ASRA NOMANI: Pro-Russia and pro-China extremists rally against Trump: ‘Proud to identify as a socialist’

Washington DC – Soon after President Donald Trump was sworn in, 31-year-old Filipino-American nurse Jong Delacruz joined the cacophony in Meridian Hill, off 16th Street NW in the nation’s capital, drumming, chanting, signs and a little confusing about the crowd’s ideology. Conversations.

Someone shouted, “Socialism beats fascism!” Uploaded a pre-made sign. Underneath the message, the name of the organization that paid for the production of the sign: Democratic Socialists of America.

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A pre-made neon green placard reads: “Workers’ Rights and People Need Not War and Genocide” with a “Peoples Power Assembly” stamp.

Another slogan, “Fight the TPLF agenda” is the profile of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization in small print.

A pre-printed banner held by a group of demonstrators read, “Workers are power, not billionaires!” He says. Under him, the Socialism and Freedom Party took recognition.

“I’m proud to identify with pro-socialist movements,” Delacruz told me without hesitation. “I believe this is the future of humanity and the right side of history. Well, the ‘left’ if you will,” he added with a laugh.

But from the media coverage of this professional so-called “opposition” to Trump, she didn’t know that with the Guardian. Reporting “Anti-Trump protesters swept the world on Inauguration Day” is all it says. Only the voice of America In describing The protesters are called “anti-Trump protesters” and NBC News writes that “Progressive Groups”. Demonstrations were held around the country – not a single word about the self-proclaimed socialist dream of many groups.

Nearby, three activists in winter clothing waved a banner with the blue and red colors of the Puerto Rican flag overhead. The Diaspora Palante Collective, which advocated for the independence of Puerto Rico and led a so-called socialist government.

A man and a woman in black masks awkwardly pushed a faux guillotine with the ominous message “COME GET SUM”.

These were not people brought together by hobbies. Among them was Code Pink’s wealthy founder Medea Benjamin, who marched with a cardboard heart-shaped sign painted in purple pink.

“The media does not give a full and truthful account of these activities,” Delacruz said. “It’s aimed at maintaining the status quo of capitalism, if you will. If we believe that socialism is the antithesis of capitalism, of course, that doesn’t cover it. I think it’s better anti-Trump. If that’s the case, I doubt Trump’s opponents from the various grassroots movements will go along with the specific calls and demands that we have.”

Understanding these questions is critical. The groups here weren’t just protesting Trump—they were promoting socialism, Marxism, and communism. Many of these organizations have a Russian propaganda stance rooted in the propaganda tradition pioneered by the Soviet Union. Short for “mobilization and propaganda,” agitprop combines a political message with provocative action to influence and mobilize. I call such protests “agitprop actions.”

Journalists I spoke to at the rally admitted that they rarely identified the groups behind the protests. “Audiences don’t really understand socialism,” one reporter told me. “When they hear the word, they adjust.” It’s easy to reduce activists to concepts their readers can understand.

I stayed up until 3 a.m. on the eve of the demonstration, investigating the ideologies of 205 groups nationwide that participated in the Jan. 20 protests, as part of a report for the Pearl Project, a non-profit investigative reporting project I partnered with. Mine Analysis: 27 were Palestinian, Muslim, Arab or Islamic. 63 identifying himself as a socialist; And 115 fell into what I call “adjacent” categories.

The protest industry is a complex and often opaque network of organizations, funding streams, and ideological agendas used to organize demonstrations, shape public narratives, and influence political outcomes as an effective “agitprop” operation. Understanding this ecosystem is critical because it reveals the motivations, alliances, and strategies behind what often appear to be spontaneous grassroots movements.

A walk through Meridian Hill Park made these agendas clear. The groups’ slogans include socialism and anti-imperialism, as in the Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, Cuba – and here in the US.

The protests are far from being isolated incidents. Frequent concerted efforts Involving global actors, local chapters and significant financial support. Through the Pearl Project, I aim to investigate and expose the mechanisms of this industry—identifying the players, tracing their funding, and analyzing their influence. By shedding light on how the protests are organized and continue to be, positioning themselves as the “opposition” to the Trump administration now, I hope to bring transparency and the public a deeper understanding of the forces shaping political discourse and action.

A walk through Meridian Hill Park made these agendas clear. The groups’ slogans promoted socialism and anti-imperialism in countries like the Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, Cuba – and here in America their supporters made no secret of their intentions.

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Nationwide, the groups’ 205 “supporters” do not hide their agenda. Based in Salt Lake City, “Mormons Hope for a Better World.” “Committed to anti-racism, sectional feminism, trans and queer liberation, disability justice, individual autonomy, reproductive justice, socialism, anti-imperialism and decolonization,” it says. Leaders of Qiao collection“They want to be a bridge between the American left and China’s rich Marxist anti-imperialist political work and thinking,” the media outlet said. of “Project for a Revolutionary Marxist International”. He has an agenda to his name.

As the parade turned from 16th Street NW onto Massachusetts Avenue NW, Laci McAuley, 46, became the focus of the cameras. She donned a disco outfit for a nearby “dance protest,” wearing a mask over sunglasses that said “TRUMP IS SO NOT THE VIBE.”

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“I’m an anarchist,” she said with a smile. “I define myself as one. That means I question and oppose hierarchies and human supremacy.” McAuley is “too central” in his criticism of socialism, she added, adding that he is “thinking in the right direction.”

By the end of the day, the protest wound up at DuPont Circle. The smell of marijuana lingered in the air as protesters dispersed. A protester pushed the sign into a trash can and the message read: “We fight the backdoor network.”

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