Strict schedules, long days, high pay: What Waco schools can expect from new charter operator
The Waco school district is expected to be the latest to contract with the charter operator founded by Mike Miles, the state-appointed superintendent of Houston schools.
“Don’t take me to the hospital”: Undocumented immigrants in Texas are delaying medical care
Since Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas hospitals to start asking patients for their citizenship status in November 2024, reported visits by undocumented immigrants have dropped.
Legal powerhouse accused of bailing on panel exposing their ‘monopoly’ over law school accreditation
FIRST ON FOX: The American Bar Association’s expected panelist from its council on law school accreditation ended up no-showing at a conservative Federalist Society event about the ABA’s “monopoly” on law school accreditation. The Trump administration has accused the ABA of acting as a politicized gatekeeper, executive agencies have restricted their members from attending ABA events, and its diversity-related law school accreditation standards have been regarded as unlawful. Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi later escalated that effort by telling the ABA it would no longer receive special access to the judicial vetting process, which followed concerns its rating process for federal judicial nominees was biased as well. . At the Thursday event, which was held across the street from where the ABA was holding its spring antitrust conference, America First Legal President Gene Hamilton suggested the ABA no-showed because the group’s position on the matter is “indefensible.” “I don’t know all the backstory. I mean, I’m just a moderator, but I think that there’s a certain amount – if I was a betting man – my suspicion is that the ABA’s status quo and their position and their involvement in the process is indefensible from the perspective of somebody who tries to present themselves as being an unbiased, uninterested party that is just simply involved in accrediting law schools,” said Hamilton. DOJ BLASTS ‘PARTISAN’ DC BAR COMPLAINT AGAINST SENIOR TRUMP OFFICIAL “When they’re confronted with hard facts and evidence and data and actual experiences from real people, multiple people, not just one person, but multiple people, it doesn’t make for a great environment if you’re trying to maintain an image that does not match reality.” The panelists at Thursday’s event pointed to what they described as concrete, firsthand clashes with the ABA and the legal institutions tied to it. First Assistant Attorney General of Texas, Brent Webster, for example, argued that the politicization of the legal establishment became real for him when the State Bar of Texas sought to strip him and Attorney General Ken Paxton of their law licenses over litigation Texas had filed after the 2020 election. Webster said that fight, which ended with the Texas Supreme Court vindicating him, helped expose to Texas officials how deeply bar institutions had been “radicalized” and contributed to the state’s decision to loosen the ABA’s hold over law-school approval. Meanwhile, David Dewhirst, Solicitor General for the State of Florida, made a parallel argument through the experience of St. Thomas University’s law school in Miami, which he said was left in prolonged uncertainty by the ABA over whether its Catholic identity could coexist with the ABA’s nondiscrimination standards, especially on sexual orientation and gender identity. TRUMP LAWYER IN JACK SMITH CASE DRAWS CONSERVATIVE BACKING AFTER DOJ PRAISE RATTLES ‘ELITE’ LEGAL CONFERENCE Together, those stories were presented as real-world examples of the broader complaint underscored at the Thursday event – that the ABA is no longer acting as a neutral professional body, but as an ideological gatekeeper with the power to shape who gets trained, licensed and recognized in the legal profession. A representative from the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar said former Colorado Supreme Court Justice and Chair-elect of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Bar Admissions, Melissa Hart, was not even aware she had been listed as a panelist. They added that the invitation, sent to them on March 13, according to the Federalist Society, was “last-minute” and no one was available to attend, despite the Federalist society telling Fox News that their open invite to the ABA had been confirmed about a week after it was sent. “From the perspective of the ABA, when they’re under significant pressure right now from both the federal administration, the states and a lot of people waking up to their shenanigans – it makes it a tough time to be in an environment that is a little bit more direct and blunt and to the point,” Hamilton added about the ABA’s absence at the event. At the event, Hamilton unveiled a new report from America First Legal, which showed ABA’s Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs, over the last decade, has produced 80% of left-leaning liberal arguments, 20% neutral and zero that are conservatively aligned. In all six cases, the ABA has filed amicus briefs involving Trump, the ABA went against the president or his allies. “The ABA requires that amicus briefs be authorized by its board of governors and must be consistent with existing ABA policy or involve matters of ‘special significance to lawyers or the legal profession,’” a press release from AFL argued. “Briefs on birthright citizenship, transgender healthcare for minors and the Texas heartbeat law fall well outside that mandate,” AFL said in a press release announcing the new research.
