FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Trump administration convened a symposium Tuesday on combating threats posed by pro-Hamas terrorist groups that the State Department says were ignored for years by the Biden administration.
The State Department held a “Symposium on the Rise of Far-Left Political Terrorism” at the Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace, according to an internal document obtained by The Daily Signal.
“Since Oct. 7, there has been increased convergence between these groups and those participating in antisemitic violence, including Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Iran-backed entities,” a State Department official said. “We must anticipate and counter new threats; we risk blind spots by ignoring emerging trends.”
Speakers at the symposium focused on ending threats posted by left-wing terrorism. The event was a precursor to a higher-level discussion that State will host in July in Washington, D.C., with countries from Europe, the Western Hemisphere, and East Asia.
Tom DiNanno, under secretary for arms control and international security, opened the symposium by outlining the agency’s plans to establish mechanisms for collaboration and deepen a “shared understanding of how intangible ideologies congeal into malfeasant and operationally lethal networks.”
“We recognize a long-standing foe (dormant no longer) which once again rears its head and threatens to harm our polities and degrade our societies,” DiNanno’s prepared remarks stated. “It is an objective these networks pursue with increasing sophistication.”
DiNanno then introduced Sebastian Gorka, the Trump administration’s counterterrorism chief, who recently released a report examining terrorism threats against the United States.
The United States’ counterterrorism “operating system” needs an “update” to mitigate modern threats, a State Department official said.
“What we are seeing is that—and our partners are the first to raise this with us—is that they’re seeing that a lot of these pro-Hamas, very violent groups that are operating in all of our respective countries,” a State Department official said, “that these different groups are starting to converge with what you could call your like far-left terrorist groups or anarchist groups that engage in these kinds of terrorist violent acts.”
The speakers touted steps the agency has taken to dismantle transnational far-left and anarchist terrorism, including from Antifa-aligned groups.
These steps include the use of Rewards for Justice, a program offering a financial incentive for actionable tips on terrorism, and visa restrictions, as well as designations of four Antifa-aligned groups as foreign terrorist organizations: Antifa Ost in Germany, Informal Anarchist Federation in Italy, Armed Proletarian Justice in Greece, and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense in Greece.
DiNanno’s remarks urged vigilance on visa applications.
“A U.S. visa or a U.S. passport is a privilege,” his prepared remarks say. “If you abuse that privilege by firebombing a Tesla dealership or attacking police, you will find it difficult to travel outside the United States if you are an American, or enter the United States if you are not.”
The State Department is targeting activity that meets its definition of terrorism: assassinations, kidnappings, violent threats against U.S. facilities and law enforcement, as well as attacks on critical infrastructure, military personnel, and civilian populations.
Jen Rogalski, supervisory intelligence analyst at the FBI, gave an threat briefing titled “Domestic and Transnational Far-Left Terrorism.” That was followed by two case studies of radicalization by far-left groups.
The first case study was Revolutionary Organization 17 November, a Greek radical leftist group established in 1975 to oust U.S. bases from Greece. The organization was responsible for shootings, rocket attacks, and car bombs, leading to the deaths of four Americans.
Journalist Jay Solomon then highlighted the case of Calla Walsh, a 21-year-old American who was radicalized and now lives in a Hezbollah-controlled neighborhood of Beirut, where she makes pro-Iran propaganda. Solomon wrote about Walsh’s transition into a far-left activist in The Free Press.
“America First means protecting our country, people, and way of life,” an official said. “We are leveraging counterterrorism tools and global partnerships to deter this threat before it metastasizes.”
