice Department insinuates is a threatening activity used to \u201csilence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society.\u201d <\/p>\n This definition mirrors previous statements by DHS officials earlier this year, including a statement made by Noem in July: \u201cViolence is anything that threatens [agents] and their safety, so it\u2019s doxing them, it\u2019s videotaping them where they\u2019re at when they\u2019re out on operations.\u201d<\/p>\n However, much of what the Trump administration tries to paint as the unacceptable \u201cdoxing\u201d of law enforcement agents is often observers merely recording on-duty officers\u2014an activity firmly protected by the First Amendment when no physical interference or danger is present, and an important tool for holding public officials accountable. By broadly defining domestic terrorism to include something as vague as \u201cdoxing,\u201d the Trump administration has rolled out a \u201cnationwide policy of intimidating and threatening people who attempt to observe and record DHS operations,\u201d according to David Bier, the director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute.<\/p>\n Under such a broad definition, even the DHS\u2019 own camera crews and media hired specifically to record and publish details of immigration operations could potentially be prosecuted for domestic terrorism. The only limiting factor in the memo seems to be whether the publisher is considered Trump\u2019s political ally or opponent, i.e., an \u201cAntifa-aligned extremist,\u201d which the December 4 memo defines, in part, as someone with \u201cextreme viewpoints on immigration,\u201d such as \u201cmass migration and open borders.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Bondi\u2019s memo does more than proscribe protected First Amendment actions, it also mandates an FBI tipline.<\/p>\n FBI To Open Tipline for Tattlers<\/strong><\/p>\n Klippenstein describes<\/a> the incentives outlined in Bondi\u2019s memo:<\/p>\n Bondi directs the FBI to enhance the capabilities (and publicity) of its tipline in order to more aggressively solicit tips from the American public on, well, other Americans. To that end, Bondi also directs the FBI to establish \u201ca cash reward system\u201d for information leading to identification and arrest of leadership figures within these purported domestic terrorist organizations. (The memo later instructs the FBI to \u201cestablish cooperators to provide information and eventually testify against other members\u201d of the groups.)<\/p>\n The payouts don\u2019t end there. Justice Department grants are now to prioritize funding to programs for state and local law enforcement to go after domestic terrorism.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n One has to wonder if the kind of organized opposition ICE encountered in Chicago will fall under the mandate of NSPM-7.<\/p>\n Neighborhoods Organized to Resist ICE<\/strong><\/p>\n Melissa Gira Grant reported on \u201ca network of rapid-response groups that have sprung up over the last few months to protect immigrant communities from the Trump administration\u2019s brutal, far-reaching \u201cmass deportation\u201d program\u201d for The New Republic<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gira Grant details the legal steps taken by Illinois elected officials (some of which I\u2019ve covered here previously<\/a>):<\/p>\n The mayor signed an executive order designating city-owned property as \u201cICE Free Zones.\u201d A federal judge required some of those overseeing the operation, such as Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, to testify under oath, and set schedules for them to update the court on the operation. But neither political nor legal interventions have managed to meaningfully interrupt what\u2019s going on. ICE-free zones, residents report, do not stop ICE. And the slow-moving legal system can\u2019t prevent agents from violating residents\u2019 constitutional rights; indeed, the system largely functions to offer redress after the fact. Even when courts have ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement or CBP to cease some violent action, such as lobbing tear gas into residential neighborhoods, agents ignored them. The scores of terrifying arrests continued.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Gira Grant contrasts the acts of the electeds with the community response to ICE:<\/p>\n The one response that has been genuinely effective has come from community members\u2014ordinary residents who have come together, trained one another, and connected across neighborhoods to form groups like the Southwest Side Rapid Response Team. They have eyes on the street, the trust of their neighbors, and the ability to intervene practically instantaneously, sharing information with the ICE-activity hotline that operates across the state. They can record evidence and pass it along in seconds to rights groups, news media, and social media. Blending protest and direct action, they are offering something concrete to Chicagoans who want to express their opposition to Donald Trump\u2019s war on immigrants. This is true movement-building, a project that may endure after this particular threat to immigrant communities, even after this regime. ICE, CBP, and others have violently retaliated against these groups in part because the agencies correctly understand what many do not: Organized neighbors are mounting an effective defense, and an organized movement is a formidable adversary.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n DHS was widely reported<\/a> to have left Chicago in November, perhaps because of the organized resistance it encountered. <\/p>\n Turns out Chicago was just getting a brief respite.<\/p>\n Sorry Cicero, Bovino\u2019s Back<\/strong><\/p>\n U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino spent a good deal of time in New Orleans<\/a> in early December, but returned to Illinois on December 17<\/a>: <\/p>\n Bovino, who was at the center of several use-of-force lawsuits and the most violent, controversial actions of Operation Midway Blitz, was back in the Chicago area Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n The enforcement action sends a clear message that although some declared Operation Midway Blitz to be \u201cover,\u201d it is not. <\/p>\n A source tells CBS News Chicago this will not be the only day the city will see federal agents out in force. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CBS News that Bovino has temporarily come to Chicago to continue immigration enforcement, and would not confirm when he intends to return to Louisiana. <\/p>\n In a video shared with CBS News Chicago by an immigration rapid response group, Bovino can be seen on the sidewalk standing with a group of Border Patrol agents, talking and laughing. The video was taken near Midway International Airport, which is not far from the initial sightings of him in Cicero. <\/p>\n Bovino and his team of agents in tactical gear wasted no time taking people into custody, seemingly at random off the street. Federal agents sped through Little Village, making frequent stops and meeting protesters at every turn. <\/p>\n Neighbors tried to use a large rock to block agents from making their way down 26th Street through the neighborhood, but it did not work. Groups of residents and protesters were out throughout Little Village, blowing whistles, filming, and confronting agents as they continued their operations.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n If the Chicagoland resistance thought it had run ICE out of town on a rail, they may have other thinks coming.<\/p>\n DHS Investigations Across the Country<\/strong><\/p>\n A Guardian piece<\/a> on FBI \u201cdomestic terrorism investigations\u201d included the below map, note the dark blue area covering Chicagoland: <\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/GSohr0FUfA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Nat Wilson Turner (@natwilsonturner) December 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Time will tell how Chicago\u2019s organized resistance fares against an ICE armed with NSPM-7, but so far a group of Texas resisters isn\u2019t faring so well.<\/p>\n Antifa Accusations Garner Guilty Pleas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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