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During a White House roundtable discussion, Kristi Noem on Wednesday likened the loose network of antifascist activists to MS-13, the Gaza-based organization, Hezbollah and the Islamic State, describing the decentralized street activists “equally threatening” as designated terrorist organizations.

“They operate with the same complexity as Mara Salvatrucha, as TDA [Tren de Aragua], as Isis, as the Lebanese militia, as the Palestinian faction, as all of them, they pose the same level of threat,” the secretary said. “Their goal is to dismantle our society, just like the other terrorists we have confronted for many, many years.”

The discussion featured rightwing social media journalists such as Andy Ngo, Nick Sortor, Katie Daviscourt among others who cover antifa protests.

Some of the groups Noem cited – Hamas, Hezbollah and Isis – are officially classified as terror groups that hold land, operate military wings, have hierarchical leadership and have carried out large-scale assaults such as explosions, abductions and assassinations.

Extremism experts have frequently characterized the anti-fascist movement, by contrast, as lacking a central command, official membership or structured hierarchy, and it has often been portrayed by federal law enforcement as a loose network of campaigners who engage in protest activity, portions of which involve damage to belongings and street violence.

This meeting comes after an executive order issued last month designating anti-fascist activists as a “homegrown terror group”.

Days before the announcement, a Proud Boys leader who was convicted and then pardoned for his actions during the Capitol events wrote on social media: “Who is prepared to pursue anti-fascist activists? Because I know a few guys.”