Particle.news
Download on the App Store
13 ARTICLES
·
last wk.

FBI Official Calls Antifa Top U.S. Terror Threat, Stumbles Over Basic Facts in Hill Testimony

His vague answers intensified questions about treating a decentralized movement as a terrorist group.

Operations Director of the National Security Branch at the FBI Michael Glasheen testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security on December 11, 2025.
Operations director of the FBI’s National Security Branch Michael Glasheen testifies alongside Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on Dec. 11 in Washington.
Operations Director of the FBI's National Security Branch Michael Glasheen attends a House Homeland Security hearing entitled "Worldwide Threats to the Homeland," on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. December 11, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Michael Glasheen operations director of the National Security Branch of the FBI

Overview

  • At a House Homeland Security hearing, FBI operations director Michael Glasheen labeled antifa the bureau’s primary domestic concern and “the most immediate violent threat.”
  • Rep. Bennie Thompson pressed for the group’s headquarters and membership size, and Glasheen gave no specifics, calling the numbers “very fluid” and saying “investigations are active.”
  • Glasheen said the bureau is “building out the infrastructure” to assess the threat and compared the task to understanding Al Qaeda or ISIS.
  • He told lawmakers the FBI has 70 active antifa investigations and that related arrests are up 171% this year, offering no public evidence of a structured organization.
  • The exchange renewed scrutiny of President Trump’s September designation of antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, as experts and a former FBI director describe it as a decentralized ideology rather than a formal group.