Trump admin launches Gen Z hiring push as officials warn of federal youth gap
EXCLUSIVE: The Trump administration is launching a new effort to “make government cool again” by hiring Gen Z workers to rebuild the federal talent pipeline after a year of Department of Government Efficiency cuts and to compete more aggressively with the private sector, Fox News Digital has learned. Officials told Fox News Digital that only about 7% of the federal workforce is under age 30 — something Trump administration officials want to change, saying it “poses long-term risks to government readiness and institutional strength.” That 7% is compared to about 22% of the non-government workforce. “By a factor of 3:1, the federal government is massively under-indexed on early career talent,” an official said. FLASHBACK: DOGE’S GREATEST HITS: LOOK BACK AT THE DEPARTMENT’S MOST HIGH-PROFILE CUTS DURING TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS The focus on hiring is a shift from this time last year, when OPM was part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Last year, more than 75,000 federal employees accepted a deferred resignation program—with more than 280,000 layoffs of federal workers and contractors. Officials defended the new hiring move as one focused on competing with the private sector, explaining the number of DOGE reductions among younger employees was minimal. “DOGE helped cut back where government was too large or inefficient,” an administration official told Fox News Digital. “This focus is on hiring—rebuilding the federal workforce with skilled early-career talent who can help tackle the challenges facing our country.” DOGE SLASHES ‘WASTEFUL’ ‘PROBLEM-SOLVING’ CONTRACT WORTH $50K IN LATEST ROUND OF ELIMINATIONS The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in partnership with the White House, is launching a new “Early Career Talent Network” designed to connect emerging professionals with full-time career opportunities across the federal government. The cross-agency, early career talent network can be found at Earlycareers.gov — where officials are encouraging young people to apply as they seek to bring a “broad cohort of full-time employees into the federal workforce.” Officials say they are starting with five categories where they see current demand for early career talent— finance, human resources, engineering, project management and procurement. Individuals will be hired “based on demonstrated talent,” not based on where or whether they went to college or how long they have been in a job, Fox News Digital learned. “Building a strong pipeline of early-career talent is essential to the future of the federal workforce,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said. “We are making it easier for talented individuals to connect with meaningful careers in public service while helping agencies efficiently identify the talent they need to deliver results for the American people.” BEN CARSON POINTS TO GEN Z CHURCH REVIVAL AS YOUNG AMERICANS PUSH BACK ON SECULAR CULTURE An official told Fox News Digital that Kupor wants to “get the word out that folks early in their career can come to government, work on critically important, unique projects where they learn skills that will be marketable to both the private and public sector in the future.” “He wants to make government cool again,” the official said. Officials plan to visit college and university campuses later this year to expand their recruitment efforts.
