Antifa leaders flee America as Trump cracks down on domestic terrorist networks

Several high-profile antifa leaders have fled the country or are actively making plans to abscond overseas.

News of their escape comes after President Donald Trump designated antifa as a domestic terrorist threat and directed federal authorities to dismantle terrorism networks operating within the United States.

Mark Bray, a financier of transnational antifa operations and antifa’s foremost thought leader in America, announced he is fleeing to Europe, settling in Spain specifically, under the pretext of safety concerns following negative media attention.

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Before his departure, Bray issued an apparent call-to-action, urging widespread militancy. “Only mass antifascism, legal or not, can save us,” Bray declared on Bluesky, a popular platform on the political Left.

Bray, an assistant professor at Rutgers University, will continue teaching classes on “Terrorism” and the “History of Antifascism” remotely, despite a Change.org petition from students calling for his firing.

Derisively dubbed “Dr. Antifa” by c‹ritics on campus, Bray openly supports far-left violence in his academic work. Bray’s book, Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, is a how-to guide intended to serve as operational “reference” material for stamping out so-called fascism.

Half of his handbook’s proceeds are funneled to the funding arm of Antifa International, which financially supports hundreds of affiliates around the world, including accredited antifa chapters in America, such as Atlanta Antifascists and the Central Oregon Anti-Fascist Action.

By way of its bail fund, Antifa International pays for an array of expenses, not just legal defense fees, from riot-related tactical gear to “emergency relocations.”

“As a precaution,” Antifa International has since shut down its donation infrastructure “to protect our donors and recipients.” The announcement mentioned relocating operations due to Trump’s edict, suggesting that the global group’s fundraising apparatus is based in the United States. Antifa International accepts donations through standing campaigns on Patreon, FundRazr, and the Action Network, all American fundraising sites.

Trump’s clampdown on antifa includes prosecuting, as co-conspirators, individuals suspected of providing material support to terror-listed criminal enterprises.

U.S. intelligence officials are also investigating antifa’s international ties and working toward a foreign terrorist classification for antifa abroad. Under U.S. anti-terrorism law, sponsors of foreign terrorists face up to 20 years behind bars, and the federal government can freeze assets, cutting off the funding flow, as part of counter-terrorism sanctions.

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Bray is not the only expat among antifa’s ranks seeking shelter in foreign countries.

Independent reporter Christian Peterson recently found the leaders of Rose City Antifa, the most notorious American antifa cell, holed up in Europe.

Caroline Victorin (née Gauld), one of the founding members of the Portland-based antifa faction, was discovered this week hiding with her husband, Johan Victorin, a Swedish-born activist and another Rose City Antifa architect, in the coastal town of Varberg, Sweden.

Together as co-founders of Rose City Antifa, the oldest-known antifa chapter in America, the Victorins reportedly had helped import the European model of antifascist extremism into the U.S.

Peterson, a Swedish investigative journalist covering far-left radicalism, confronted Johan Victorin, who has dual citizenship, outside their residence and asked whether the couple fears federal prosecution in the United States.

“You are a citizen of the United States. Are you afraid of being convicted of conspiracy yourself?” asked Peterson, according to an English translation of the interaction posted on Monday. Victorin refused to comment.

Rose City Antifa, a sophisticated organization with strict recruitment practices, has gone underground in fear of conspiracy charges, according to antifa expert Andy Ngo.

Over the years, Rose City Antifa has been linked to a string of attacks against political opponents and government property. At least one Rose City Antifa member is facing federal charges of felony assault on law enforcement for allegedly punching an officer in the face outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in South Portland. The crime carries up to eight years in federal prison.

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Most recently, U.S. Homeland Security said Rose City Antifa is responsible for publishing the private information of ICE personnel, including posting their personal addresses online and on “wanted”-style public flyers, which allegedly solicited additional “tips” about individual ICE agents.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem promised to pursue anyone involved in illegal doxxing efforts against ICE officers. “We will prosecute those who dox ICE agents to the fullest extent of the law. These criminals are taking the side of vicious cartels and human traffickers,” Noem said in a statement. “We won’t allow it in America.”

The nationwide Torch Anti-Fascist Network, which Rose City Antifa belongs to, claimed that DHS was spreading “a false conspiracy theory about our member crew.”

“RCA did not put up this flyer,” the Torch Network insisted. Authorities consider the Torch Network the “most radical” of antifa collectives, overseeing the accreditation and recognition of regional antifa chapters stationed all over America.

In a separate post, Rose City Antifa stated, “We are aware that our tipline email address was recently included on flyers identifying ICE agents. We applaud any efforts to unmask ICE’s secret police, who we consider to be agents of state fascism.”

However, “we can’t take credit for these flyers,” Rose City Antifa added.

The cell said its focus as a group is generally on fighting “local fascist activity.” While the cell “support[s] doxxing and any other actions that undermine ICE’s blatant human rights abuses,” Rose City Antifa noted, “It is not within our capacity or purview to handle tips of this nature.”

Bray and Rose City Antifa were contacted for comment.