Oppose HR 9109 — The Stop ANTIFA Act Is a Threat to Free Association

Today I take pen in hand to write and urge you, in the strongest possible terms to Vote NO on HR 9109. The so-called Stop ANTIFA Act. It’s another Republican bill designed to codify lies into law, and create sweeping powers for this authoritarian junta. This bill doesn't target violence — violence is already illegal. It targets a label. "Antifa" has no membership rolls, no headquarters, no leadership structure, no bank accounts. By designating it a domestic terrorist organization, it gives federal agencies a vague, sweeping mandate to investigate anyone they decide fits the description. The financial investigation provision is the most dangerous part. It directs investigators to map the donor networks and bank accounts of people "associated" with the label. The Brennan Center has already noted that the underlying executive order this bill codifies cites no legal basis. The Supreme Court settled this in NAACP v. Alabama — forced exposure of association chills speech, and that protection exists precisely to prevent the government from using financial surveillance to dismantle movements it dislikes. We've seen this before. COINTELPRO spent two decades using exactly these tools against civil-rights leaders and antiwar organizers. HR 9109 doesn't make anyone safer. It hands prosecutors an undefined target and a financial dragnet they can point at ANY protest movement or nonprofit that becomes politically inconvenient. Oppose this bill. Thank you.