The American strikes on Iran have opened both a new military front abroad and an old front at home. Mere hours after the bombs began to fall, leftist activists took to the streets with signs and chants denouncing American “imperialism” and demanding “Hands off Iran” and “No New US War In The Middle East.”
It’s no coincidence that these protests bear similarities with the sometimes-violent anti-ICE, pro-Cuba, anti-Israel, and pro-Maduro rallies that have dotted the country in recent months. Behind many of these disruptions is the ANSWER Coalition—Act Now to Stop War and End Racism—an umbrella organization composed of various far-left groups.
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A close look at ANSWER’s operations reveals a demonstration-industrial complex—a coordinated ecosystem in which organizations lean into their respective strengths and complement others’ infrastructure, messaging, or reach. These organizations are, in turn, closely linked with hostile foreign actors, raising questions not only about their propriety, but their legality.
ANSWER did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
ANSWER is a mobilization hub that links multiple activist groups, media platforms, and protest infrastructures. When a polarizing event erupts, ANSWER often coordinates the protests: setting time and location, promoting the gatherings through affiliated media outlets and social media channels, producing the customary black-and-yellow placards carried by demonstrators, and coordinating the messaging that makes fringe leftist positions appear mainstream.
ANSWER’s activities can and sometimes do turn from peaceful protest into civil terrorism—the strategic use of lawbreaking to effect political change through intimidation or coercion. ANSWER has been at the center of coordinated actions that seem to meet this definition.
In July 2024, for example, ANSWER led a protest that devolved into a riot in Washington, D.C. During the event, demonstrators blocked intersections, stole and burned American flags belonging to the federal government, defaced the Freedom Bell outside Union Station, and spraypainted graffiti on a public fountain with the words “Hamas is coming.” The National Park Service, which had granted ANSWER a protest permit despite misgivings, revoked it after “the ANSWER Coalition violated—and encouraged others to violate—nearly every permit provision.”
In a less dramatic but still disruptive April 2024 incident, ANSWER led demonstrators in blocking major roads in Philadelphia. ANSWER made no bones about its strategic use of lawbreaking. “Despite the police repression, the demonstration succeeded in disrupting Interstate 676 in the heart of the city as well as the Ben Franklin Bridge—the main crossing between New Jersey and downtown Philadelphia,” organizers bragged. “Organizers remained more determined than ever to build the movement until Palestine is free.” This is civil terrorism par excellence.
ANSWER’s protest activity is the product of a rapidly growing network of affiliates. The primary coalition partners that endorsed the March 7 National Day of Action to “Stop the War on Iran” included American Muslims for Palestine, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), National Iranian American Council, The People’s Forum, Code Pink, Palestinian Youth Movement, Black Alliance for Peace, and 50501. Some of these groups are becoming more radical as they grow closer to ANSWER. Since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, DSA has increasingly co-organized with ANSWER, even calling them a partner. That’s despite DSA’s ostensibly mainstream reputation, in sharp contrast to ANSWER’s association with hard-left‑ organizations.
By contrast, some affiliates look more like the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a socialist political party that pursues the “revolutionary overturn” of the capitalist system. The PSL has many endorsed candidates running in this election cycle and was even able to get its presidential ticket on the ballot in 19 states in 2024. The PSL is closely linked with ANSWER not only by its affiliation but also through Brian Becker, the national coordinator of ANSWER and a co-founder of the PSL.
An integral part of the demonstration-industrial complex, the PSL operates in more than 50 cities and maintains numerous satellite offices called “Liberation Centers.” These centers—like The People’s Forum (a hub for multiple organizations) in New York City or the Nuestro Barrio Liberation Cafe in Durham, North Carolina—help coordinate protests that can effectively mobilize in tandem nationwide. To embed themselves in local communities, the centers host a variety of programs and sometimes rebrand themselves to appeal to specific audiences.
The demonstration-industrial complex is powered by foreign funds. Many of the groups in ANSWER’s orbit are linked—through partnerships, funding relationships, or shared media ecosystems—to Neville Roy Singham, an American-born tech entrepreneur who is now a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
Becker, for example, is closely linked to the Singham network. He runs a show on the Singham-funded BreakThrough News; has a seat on the advisory board of Singham’s Tricontinental Institute; and is a member of the International Peoples’ Assembly’s media network, which is a project of Tricontinental.
