A video by U.S.-based activist and commentator Nikki Free has struck nerves on social media because of how it fiercely criticizes what she believes to be America’s selective definition of terrorism.
In a widely shared Instagram video, Free questioned why the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)—widely regarded by historians as the oldest and most violent domestic extremist network in U.S. history—has never been formally designated a terrorist organization by the American government.
She contrasted this with the treatment of Antifa, a loosely connected anti-fascist movement that lacks formal leadership, membership, or structure, but has repeatedly been targeted by U.S. political rhetoric and law enforcement scrutiny.
“America’s failure to ever label the Ku Klux Klan as a terrorist organization explains everything that followed,” Free wrote. “It explains why the Proud Boys are protected. It explains why January 6 is minimized. And it explains why white violence is excused every time.”
In the video, Free argues that the absence of a legal pathway to designate domestic terrorist organizations in the United States is not accidental but structural. According to her, formally labeling groups like the KKK would force a national reckoning with how racism has historically intersected with political power, law enforcement, and the judiciary.
She further criticized U.S. President Donald Trump, referencing his past statements toward far-right groups and his reported efforts to brand Antifa a domestic terrorist organization in late 2025. Free described the move as an attempt to criminalize anti-racist resistance while excusing or downplaying white supremacist violence.
“Opposing racism becomes terrorism,” she said, “but practicing white supremacy does not. That is the American formula.”
Free’s commentary also revisited moments that have drawn international scrutiny, including Trump’s “stand back and stand by” remark directed at the Proud Boys, his response to the 2017 Charlottesville rally, and the ongoing political fallout from the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack.
Free’s supporters, over 2,000 of them that commented under her video, praised her for articulating what they see as a long-standing racial imbalance in U.S. governance.
“America really needs to look in the mirror and educate [itself]. Domestic terrorists like the KKK and Proud Boys should have no place in our government and don’t represent the majority of the American people. They need to be held accountable for racist and oppressive laws/bills. The next step is to boot them from the government. Just the fact that people hate and discriminate over skin color is absolutely insane. White people allowing this behavior is equally ridiculous,” one supporter commented.
As debates over extremism, free speech, and racial justice continue to shape U.S. politics, especially under Trump, the questions raised by Free’s viral post highlight a deeper issue: who defines terrorism, and whose violence is deemed acceptable under the law.