New AI coalition targets Washington, Big Tech as group warns child safety risks outpacing safeguards
As artificial intelligence expands into classrooms, workplaces, and homes, a new coalition warns that risks to children and workers are growing faster than efforts to control the new technology. The newly formed Alliance for a Better Future (ABF) is pushing for AI safeguards as Washington debates regulation. “We know that we’ve got to decide, is this great new technology going to be something that propels kids into the future or something that causes harm to them?” ABF CEO Janet Kelly told Fox News Digital. JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT SLAMS BIG TECH FOR SEXTORTION, THREATS TO CHILDREN WHILE CALLING FOR KEY INTERNET REFORM “We are on the side of families who want to make sure that it is done well and that it is good for kids, and we believe that that is possible,” Kelly added. The group is launching as AI spreads quickly into everyday life with little oversight, even as Washington scrambles to catch up. Supporters warn the decisions being made now will shape whether the technology protects families or puts them at risk. ABF debuted with a striking video featuring congressional testimony from parents whose children were harmed, some driven toward suicide, after interacting with AI chatbots. NEW PRO-AI GROUP BACKED BY TRUMP ALLIES PLANS $100M MIDTERM SPENDING PUSH Positioning itself as both pro-innovation and pro-family, ABF argues AI can deliver enormous benefits but only if developed responsibly. “We believe that it’s possible to make great AI with American values, not just Silicon Valley values,” said Kelly, a mother of three. She added that policymakers must focus on the interests of children, workers and creators, not just the companies building the technology. ABF plans to engage aggressively at both the federal and state levels, equipped with targeted ads and public education campaigns. The group expects to spend at least eight figures this year to elevate the voices of concerned parents and workers. The organization builds on earlier battles over online child safety, bringing multiple groups under one umbrella. Its policy council is chaired by Dr. Brad Littlejohn of American Compass and includes representatives from the Family Policy Alliance, National Center on Sexual Exploitation, Institute for Family Studies, Heritage Foundation, and American Principles Project.
Federal election complaint alleges AOC misused campaign funds for psychiatrist services
A watchdog group filed a federal election complaint alleging Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., improperly used campaign funds to pay nearly $19,000 to Boston-based psychiatrist Dr. Brian Boyle for what her campaign reported as “leadership training and consulting.” The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) alleged in a March 27 complaint to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC) that Ocasio-Cortez, her campaign committee and its treasurer should be investigated over three 2025 payments to Boyle totaling $18,725. “NLPC alleges that AOC’s expenditure of almost $19,000 of campaign funds in 2025 to psychiatrist Dr. Brian W. Boyle ostensibly for ‘leadership training and consulting’ was expended instead for personal psychiatric services provided to AOC or members of her campaign staff,” NLPC counsel Paul Kamenar wrote in the complaint. “Accordingly, those expenses were also misreported by the campaign committee with the FEC. “NLPC requests that the FEC and OCC immediately investigate the facts and circumstances of these payments and impose appropriate penalties and disciplinary sanctions against AOC.” INDICTED DEMOCRAT REP SHEILA CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK ONE STEP CLOSER TO EXPULSION Boyle is an “interventional psychiatrist” who specializes in treating depression, PTSD and anxiety, specifically through ketamine therapy. “Nowhere does Dr, Boyle advertise offering ‘Leadership Training’ or ‘consulting’ services to candidates or their campaign,” the letter added. “Communications to Dr. Boyle and AOC’s campaign to comment on these expenditures went unanswered.” JEFFRIES DECLINES TO BREAK WITH INDICTED DEMOCRAT AFTER ETHICS PANEL’S GUILTY VERDICT According to the complaint, the payments were made on March 10, May 15 and Oct. 1, 2025, and were disclosed as “Leadership Training and Consulting.” On page 2, the filing lists those payments as $11,550, $2,800 and $4,375, totaling $18,725. The complaint, citing federal election law and House ethics guidance, contends campaign money cannot be used for personal expenses and argues the key question is whether the expense would exist regardless of candidacy. It says that if the services were therapeutic rather than campaign-related, they could amount to prohibited personal use. On pages 5 through 7, the filing quotes FEC and House standards requiring campaign expenditures to be both bona fide and verifiable. “There is reason to believe that AOC’s use of campaign funds to pay for a psychiatrist who has no experience in ‘leadership training’ was not for a ‘bona fide campaign or political purpose,’ but rather for personal psychiatric therapy for AOC or her campaign staff,” Kamenar wrote. AOC SPENT OVER $53K IN CAMPAIGN FUNDS ON LUXURY HOTELS IN 2025: ‘CARPETBAGGER’ The allegations follow reporting by the New York Post, which noted Boyle is known for interventional psychiatry and as “a leading authority on ketamine” — the controlled substance that was given to late “Friends” star Matthew Perry. The complaint itself does not establish wrongdoing, but asks regulators to determine whether the payments were misreported and whether any campaign-finance or House rules were violated. Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign or office has not yet responded to Fox News requests for comment. AOC SAYS POLITICIANS, ESPECIALLY DEMOCRATS, SHOULD PROMISE NOT TO ACCEPT ‘AI MONEY’ Ocasio-Cortez has in the past spoken publicly about needing therapy. “Oh yeah, I’m doing therapy but also I’ve just slowed down,” Ocasio-Cortez told People in 2021. She has in the past been an advocate for reviewing Schedule I drugs to remove barriers to scientific research and promote the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances like marijuana, psilocybin and MDMA. “Right now our law says these drugs have zero medical application but the science says something else,” Ocasio-Cortez said last week during a House Health Subcommittee hearing. “Not only that, but the wealth of medical research shows that these are potential treatments for treatment resistant PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, but the schedule classification really prevents researchers from continuing to do work on this.” She argued that increasing Schedule 1 prohibitive drugs and criminal penalties has not slowed overdoses, but has doubled them in the state of Florida.
