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At a White House policy meeting, the homeland security secretary on Wednesday compared the loose network of antifascist activists to MS-13, the Gaza-based organization, the Iran-backed group and the Islamic State, calling the decentralized protesters “just as dangerous” as designated terrorist organizations.

“They are just as sophisticated as MS-13, as TDA [Tren de Aragua], as Isis, as Hezbollah, 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 roundtable included conservative online reporters including Andy Ngo, Nick Sortor, Katie Daviscourt and others who report on anti-fascist demonstrations.

Several organizations mentioned by the secretary – Hamas, Hezbollah and Isis – are officially classified as terror groups that hold land, run armed branches, maintain command structures and have carried out large-scale assaults such as explosions, kidnappings and assassinations.

Extremism experts have frequently characterized the anti-fascist movement, in comparison, as lacking a central command, official membership or organizational structure, and it has generally been described by national authorities as a decentralized movement of campaigners who participate in demonstrations, some of which has included damage to belongings and public clashes.

This meeting follows a presidential directive signed in September designating antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization”.

Days before the announcement, Joe Biggs who was convicted and then pardoned for his role on January 6 wrote on social media: “Who is prepared to pursue anti-fascist activists? Since I am acquainted with several individuals.”