The Singham Network as it is known today began to take shape soon after Neville Roy Singham sold his tech company, Thoughtworks, in 2017. Through entities such as the United Community Fund and the Justice and Education Fund, Singham has directed money to a network of nonprofits aligned with his political outlook. In 2021, The People’s Forum publicly acknowledged receiving support from Singham, referring to him as “a Marxist comrade” who was following “in the footsteps of his father, Archie, a committed activist for national liberation.” Code Pink has also received significant funding from Singham-linked sources—reportedly accounting for roughly a quarter of the organization’s funding since 2017, the same year Singham sold Thoughtworks. Singham is also married to Jodie Evans, one of Code Pink’s co-founders, further linking the organization to the broader network.
ANSWER receives funding through the San Francisco-based Progress Unity Fund and has also received grants from The People’s Forum. The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), meantime, raises funds primarily through membership dues paid by individuals who join its action network. Despite these different funding mechanisms, the two organizations operate within a shared ecosystem of allied nonprofits. These groups regularly amplify one another’s activities by promoting events, featuring each other’s leadership, and coordinating messaging across platforms. As a result, when organizations such as The People’s Forum or Code Pink receive financial support, groups like ANSWER and the PSL can benefit indirectly through the broader network’s institutional backing and visibility.
This network has also drawn scrutiny from policymakers. The Congressional Ways and Means Committee has requested financial records from BreakThrough News and the Tricontinental Institute related to potential financial links involving ANSWER and the PSL. The request reflects broader concerns among researchers and lawmakers about funding flows within this network, particularly as several affiliated organizations have faced questions regarding possible foreign ties. These ties have already drawn intense government scrutiny. In 2020, Senators Mike Braun, Tom Cotton, and Ted Cruz wrote to the Department of Justice, asking it to investigate the National Iranian American Council and NIAC Action for violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
In 2024, former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares launched a civil investigation into American Muslims for Palestine for violations of Virginia’s charitable solicitation laws and because “the organization may have used funds raised for impermissible purposes under state law, including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organizations.” A federal judge halted Miyares’s investigation, but other states are conducting similar investigations.
In August and September of 2025, Senator Cotton called on the IRS to investigate the financing of the Palestinian Youth Movement and asked FBI Director Kash Patel to investigate the group after one organizer discussed disrupting the F-35 supply chain.
Last month, the State Department sent a report to Congress detailing how Code Pink and The People’s Forum are linked to “Chinese influence operations.” Soon after, the Network Contagion Research Institute released a report, “Democratic Socialists of America: Policy, Advocacy, and Narrative Convergence with Hostile Foreign States,” which argued that DSA’s activities abroad warrant “a FARA compliance inquiry.”
There is nothing illegal about astroturfing protests, but ANSWER’s foreign ties and tendency to break the law suggest there may be more going on. Further investigations—like those initiated by Miyares and demanded by Braun, Cotton, and Cruz—are warranted.
Such investigations should look into whether the ANSWER Coalition has organized criminal activity, acted as a front for foreign governments, or has materially supported hostile foreign entities. The group’s central role in organizing an act of civil terrorism and its advocacy on behalf of Venezuela, Iran, and China are reason enough to believe that its actions may be unlawful under statutes like FARA.
Lawmakers could also shine a light on ANSWER and its constituent groups by passing laws and regulations that require nonprofits to disclose receipt of foreign dollars. The Treasury Department could even look into applying a special designation to ANSWER and its American leadership. “Specially Designated Nationals” are individuals and institutions “controlled by or acting for or on behalf of” sanctioned countries.
Though it hides behind the banner of free assembly, the demonstration-industrial complex is far from a benign presence. There is credible reason to believe its members actively seek to subvert America’s interests at home and abroad. We should take all lawful steps to stop that from happening.
Top Photo by MATTHEW HATCHER/AFP via Getty Images