Mike Rowe unleashes on Jimmy Kimmel’s latest ‘tone-deaf’ takedown targeting everyday Americans
Everyman host Mike Rowe called out late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for his “tone-deaf” comments mocking new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for being a former plumber, admitting he is a “tad butt hurt” by the dig. The “Dirty Jobs” veteran ripped into Kimmel over his remarks, which some have called elitist. Rowe said he took offense at the “suggestion that skilled workers should never evolve into something new,” asking if Mullin’s career progression from plumbing business owner to Congress and then to a top Cabinet official is “not the embodiment of the American Dream?” “Being offended is always a choice, and I don’t choose to be offended by a joke, even one that comes at the expense of the skilled tradespeople my foundation tries to elevate,” Rowe wrote on X. “But I am a tad butt hurt by the suggestion that skilled workers should never evolve into something new, and that competence is somehow limited to one vocation.” He continued, “Obviously, expertise and skill are important,” adding, “If I need a new kidney, I’d prefer a doctor do the surgery, not a late-night talk show host. But if the doctor in question used to host a talk show, why would I hold that against him?” JIMMY KIMMEL REFUSES TO BACK DOWN AFTER MOCKING SECRETARY MULLIN OVER PLUMBING BACKGROUND Kimmel, a regular critic of the Trump administration, took flak last week for using Mullin’s prior experience as a plumbing business owner as evidence that he is unqualified to lead DHS. “Trump’s got a whole new generation of thinkers lined up, including his newly confirmed secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne ‘Chuck Mike Bruce Dave’ Melon — Mullin. Maybe melon’s better,” Kimmel said. “He’s the now former senator of Oklahoma. Before he was elected to the Senate, Markwayne Mullin was a low-level MMA fighter and a plumber. That’s right. We have a plumber protecting us from terrorism now. It worked for Super Mario. Why not Markwayne?” He continued, “But honestly — I mean, if Trump is going to keep picking these unqualified people to run the department, why not have more fun with it? I mean, next time, instead of Markwayne, how about Lil Wayne for Homeland Security? At least we can get a concert out of it, right?” Kimmel later doubled down, saying, “I’m not upset that the head of Homeland Security used to be a plumber. I’m upset that he isn’t still a plumber.” The late-night host added, “I wouldn’t put a plumber in charge of Homeland Security for the same reason I wouldn’t call a five-star general to pull a rat out of my toilet… We all have our areas of expertise.” WATCH: TRUMP GOES VIRAL FOR ILLUSTRATING HOW TO CUT GOVERNMENT WASTE WITH HIS FAVORITE WHITE HOUSE PEN Kimmel’s remarks were viewed as elitist by many commentators on X, who accused the comedian of mocking working-class professions. Among those offended by the joke was Rowe, who runs a nonprofit to promote skilled trade jobs called mikeroweWORKS. He emphasized that “the shortage of skilled tradespeople is now headline news and that closing it is nothing less than a matter of national security.” “The only sensible thing to do in the wake of a moment this tone deaf is remind America that the skills gap is wide and getting wider,” Rowe wrote. “What we really need in this country are more welders who can talk intelligently about Aristotle, and more philosophers who can run an even bead. More generals, in other words, who can fix their own toilets, and more plumbers who can hold a powerful government job.” “This is what Mullin did,” he continued. JIMMY KIMMEL SLAMMED FOR DIG AT NEW DHS SECRETARY “He was a private citizen who mastered an essential skill and then turned that skill into a multimillion-dollar company that employed a lot of people and served a lot of customers. That gave him the freedom to do other things with his life, including a career in public service, which got him into Congress, where he’s spent the last 11 years doing whatever congressmen do. Now, he has a very consequential position in the Cabinet of the current administration.” “Is that not the embodiment of the American Dream?” he asked. “I get that Jimmy Kimmel might have a problem with Mullin’s politics, but what possible objection could he have about the trajectory of his career, or his desire to do more than one thing with his life?” Rowe concluded, “I’d love to chat but I’ve gotta pull a rat out of my toilet.”
