Anti-Israel, socialist groups involved in unlawful protests over the past year intend to have their followers among the potential thousands protesting President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C.
The Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition and the People’s Forum organized rallies that sparked congressional probes after protesters vandalized American monuments with violent slogans, burned an American flag, and clashed with law enforcement last June and July. They began publicizing plans in November to “fight back” against Trump’s second presidency in Washington as authorities brace for high security risks during his inauguration.
The groups so far have announced Malcolm X Park as one location for the protest, dubbed “We Fight Back.” An expert studying extremist movements said security forces should prepare for the “significant chance of violence.”
“Let’s be clear about who these protestors are,” Ryan Mauro, investigative researcher at the Capital Research Center, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “They are operatives of a China–linked, pro-Iran, pro-terrorism, anti-American network. Anywhere they coalesce has a significant chance of violence, particularly towards police, and property destruction.”
✊🏽In just one week, on January 20, 70+ cities across the country will take to the streets to say WE WILL FIGHT BACK!
Take action! ➡️ https://t.co/UHCXoyBG1Z pic.twitter.com/L2iDgRg59g
— ANSWER Coalition (@answercoalition) January 13, 2025
“On Inauguration Day, January 20th, people will come together in Washington D.C. and in cities and towns across the country in a nationwide mobilization opposing Trump’s ultra-right, billionaire agenda,” says the homepage of an organizing and fundraising website the People’s Forum hosts. “We can defeat the Trump program … by building a massive movement against the ruling class and the political system that gives everything to billionaires while impoverishing an ever larger section of the population.”
The House Natural Resources Committee sent letters to the People’s Forum and ANSWER last year demanding information about their activities, citing “total disregard for public gathering permit requirements” after the July protest they organized. The committee has not announced an end to its investigation.
The letters noted that the National Park Service (NPS) revoked the permit it had issued to the ANSWER Coalition to protest in Columbus Circle and other Washington locations on July 24 after the gathering descended into chaos. Anti-Israel activists ransacked the circle, drawing “Hamas is comin” and other graffiti and destroying an American flag they pulled from a public flagpole. NPS estimated more than $11,000 in damages resulted from the vandalism. (RELATED: Protesters Tear Down American Flag, Burn It, Raise Palestinian Flag During Netanyahu Visit)
The National Park Service (NPS) did not respond to the DCNF’s inquiry into whether it issued permits to the People’s Forum or ANSWER to protest in Washington on Monday.
The U.S. Capitol Police told the DCNF in an email it “does not have any permitted demonstrations on Capitol Grounds on January 20.”
“Our jurisdiction is highly restricted for the 60th Inauguration,” a spokesperson said.
In a Monday press conference, Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said organizers of the “We Fight Back” protest expected about 10,000 participants in “a couple of locations” in downtown Washington. Authorities also anticipate about a quarter of a million ticketed guests at Trump’s swearing-in at the Capitol and 25,000 law enforcement and military officers guarding the ceremony.
The People’s Forum and ANSWER did not respond to repeated requests for comment about whether they intend to keep demonstrations lawful.
The two groups also convened an anti-Israel rally in front of the White House in June that featured symbols, slogans and merchandise praising terrorist groups and communism. Protesters vandalized public monuments but avoided arrest that day.
People’s Forum Executive Director Manolo De Los Santos praised Hamas the day after it invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and killed more than 1,100 in the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The organization assembled a rally in support, which ANSWER joined, at New York City’s Times Square.
“We are supporting the Palestinian people who are resisting an illegal occupation and apartheid imposed by the Israeli government,” De Los Santos said in a statement ahead of the rally.
The Washington protests will accompany more than 70 others across the country on Inauguration Day, according to ANSWER.
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