ASRA NOMANI: Pro-Russia and pro-China radicals march against Trump: “Proud to identify as socialists”

WASHINGTON, CC – Shortly after, President Donald Trump took an oath Across town, at the U.S. Capitol, Johng Delacruz, 31, a local Filipino-American nurse, set out from another corner of the nation’s capital, on Meridian Hill off 16th Street NW, joining a cacophony of drums, chants, signs and conversations that left little ambiguity about the ideology of the meeting.

One man held up a pre-made sign that read: “SOCIALISM DEFEATS FACISM!” Below the message, the name of the organization that paid for the production of the poster: Democratic Socialists of America.

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A prefabricated neon green sign read: “WORKERS’ RIGHTS AND NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE. NO WAR OR GENOCIDE,” emblazoned with “People’s Power Assembly.”

Another slogan, “FIGHT AGAINST TRUMP’S AGENDA,” carried the attribution in smaller print to the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

A pre-printed banner carried by a group of protesters read: “WORKERS SHOULD HAVE POWER, NOT BILLIONAIRES!” Below, the Party for Socialism and Liberation took credit.

“I am proud to identify as a socialist who supports socialist movements,” Delacruz told me without hesitation. “I think that is the future of humanity and the right side of history. Well, ‘left’ if you will,” he added with a laugh.

But you wouldn’t know that from the media coverage of this so-called professional “resistance” to Trump, according to The Guardian. inform only that “anti-Trump protests sweep the world on Inauguration Day.” The Voice of America simply describing protesters as “anti-Trump protesters” and NBC News wrote that “progressive groups” They held marches throughout the country, not a word about the socialist dreams that many of the groups call themselves.

Nearby, three activists dressed in winter clothing carried a banner with the blue and red colors of the Puerto Rican flag, which also flew above their heads. It bore the name Colectivo Diaspora Pa’lante and advocated for the independence of Puerto Rico and a socialist government to lead it.

A man and woman dressed in black masks dramatically pushed a fake guillotine, emblazoned with the ominous message: “COME GET SUM.”

These were not fringe amateur gatherings. Among them was Medea Benjamin, the wealthy co-founder of Code Pink, marching with a heart-shaped cardboard sign painted hot pink.

“The media does not provide complete and honest reporting on movements like this,” Delacruz told me. “It’s meant to maintain the status quo of the capitalist system, so to speak. If we believe that socialism is the antithesis of capitalism, then of course it won’t cover it. I think at best it will say anti- “Trump protesters from various grassroots movements, if anything, but I highly doubt they will accept the particular calls and demands that we have.”

Understanding these demands is crucial. The groups here weren’t just protesting Trump: they were promoting socialism, Marxism, and communism. Many of these organizations also have a pro-Russia stance, rooted in a propaganda tradition pioneered by the Soviet Union: agitprop. Agitprop, short for “agitation and propaganda,” combines political messages with provocative actions to influence and mobilize. I call protests like this “agitation actions.”

Journalists I spoke to at the demonstration admitted that they rarely identify the groups behind the protests. “The public doesn’t really understand socialism,” one journalist told me. “They tune out when they hear the word.” It’s easier to reduce activists to concepts that their readers can grasp.

On the eve of the protest, I stayed up until 3 a.m., researching the ideologies of the 205 groups involved across the country in the January 20 protests, as part of my reporting work for the Pearl Project, a nonprofit investigative journalism that I co-founded. My analysis: 27 were Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs or Islamists; 63 self-identified as socialists; 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 that work together to orchestrate demonstrations, shape public narratives and influence political outcomes, like an effective “agitprop” operation. Understanding this ecosystem is critical because it reveals the motivations, alliances, and strategies behind what often appears to be spontaneous grassroots activism.

Walking through Meridian Hill Park revealed these agendas more clearly. The groups’ slogans advocated socialism and anti-imperialism in countries such as the Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, and here in the United States.

Far from being isolated events, the protests are frequently coordinated efforts involving global actors, local chapters and significant financial support. Through Project Pearl, my goal is to investigate and expose the mechanisms of this industry: identify the actors, trace their financing and analyze their impact. By shedding light on how protests are organized and sustained, now positioning themselves as the “resistance” to the Trump administration, I hope to provide transparency and equip the public with a deeper understanding of the forces that shape political discourse and activism.

Walking through Meridian Hill Park revealed these agendas more clearly. The groups’ slogans advocated socialism and anti-imperialism in countries such as the Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, and here in the United States. His sponsors did not hide their intentions.

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The groups’ 205 “endorsers” across the country make no secret of their agendas. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, “Mormons with hope for a better world” says it is “committed to anti-racism, intersectional feminism, trans and queer liberation, disability justice, individual bodily autonomy, reproductive justice, socialism, anti-imperialism, and decolonization.” Leaders of Qiao Collectiveone media outlet says they seek “to be a bridge between the American left and China’s rich Marxist and anti-imperialist political work and thought.” He “Project for a Revolutionary Marxist International” has its agenda in your name.

As the march turned from 16th Street NW onto Massachusetts Avenue NW, Lacy MacAuley, 46, became the focal point of the cameras. Dressed in a disco outfit for a nearby “dance protest,” she donned a mask over her sunglasses that read, “TRUMP IS NOT THE VIBE.”

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“I’m an anarchist,” he said with a smile. “I identify as such. That means I question and oppose hierarchies and the rule of people over others.” While MacAuley criticized socialism often becoming “too centralized,” he added: “It’s thinking in the right direction.”

At the end of the day, the protest ended at Dupont Circle. The smell of marijuana lingered in the air as protesters dispersed. A protester threw his sign into a trash can and the message appeared: “WE FIGHT AGAINST THE NETWORK.”

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