LOS ANGELES, CA — In the wake of violent riots that gripped Los Angeles earlier this month, the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) has emerged at the center of a growing storm—not only for its leadership role in the street-level chaos, but also for its deeply embedded ties to Neville Roy Singham, a shadowy U.S.-born tech tycoon now operating from Shanghai, and a suspected financier of pro-communist, pro-Beijing propaganda networks.
With Congressional committees now demanding answers, and the FBI signaling foreign agent investigations, the question becomes unavoidable: Is a U.S.-based communist party helping advance Chinese influence while fueling unrest at home?
Who is the Party for Socialism and Liberation?
Founded in 2004 by defectors from the Workers World Party, the PSL is a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary organization that believes the United States must be overthrown by the working class. It promotes democratic centralism, anti-capitalist ideology, and unwavering support for regimes in China, Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea.
Though a fringe player in mainstream politics, PSL has become increasingly visible—leading anti-police protests, anti-ICE demonstrations, and pro-Palestinian rallies in more than 50 cities.
But behind the chants and placards lies a professional-grade infrastructure of media, training centers, and political education hubs that vastly outpaces what its modest public support would suggest.
PSL’s Role in the Los Angeles Riots
The tipping point came in early June 2025, after a coordinated series of ICE enforcement raids across Los Angeles sparked mass outrage. Protests quickly escalated into molotov cocktail attacks, burning of police vehicles, injuries to federal officers, and widespread destruction.
Photos and drone footage confirmed the presence of PSL placards at riot scenes. According to The New York Post, PSL operatives were also involved in organizing logistics, public statements, and press campaigns framing the raids as “ethnic cleansing” and “acts of war on immigrant families.”
One now-viral video shows PSL members with megaphones urging protesters to “shut the city down.” On social media, PSL-aligned organizations like The People’s Forum and BreakThrough News coordinated national solidarity actions, including a protest at New York’s Foley Square.
The Billionaire Behind the Curtain: Neville Roy Singham
At the core of PSL’s expanding national reach is Neville Roy Singham, a wealthy former tech entrepreneur and lifelong Maoist. He founded the software company ThoughtWorks, which he sold in 2017 for an estimated $785 million. Since then, he has relocated to Shanghai and become a central figure in funding leftist and pro-China political movements across the globe.
Funding Web
Singham operates a complex network of nonprofits and shell entities, including the Justice and Education Fund, which he uses to funnel tens of millions of dollars to:
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The People’s Forum – A radical training center in New York
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BreakThrough News – A digital media platform run by PSL co-founders
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Code Pink – A left-wing nonprofit co-founded by Singham’s wife, Jodie Evans
All of these groups have either promoted Chinese Communist Party talking points, justified repressive regimes, or attacked U.S. foreign policy in ways that strongly mirror Beijing’s geopolitical narrative.
PSL and the Singham Network: Overlapping Leaders, Messaging, and Infrastructure
The ties between PSL and Singham-funded groups go far beyond ideology:
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BreakThrough News, one of the loudest PSL-aligned media arms, features anchors and editors who are senior PSL members.
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The People’s Forum, Singham’s flagship project in Manhattan, shares personnel and events with PSL, often hosting the same speakers, political trainings, and press briefings.
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ANSWER Coalition, PSL’s street protest organizing front, also uses The People’s Forum as a base of operations for events and outreach.
PSL leaders have been documented traveling to China for “solidarity missions,” and routinely echo Chinese government propaganda, including praise for China’s role in the “liberation of the Global South.”
Congress and FBI: Sounding the Alarm
The escalation of the LA riots—and PSL’s apparent orchestration—has prompted a tidal wave of concern from national security agencies and lawmakers.
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FBI Director Kash Patel has announced the Bureau is reviewing the flow of foreign funds to U.S.-based political groups under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have demanded that Singham be subpoenaed to testify before Congress, calling his financial networks “potential vectors of CCP influence and domestic subversion.”
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A DOJ insider told Politico that nonprofit tax statuses may be revoked from entities shown to be “coordinating foreign-aligned domestic political disruption.”
DC Fallout: The Museum Shooting Connection
Adding fuel to the fire, Elias Rodriguez, a former brief affiliate of PSL, was named the shooter in the May 2025 attack at the Capitol Jewish Museum, where two Israeli staffers were killed. Though PSL claimed Rodriguez had not been involved since 2017, the tragedy sparked a public outcry and further scrutiny of radical anti-Israel groups.
Rodriguez had reportedly engaged with Code Pink and BreakThrough News, both of which have received Singham-linked funding and have expressed radical pro-Palestinian stances bordering on anti-Semitism.
Why This Matters
The emerging picture is deeply troubling:
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A U.S.-based communist party is helping organize violent protests.
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That party is connected to a multimillionaire in Shanghai with known CCP sympathies.
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Funding is being quietly funneled through U.S. nonprofits with limited transparency.
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Congressional oversight and DOJ scrutiny are only just beginning.
For the first time in decades, foreign influence operations are no longer limited to online disinformation campaigns—they are now embedded in U.S. protest movements, political media, and even street-level riots.
The Bottom Line
The Party for Socialism and Liberation may brand itself as a homegrown revolutionary group, but its ties to foreign money, Chinese propaganda, and violent street activism have made it the focal point of a new national security crisis.
What started as protests against immigration enforcement in Los Angeles has morphed into a national political firestorm—one that could redefine how America views political dissent, foreign meddling, and the fine line between protest and subversion.
