An effort to expose and report Antifa members at Arizona State University (ASU) is underway.
College Republicans United (CRU) at ASU recently launched an initiative for “exposing and reporting” Antifa members.
CRU also encouraged students and community members to report known Antifa associates to the federal terrorism watchlist.
One such alleged Antifa affiliate employed by the college, Robert Poe, came out as an “anarchist” while in ASU’s graduate school. At the time, Poe still didn’t have his citizenship (he came to the U.S. from Canada in 1996). Poe attended ASU for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Ten years ago, Poe came under scrutiny for defending a certain class: “U.S. Race Theory and the Problem of Whiteness.”
It is unclear whether ASU remains aware of Poe’s standing in the public eye, as the university deleted a feature video on Poe posted in August. Poe is a professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Another ASU graduate, Max Biederman, was arrested and charged with domestic terrorism in 2023 for ambushing police. Biederman was an ASU student at the time of the attack. Although he was arrested in March and indicted in August, Biederman was awarded a Fulbright scholarship that latter month.
Though Biederman was indicted, he continued his work abroad in Tajikistan.
Another Antifa affiliate recently on ASU (but not attending or teaching) was Tyler Hitte.
Hitte was charged with two counts of aggravated assault against a police officer and resisting arrest earlier this summer, when she attacked an officer at a Peoria anti-ICE protest wearing the all-black clothing and masking which have come to be recognized as an Antifa disguise.
Hitte also faces charges of criminal trespass for her participation in the ASU encampment to protest for Palestine in 2024.
DEVELOPING: Protests against a supposed ICE raid in Peoria, Ariz. devolves into a chaotic situation. @LaurenCFox10 captured this escalation between some there and officers. Peoria PD tells us this HSI bust was about narcotics – not immigration.@FOX10Phoenix pic.twitter.com/Ay5COL4QE9
— Trenton Hooker (@trentonhooker) June 10, 2025
At the end of September, President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring Antifa a domestic terrorist organization.
“Come join us to help clean up our streets from what the Trump admin has deemed members of a ‘Domestic Terrorist Organization!’” said ASU CRU.
We are exposing and reporting ANTIFA members to the FBI's Terrorist Watchlist at our event tomorrow 10/23 from 11am-noon at ASU's Hayden Lawn by the MU.
Come join us to help clean up our streets from what the Trump admin has deemed members of a "Domestic Terrorist Organization!" https://t.co/BCvRyRTKg0
— 𝕮ollege 𝕽epublicans 𝖀nited (@National_RU) October 22, 2025
In 2022, Antifa members called for violence against right-wingers as they protested CRU at ASU’s guest speaker, Jared Taylor, for his views on race relations in America.
“2020 Black Lives Matter: that was a warning for fascists. That was just the beginning. We cannot idly chant and sing songs anymore,” said the Antifa protester. “We must organize and we must violently dismantle white supremacy by any means necessary.”
“Violence! Violence! Violence!” responded another protester.
When we hosted @RealJarTaylor at @ASU, leftists openly called to “organize and violently dismantle white supremacy by any means necessary” — met with cheers for violence. If the @FBI is serious about cracking down on domestic terror groups like ANTIFA, they should support groups… pic.twitter.com/chKrLVndwt
— 𝕮ollege 𝕽epublicans 𝖀nited (@National_RU) September 27, 2025
While most Antifa members do retain their anonymity, many do join public satellite organizations.
CRU at ASU alleged Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) is one such satellite organization. The co-chair of YDSA at ASU, Isaac Burdge, denied that claim on the grounds that no formal Antifa organization exists, but did say that YDSA members are anti-fascist.
While Antifa does not have the structural traits of most organizations, like YDSA, individuals do unify and act as a movement under the title of “anti-fascist” and the beliefs of anti-fascism.
Individuals affiliated with Antifa often conceal their involvement in the movement due to their actions aligning with their identities as anarchists. They wear black masks, and many come armed with weapons of all kinds, even firearms.
A waning Antifa-adjacent group, the John Brown Gun Club, spun off of the national left-wing militant group Redneck Revolt.
YSDA members also showed up to the CRU at ASU event to protest their Antifa reporting. They alleged CRU was doxxing students.
As evidence for their association of YDSA with Antifa, CRU at ASU cited the case of Benjamin (Ben) Cooper, a former ASU student who was part of YDSA while at ASU. Cooper was arrested for aggravated assault in 2019 at a protest against police.
Another alleged Antifa satellite organization is the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), which also has a significant presence at ASU and in the state.
One PSL Phoenix leader, Alexia Isais, and her significant other, Jordan Napier, have been behind a number of the anti-immigration enforcement riots from this year. Isais, an ASU graduate, was president of Students for Socialism at ASU.
An ASU graduate and former ASU biogeochemical researcher, Taro Schmeeckle, was arrested for rioting at a pro-abortion protest in the summer of 2022. Schmeeckle was identified as Antifa by Antifa Watch.
Much of Antifa organizing takes place on private messaging apps like Discord and Signal.
CRU at ASU was also behind a similar and arguably more controversial effort to encourage reporting of illegal immigrants attending ASU to ICE.
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