WATCH: Hardcore socialist groups stage-manage anti-ICE protest in Washington
A network of self-described socialist and communist organizations staged carefully coordinated protests across the country Friday targeting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but their call for a nationwide shutdown of work, school and commerce mostly fizzled out.
Several of the groups behind the demonstrations are linked to a constellation of nonprofits funded by tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham, according to an ongoing Fox News Digital investigation. Singham, who lives in China and has publicly espoused Marxist ideology, has used his extensive network to promote pro–Chinese Communist Party messaging.
Fox News Digital was on hand in Washington, D.C., as activists converged near the Gallery Place–Chinatown Metro station at 7th and H Street NW. At 2:49 p.m. A vehicle drove up to an alley near a Walgreens, where a small group of activists from the local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation unloaded dozens of bright yellow protest signs stapled to wooden pickets.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation is a self-described Marxist organization that has played a central role in past anti-police and anti-ICE demonstrations.
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The foot soldiers handed out the signs near the Chinatown Metro station, next to a Planet Fitness.
At 3 p.m. sharp – the scheduled start time – one of the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s leaders carried a pile of signs to the corner and yelled instructions.
"Into the streets," she shouted.
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The protesters, with new signs in their hands, followed quietly behind.
The broader protest action was promoted as part of a "National Shutdown" scheduled for Friday, urging "no work, no school, no shopping" in opposition to ICE operations nationwide. Promotional materials accused federal immigration authorities of "terror" and demanded an end to ICE funding.
"STOP ICE TERROR NOW," one sign read in bold black letters, with the "PARTY FOR SOCIALISM AND LIBERATION" in smaller letters below.
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Along with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, several of the organizations behind the protests were the People’s Forum, CodePink and BreakThrough News – all groups that are part of the communist ecosystem funded by Singham. CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans is married to Singham.
Other explicitly socialist and communist groups listed as endorsers or organizers included the Revolutionary Communists of America, Communist Party USA and its regional branches, Socialists Without Borders, Socialist Equality Party, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Socialist Alternative, Democratic Socialists of America chapters, Marxist student organizations, like the George Washington University Socialist Action Initiative, and revolutionary groups aligned with anti-capitalist causes.
Propaganda experts say these types of protests are meant to create a media narrative of a failed state, one of the key tactics of insurgencies, and a convenient narrative for U.S. rivals, such as China.
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In addition to far-left groups, the protest coalition also included organizations aligned with the Democratic Party. Notably, multiple chapters of Indivisible, a national activist network that frequently donates to Democratic political campaigns, endorsed the protest.
Other left-leaning civic and advocacy groups, including unions, with ties to Democratic politics also signed on, blurring the line between grassroots protest and partisan activism.
Throughout the event, demonstrators took selfies, mugged for cameras and filtered away not long after, as the police returned the regular day back to the streets.
"Where do you want to go for drinks?" one protester was heard asking another.
Fox News Digital's Kiera McDonald and Hannah Brennan contributed to this article.