Supreme Court declines to hear ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic’s challenge after murder-for-hire conviction
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case of Joseph Maldonado-Passage, commonly known as Joe Exotic, a pop culture icon from Netflix’s “Tiger King” documentary on Monday. The case stems from his conviction for a murder-for-hire plot. Maldonado-Passage is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence for the conviction, which he is seeking to have overturned. He has also repeatedly called on President Donald Trump to pardon him, claiming there were issues with his trial. Maldonado-Passage lost his last appeal before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July. “I lost my appeal for a new trial today. The United States Government wants me to die in prison even though they know their witnesses were lying under Oath,” he wrote in a post on X at the time. “In fact, their witnesses all admitted to perjury on world television on season 2 of Tiger King.” ‘TIGER KING’ JOE EXOTIC PLANS TO MARRY FELLOW INMATE IN PRISON, HOPES THEY ‘CAN WALK OUT’ TOGETHER He followed up the statement with a request for a pardon from Trump. “Make this right and allow me to go home,” he wrote. “8 years of my life I have lost.” BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP SUPPORTERS GET THE LAW WRONG BY IGNORING OBVIOUS EVIDENCE Maldonado-Passage was convicted in 2019 of hiring two men to kill Carole Baskin, another prominent character in the viral documentary who had criticized his big cat zoo for years. He sought a retrial in 2023, claiming new evidence had come forward and that witnesses had recanted their testimonies. That effort failed at the district level when U.S. District Judge Scott Palk noted that Maldonado-Passage’s own words had served as “the most credible and damning evidence” against him. Maldonado-Passage last made national headlines in April last year, when announced he had married one of his fellow inmates at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The 62-year-old shared details of his romance with Jorge Marquez Flores in an interview with Fox News Digital from prison in 2024. JUSTICE JACKSON AUTHORS UNANIMOUS SCOTUS OPINION HANDING TRUMP AN IMMIGRATION WIN “From the very day we met, we’ve spent every minute of every day together,” he said. “And it just clicked so fast and so sincere, and it’s amazing. “I wished I would have met Jorge months ago or a couple of years ago, but God had a plan, I guess.”
