Treasury Department Sanctions Three International Groups Designated as Far-Left Terrorist Networks

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced enforcement actions Wednesday against three international organizations it identified as far-left extremist networks engaged in violent activities. The sanctioned groups include Autistici Inventati, based in Italy; Palestine Action, operating from the United Kingdom; and Masar Badil, headquartered in Spain and described as a front organization for the already-sanctioned Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared in a statement that the administration would deploy all available economic mechanisms against extremist groups and their supporters. “Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated,” Bessent said, characterizing the action as part of a broader crackdown on politically motivated violence.

Federal investigators have expanded scrutiny of far-left nonprofits and activists over the past year, with the Treasury Department examining whether organizations violated sanctions regulations. Under investigation have been Marxist social media personality Hasan Piker and CodePink co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans regarding alleged Cuba sanctions violations, though none have faced criminal charges and all have denied wrongdoing.

A State Department report obtained by Fox News Digital detailed that Autistici Inventati provided technical services to international terrorist groups and violent extremists operating in American cities. The memo specifically identified Portland-based Rose City Antifa as a domestic organization that utilized Autistici Inventati’s tools and infrastructure for coordinated activities.

Spanish authorities arrested wealthy progressive activist Fergie Cox, heir to the Cox cable television fortune, during the summer on an extradition request from the Justice Department. Investigators are examining Cox’s alleged financial support for organizations including Palestine Action, though he has denied involvement and contested the extradition proceedings.

The sanctions freeze any U.S.-based assets and bank accounts belonging to these organizations and prohibit American citizens from conducting financial transactions with them. The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on two officials associated with Masar Badil as part of the enforcement action.

Palestine Action, established in 2020, has conducted aggressive campaigns against defense contractors it accuses of supporting Israel, including facility break-ins, factory occupations and equipment destruction. The United Kingdom previously sanctioned the organization in 2024 after determining it caused more than $1.3 million in damages to an Elbit Systems facility.

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori responded to the sanctions through social media, characterizing the designation as hypocritical given U.S. foreign policy. “As a Palestinian and Iraqi, the fact the country which destroyed both my homelands is calling me a terrorist, is beyond hypocritical,” Ammori stated, adding that Trump administration policies contradicted her organization’s principles.

According to Treasury officials, Masar Badil operates as a financial front for Samidoun, which the United States and Canada designated as a sanctions target in 2024. Treasury identified Samidoun as an international fundraising apparatus for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization since 1997.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine received its terrorist designation following decades of international attacks, including airline hijackings throughout the 1960s and 1970s that resulted in more than 20 American deaths. The organization was designated alongside Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad during the same 1997 designation cycle.

Samidoun internal coordinator Charlotte Kates defended the sanctioned organizations on social media, characterizing the Treasury action as an attempt to suppress Palestinian advocacy. “The U.S.’ latest sanctions and designations are targeting Palestine Action and the @MasarBadil, attempting once again to bring the upsurge for Palestine to an end through criminalization and state terror,” Kates stated.

Masar Badil executive committee member Khaled Barakat told Fox News Digital that Washington’s sanctions represent part of a coordinated campaign against Palestinian organizing efforts. Barakat accused the United States of collaborating with Israel to suppress pro-Palestinian activism and criminalize advocacy related to Palestinian causes.

A newly released George Washington University report examining extremism documented that Masar Badil participated directly in campus unrest following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Researchers found the organization had repeatedly attempted to mobilize physical protests against Israeli and American policies.

Autistici Inventati allegedly provides technical infrastructure including foreign server hosting, encrypted communications and digital platforms to violent left-wing extremist networks and sanctioned terrorist organizations. The group has reportedly supported the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which received foreign terrorist organization designation in 1997 alongside the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Lara Burns, former FBI special agent and current terrorism research director at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, characterized the sanctioned networks as particularly dangerous for normalizing violent ideologies. Burns warned that these organizations frame terrorist activities as legitimate resistance, messaging that gains influence as groups continue operating internationally and domestically.