NOTE: If you are short on time, watch the video and complete this See, Think, Wonder activity: What did you notice? What did the story make you think about? What would you want to learn more about?
SUMMARY
President Donald Trump is targeting the antifa movement, labeling it a “domestic terrorist organization,” even though no such designation exists under U.S. law. The move comes less than two weeks after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed at a college campus event. The man accused of shooting Kirk has no publicly known link to the movement. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Luke Baumgartner.
View the transcript of the story.
News alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.
WARM-UP QUESTIONS
- What is antifa? What does "antifa" stand for?
- Who are some of the people associated with the antifa movement?
- How is antifa organized, according to Baumgartner?
- Why did President Trump label antifa as a domestic terrorist organization (*Note: No such designation exists under U.S. law)?
- Why does Baumgartner say labeling antifa as a domestic terrorist organization is a political scapegoat (practice of falsely placing the blame on a single person or entity)?
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
- How do you think political extremism affects American society?
- What could be the result of labeling antifa a domestic terrorist organization?
Media literacy: Why do you think the News Hour decided to interview an expert on extremism for this story?
WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO
Read the following article from The Conversation, Analysis: What data shows about political extremist violence.
The article's authors state: "The understanding of political violence is complicated by differences in definitions and the recent Department of Justice removal of an important government-sponsored study of domestic terrorists."
- Do you think it is for different entities (government agencies, think tanks, universities, etc.) to study political violence and extremism? Explain.
- Take a look at the multiple examples cited in the article of extremist acts by individuals in recent years. What do we know about why they undertook these violent actions? How could such incidents, and political extremism, in general, be decreased?
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