Which specific left-wing organizations have been labeled domestic extremist or terrorist by the FBI or DHS since 2016?
Executive summary
Federal agencies do not formally “label” U.S. political organizations as domestic terrorist groups; instead the FBI and DHS issue threat assessments and categorize types of domestic violent extremism (DVE) such as “anarchist extremists” or “racially/ethnically motivated violent extremism” (Congressional Research Service and DHS documents) [1] [2]. Reporting and public documents since 2016 show specific left‑wing movements repeatedly referenced by DHS/FBI analysts — chiefly “anarchist” actors often described as “Antifa”‑style or “anarchist extremists,” plus historical eco‑ and animal‑rights networks such as Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF) — but the agencies do not maintain a public list of designated domestic terrorist organizations [3] [4] [1].
1. What the agencies actually do: no formal designations of domestic groups
Congressional and oversight reporting makes clear the FBI and DHS do not “designate” domestic terrorist organizations the way the U.S. government designates foreign terrorist organizations; instead they publish threat categories, strategic assessments, and case‑level investigations that identify types of threats and sometimes single actors or networks [1] [5]. That legal and policy point frames every subsequent claim about labels or “designations” [1].
2. The recurring left‑wing names that appear in FBI/DHS reporting
When officials and internal intelligence products reference left‑wing violent extremism since 2016, three buckets recur in the sources provided: anarchist‑style “Antifa” or “anarchist extremists,” eco‑extremists tied to Earth Liberation Front (ELF), and animal‑rights actors tied to Animal Liberation Front (ALF). DHS/FBI reporting and public coverage have used terms such as “anarchist extremists” and specifically warned of violence between left‑wing anarchists and right‑wing groups in intelligence assessments dating to 2016 and later [3] [4].
3. Antifa: a label in intelligence reports, not a statutory terrorist designation
Press coverage of a 2016–2017 DHS/FBI confidential assessment described the agencies warning about “anarchist extremists” often associated in public debate with “Antifa”; media and later political actors treated that as an identification of a left‑wing threat, but DHS/FBI did not — and according to CRS cannot — formally list Antifa as a designated domestic terrorist organization [3] [1]. In short: Antifa appears as a threat construct in intelligence reporting but not as a legally designated terrorist group [3] [1].
4. ALF/ELF: historic eco‑extremist entries in agency concerns
Government and third‑party trackers have long identified ALF and ELF as domestic extremist threats for property‑destruction campaigns in earlier decades; the Counter Extremism Project and summaries note the FBI in the 1990s–2000s considered ALF/ELF serious threats and tied hundreds of criminal acts to them [4]. Contemporary DHS/FBI strategic documents continue to categorize environmental and special‑interest ideological violence as a type of left‑wing extremism, even if the organizations themselves are not “designated” [4] [1].
5. How politicians and advocacy groups have framed agency language
Political actors and advocacy groups have pushed for—or against—naming specific movements. Some conservatives and White House statements in 2025 called for branding Antifa as a terrorist network; media reporting and opinion pieces reflect that push, but the underlying legal constraint remains: U.S. agencies issue threat categories not legal designations [6] [1]. Oversight disputes (for example, whistleblower and congressional letters) show the labeling debate is as much political as analytical [7].
6. Data on violent incidents shows left‑wing violence is smaller but visible
Multiple independent analyses and journalistic summaries find that left‑wing incidents account for a minority of recent domestic extremist violence, though analysts flagged isolated spikes and particular incidents — and researchers note environmental and animal‑rights extremists historically focused more on property damage than lethal violence [8] [9]. Recent academic and think‑tank studies (2024–2025) document fluctuations and note that left‑wing incidents rose in parts of 2025, but those studies still treat left‑wing violence as a distinct, smaller slice of the overall domestic terrorism picture [10] [11].
7. Limits of available reporting and unanswered specifics
Available sources do not provide a comprehensive public list of every left‑wing organization “labeled” by the FBI or DHS since 2016 because the agencies avoid formal domestic designations and often use category language [1]. If you want a line‑by‑line inventory of every organization an individual regional intelligence product discussed, those materials are not included in the set of sources provided here and would require direct FOIA releases or agency archives (not found in current reporting) [1].
8. What to watch next and why it matters
Policy proposals and elections can change how threats are discussed: calls to treat movements like Antifa as “terrorist” are political decisions that bump against legal constraints and civil‑liberties concerns reported by DHS, CRS, and press outlets [6] [1]. Analysts and journalists urge focusing resources on violent actors and networks rather than broad political movements, because blanket labels risk chilling lawful speech and complicate effective, intelligence‑driven prevention [9] [1].
If you want, I can assemble a source‑by‑source timeline of when ALF/ELF and “anarchist extremists/Antifa” appear in DHS/FBI public reports and major press coverage from 2016 onward (using only the documents you provided).