NJ school district’s secretive transgender policy faces legal threat for bucking Supreme Court ruling
A New Jersey school district is being threatened with legal action unless it repeals a policy that lets schools withhold students’ gender-identity information from parents, setting up what could become an early test of the Supreme Court’s recent intervention in the fight over parental rights and school disclosure rules. The Thomas More Society, a conservative legal group, accused the Westwood Regional School District in a demand letter of wrongfully maintaining the policy, which also allows the schools, in some cases, to aid K-12 students’ “social transition” to becoming transgender without their parents’ knowledge. The move comes weeks after the Supreme Court dealt a major victory to conservative parents in Mirabelli v. Bonta by upholding an injunction against a similar policy in California. “I had hoped this would end the practice of secret gender transitions, but what’s becoming clear to us is this is just the beginning,” Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive vice president, told Fox News Digital. “This is not an end, but a beginning, our big win in the Supreme Court. We are already fielding requests from other parents across the country, and we anticipate sending a lot more demand letters, unfortunately.” CATHOLIC GROUP ASKS SCOTUS TO BLOCK CALIFORNIA LAW AGAINST REVEALING STUDENTS’ GENDER IDENTITIES TO PARENTS Fox News Digital reached out to the school district board members who received the letter, as well as the district’s superintendent, for comment but did not receive responses. The school board told local media earlier in March that members were consulting with district counsel and reviewing policies. The letter requires the New Jersey school district to repeal its policy, called Policy 5756, within 20 days. Otherwise, Breen said, the Thomas More Society would follow the same path it did in California and begin litigation. “When the Supreme Court decides a case, the logic of the decision is binding on every other court in the country, federal or state,” Breen said. “And so, the Supreme Court has said that parents have a fundamental right to control the upbringing and education of their children… and so a school official who defies that right could be subject individually to a lawsuit, not just the school district.” In Mirabelli, California parents and teachers argued that the state’s transgender policy violated their rights under the First and 14th Amendments. The policy prevented school administrators from telling parents about their child’s potential efforts to transition their gender unless the child consented to it. It also required school staff to use students’ preferred names and pronouns regardless of the parents’ wishes. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit sided with Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta in the case, leading the parents and teachers to turn to the Supreme Court. The high court vacated the 9th Circuit’s order 6-3 on an expedited and temporary basis while the case proceeds through the lower courts. The three liberal justices dissented. FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN ‘GENDER SECRECY’ POLICIES IN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS “The State argues that its policies advance a compelling interest in student safety and privacy,” the high court’s majority wrote in the unsigned opinion. “But those policies cut out the primary protectors of children’s best interests: their parents.” Corey DeAngelis, a research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, observed to Fox News Digital at the time that the Supreme Court’s decision was the latest in a string of victories for conservatives seeking to tighten policies surrounding transgender people. DeAngelis noted it only applied to California, despite its anticipated impact on other states. “This precedent is surely a sign of good things to come,” DeAngelis said. “If there’s a lawsuit that arises in another state, you can be pretty sure that the Supreme Court is going to rule on the side of families.” The Supreme Court has weighed in recently on several key gender identity disputes through full opinions and emergency orders, and the decisions have broken along ideological lines. Outside Mirabelli, the high court in United States v. Skrmetti affirmed 6-3 a state’s authority to ban certain transgender medical treatment for minors under the equal protection clause. In a 6-3 emergency ruling last year, the justices temporarily greenlit President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender service members serving in the military. The high court is also weighing two relevant and closely watched cases, one on a religious-based therapist offering alternative counseling to transgender youths and one on transgender athletes. Decisions on those are expected by the summer.
Communists, Democrats use #NoKings rally to call for May Day strike: ‘Shut it down’
