Italian ‘extremist group’ sanctioned for helping leftists evade police
The Biden administration has imposed terrorism sanctions on the Autistici/Inventati (A/I) Collective, an Italy-based leftist association accused of providing digital tools used by extremists to facilitate crimes and promote violence. The group has been designated a “specially Designated Global Terrorist,” prohibiting transactions with US entities. The sanctions follow reports highlighting how the collective supports activists who anonymously publish violent threats, incite insurrection, and share private information of political opponents. The State Department linked the A/I Collective to radical activities in the US and Europe, including encouraging attacks on infrastructure and posting “doxing” lists. Despite sanctions, the group maintains it does not possess user data and offers services like email and private messaging to support its “antifascist” aims. The move aligns with efforts by the Trump administration to combat leftist political violence, including designating other European groups as terrorist entities and prosecuting related individuals. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that any form of political terrorism would be met with strong US action to protect national security and societal stability.
President Donald Trump’s administration imposed terrorism sanctions on an Italy-based leftist group on Wednesday for providing digital tools that help extremists commit crimes.
The Autistici/Inventati Collective, or A/I Collective, is now a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” barred from transactions with anyone in the United States, the Treasury and State Departments announced.
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The collective came under scrutiny after an October Daily Caller report and expert Senate testimony detailed how activists use its web services to anonymously publish “communiques” bragging about violent attacks, encourage insurrection, and post immigration agents’ private information. This “extremist group” provides “digital infrastructure for violent Antifa cells and other far-left militants across the world,” the State Department said.
The A/I Collective did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment. The group openly advertises services — such as email accounts, private messaging, and the blogging platform NoBlogs — that allow its “antifascist” patrons to anonymize their data while posting and communicating. The collective’s name reflects its use of “autism with invention,” according to its website.
“After 2005 we have been constantly pestered by prosecutors and security forces (and even by the Vatican!) asking us to hand over users’ data and identities and we are proud to say we were always able to answer: we are sorry, but we do not have them,” the collective’s website says.
The State Department highlighted previously known examples of radicals in California, Oregon, and Georgia using the A/I Collective’s tools since 2023. Their public posts bragged about bombing government property and pro-life pregnancy centers, encouraged “copycat attacks,” and released “doxing lists” on political enemies, the department noted.
Wednesday’s State Department announcement also traced the collective to leftist groups across Europe that posted materials about their attacks on rail and energy infrastructure.
“There will be no refuge for violent extremists who wage war on our civilization and plot to undermine law and order, destroy critical infrastructure, assault political opponents, or conspire to conceal their crimes from authorities,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday. “We will use all the tools and authorities at our disposal to fight terrorism and protect our way of life from terrorist coercion.”
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The sanctions come as part of Trump’s focus on combating leftist political violence as a national security priority. His administration has also designated four European leftist groups as foreign terrorist organizations, labeled the antifa movement a domestic terrorist threat, and successfully prosecuted a Texas antifa cell over a July 2025 attack on an ICE facility. Benjamin Song, the lead defendant in the Texas case, furthered his activist career in a leftist gun club that used the A/I Collective’s NoBlogs platform to post pro-insurrection messaging.
“Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said about the new sanctions. “Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated.”
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