President Donald Trump’s September 25 memorandum directing federal agencies to investigate what it describes as a nationwide conspiracy to foment political violence constitutes a serious threat to human rights and democratic institutions, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Friday.

The memorandum, “ Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence ,” instructs law enforcement and intelligence agencies to “investigate” and “disrupt” alleged networks of donors, NGOs, and activists said to be funding extremist activity. It also directs the IRS to scrutinize nonprofit entities and orders Joint Terrorism Task Forces to lead the effort.

The memorandum defines the extremist activity as “self-described ‘anti-fascism’” and lists alleged examples such as the assassination of Cha

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