From Times Square to here in Minnesota’s state capital, communist and socialist activists at the nationwide “No Kings” protests escalated their anti-America campaign and openly called for a nationwide economic strike on May 1, an international communist holiday known as May Day, as key Democratic activists joined their call. At the rally here in St. Paul, organizers, speakers and activists distributed communist literature, waved flags from socialist governments and revolutionary movements, and urged demonstrators to transform the day’s protests into a nationwide shutdown of work, school and commerce. By early Sunday, Press TV, the propaganda arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran, leveraged news of the protests to tell readers, “Regime change begins at home’: No Kings, No War protests held across US.” As Fox News Digital reported, about 500 organizations with an estimated combined annual revenue of about $3 billion sponsored and organized the demonstrations, creating a centralized protest apparatus even while organizers tried to market the activists as “grassroots.” The network included traditional Democratic advocacy organizations, like Indivisible, MoveOn and the American Federation of Teachers, alongside openly socialist and communist groups such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and local chapters of the Communist Party USA, including the Twin Cities Communist Party USA club, which endorsed the St. Paul rally. 500 GROUPS WITH $3B IN REVENUES ARE BEHIND THE #NOKINGS PROTESTS AND COMMUNIST CALL FOR ‘REVOLUTION’ Offstage at the celebrity-filled “No Kings” protest in St. Paul, activists with the Party for Socialism and Liberation sold a manifesto, “Socialist Reconstruction: A Better Future for the United States,” filled with Marxist teachings. Yards away, near the main stage, Kevin Dwire a candidate for the U.S. Senate from the Socialist Workers Party, sold copies of the “Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the 1847 work that would transform the next century’s global politics. The group says it is “part of the continuity of revolutionary Marxism,” tracing back to Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky. In the middle of the lawn, flags for the Islamic Republic of Iran, Venezuela and Cuba flew next to a flag of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, a self-described Marxist group. In the back of the lawn, a young man who identified himself only as “Mason” championed the teachings of the Revolutionary Communists of America. A young woman nearby sold copies of Socialist Alternative, which describes itself as a “revolutionary organization working to build a movement for a democratic, socialist society.” ‘NO KINGS’ CALLS ITSELF LEADERLESS, BUT ITS OWN INTERNAL DOCUMENTS TELL A VERY DIFFERENT STORY Across the country, from Los Angeles to New York City, pro-communist Americans marched alongside traditional center-left Democrats in an alliance that many mainstream media outlets largely portrayed simply as anti-Trump protests. The ideological adherents themselves, however, were not shy about their beliefs. In Times Square, members of the Revolutionary Communists of America chanted: “There is only one solution — communist revolution,” while waving red flags bearing the hammer and sickle. The common refrain from these groups was a call for a nationwide strike on May 1, the traditional May Day holiday long embraced by communist and socialist movements as a day of mass political action. At the St. Paul rally, that call received support from the stage. Ezra Levin, the co-founder of Indivisible, the protest’s key organizer, joined the communist call for a national strike and urged protesters to prepare for economic disruption on May Day, similar to a shutdown that saw limited success in Minneapolis during protests on Jan. 23 against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “I want everyone here to put this on their calendar… It is a tactical goal, an escalation… It is an economic show of force, inspired by Minnesota’s own day of truth and action,” Levin told the crowd. Levin continued: “On May 1, on May Day, we are saying, ‘No business as usual.’ No work, no school, no shopping. We’re going to show up and say, ‘We’re putting workers over billionaires and kings.’” While Indivisible has participated in May Day coalitions before, the prominence of socialist organizations in the protest ecosystem illustrates the growing influence of the far left within networks that overlap with mainstream Democratic political organizing. Indivisible Project, a nonprofit whose work is often marketed with just the first word of the group’s name, has received $5 million in recent years from billionaire George Soros’ Open Society philanthropy arm. POWER COUPLE OF CHAOS: HOW A TYCOON AND ACTIVIST BUILT A ‘REVOLUTIONARY BASE’ AT THE HOUSE OF SINGHAM Meanwhile, some of the openly pro-communist groups marching alongside Democratic activists are connected to a global activist network funded by Neville Roy Singham, an American-born tech tycoon now based in Shanghai, promoting messaging critical of U.S. democracy and sympathetic to China’s political model. That network includes media and organizing hubs such as the People’s Forum, BreakThrough BT Media Inc.’s BreakThrough News, CodePink, the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which have received funding and support through the Singham network. Over the years, Singham, who sold his tech company for approximately $800 million in 2017, has provided $22.4 million to People’s Forum, $1.3 million to CodePink and $1.1 million to BreakThrough BT Media Inc. The ANSWER Coalition and Party for Socialism and Liberation have received support through their relationships with the People’s Forum. The network has funded conferences, media outlets and activist organizations promoting narratives that portray the United States as a “fascist” and “hyper-imperialist” power while defending the authoritarian governments of China, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The theme echoed throughout the protests, where demonstrators warned of rising “fascism” in the United States. In the hours after the protests ended, the activist networks celebrated the demonstrations online. In Los Angeles, CodePink posted video showing its banner in the middle of a protest where demonstrators chanted: “Hey, hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go.” BreakThrough News shared videos from protests in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Houston and Gainesville, Florida, declaring: