Communist and socialist groups called for a “revolution” at a May Day rally in Minneapolis Friday, highlighting the growing influence of far-left organizations at an event traditionally centered on workers’ rights.

Some of those demonstrators denounced capitalism and pushed for the seizure of private property and the means of production, marking a shift in tone from past May Day rallies that primarily focused on labor issues.

Protesters on the ground outlined a range of demands, including rent caps tied to income, a reduced work week and the redistribution of wealth from billionaires. The rally, which drew well over 1,000 people, was organized as an immigrant rights demonstration but brought together a broad mix of labor unions, activist organizations and far-left political groups marching side by side.

Among the groups present were the Communist Party USA, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), the Revolutionary Communists of America (RCA), the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), and members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), with numerous participants carrying flags and signage featuring socialist imagery like the hammer and sickle.

MAY DAY PROTESTS TO TAKE PLACE FRIDAY AS AGITATORS ACROSS THE US PUSH ‘WORKERS OVER BILLIONAIRES’ MOTTO

Members of the Communist Party USA were seen handing out newspapers and leaflets, including a publication titled The Communist with the headline “Down with Trump’s War!”

Demonstrators carried signs reading “F–k ICE,” “Abolish ICE,” “Fight Trump’s Agenda,” “No Kings” and “Stop the War,” while others waved red flags associated with the Communist Party USA and held banners featuring the hammer and sickle, including signage from the Revolutionary Communists of America.

A Fox News Digital investigation previously identified U.S.-born tech entrepreneur Neville Roy Singham, who lives in China, as a key figure in a network tied to some far-left groups involved in protests, part of a broader mobilization involving roughly 600 organizations nationwide.

REVOLUTIONARY TOURISM:: INSIDE THE $600M MARRIAGE OF DARK MONEY AND FAR-LEFT AGITPROP

But demonstrators interviewed in Minneapolis said they were largely unaware of him or dismissed concerns about funding.

Andy Koch, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, told Fox News Digital the U.S. is “run by billionaires” and should instead be run by working people. He said support from a a wealthy donor would be acceptable if it advanced the cause.

“If one billionaire… wants to donate to progressive pro-worker causes, that’s great,” Koch said.

When asked for examples of successful socialist systems, Koch pointed to China, saying “China’s doing pretty good right now,” and praised the former Soviet Union for having “done a lot for its people.

Members of the Revolutionary Communists of America were also present, with one protester saying he was “radicalized” in 2020 following the death of George Floyd.

“We’re calling for down with Trump and down with the Democrats,” the protester said.

Demonstrations in Minneapolis come months after large-scale anti-ICE protests with Friday’s May Day events reflecting similar themes tied to immigration enforcement and broader economic concerns.

The march was organized as an immigrant rights demonstration, promoted under the slogan “Immigrants Rise! Workers Unite!” and led by groups including the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).

A speaker with MIRAC led chants of “No one is illegal” and “All power to the people,” with large sections of the crowd repeating the slogans.

The event began with organizers and speakers affiliated with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) leading chants and addressing the crowd from a makeshift stage, while dancers in indigenous regalia were also present. Socialist and communist groups initially gathered toward the back of the crowd but later joined the march, falling in line behind the immigrant rights organizers as demonstrators moved through the city.

A significant contingent of socialist and communist groups marched alongside the organizers, underscoring the ideological overlap at the event.

WATCH: Protesters march through South Minneapolis, carry political signs

Flags throughout the march reflected a wide mix of causes and affiliations, including Palestinian flags, LGBTQ pride imagery and banners associated with socialist and communist groups.

High-visibility marshals affiliated with protest groups directed the march and blocked side streets, with little to no visible police presence along much of the route.

Another protester who identified as a communist said the current system is a “dead end” and argued that “the workers create all the value in society and we get to own none of it under capitalism.” She said the group supports policies including rent caps tied to income and limiting rent to 10% of wages.

When asked about rent-control policies in cities like New York and California, where such measures have faced criticism, one woman said those efforts failed because they were not “under workers’ control.”

SOCIALIST NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE MAMDANI ONCE CALLED TO ‘SEIZE’ LUXURY HOMES TO HOUSE HOMELESS DURING COVID

“Under capitalism, it won’t work. We need a society under control of the workers,” she said.

Owen Phernetton, a member of the Revolutionary Communists of America, said the group is “building a party of class fighters” and argued that “we need a revolution… on a socialist basis.”

He said the organization supports seizing property, including factories, mines and office spaces and placing them under the ownership of the working class.

“We argue for decreasing the workday to only 20 hours a week without any loss in pay,” he said.

He added that billionaire wealth should be “expropriated and put in use for the working class,” pointing to the Soviet Union as an example.

Several Minneapolis City Council members, most affiliated with the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), attended the rally and read out a non-binding resolution recognizing May 1 as International Workers Day. During the remarks, one speaker told the crowd “we must abolish ICE,” linking labor issues with immigration policy.

WATCH: Communist Party presence noted at Minneapolis May Day demonstration

Jason Chavez read parts of the resolution alongside fellow council members Elliott Payne, Aurin Chowdhury, Soren Stevenson and Jamal Osman. Council member Robin Wonsley was also present.

Not all observers supported the messaging.

Sedonia Meyers, who said she was watching from the sidewalk, described herself as “a very centrist individual” and said immigration should follow a legal process.

“If you want to be a citizen… you should work hard… and do the proper steps,” she said, adding that the U.S. must “vet the people that come into this country” to ensure public safety.

Two other elderly women observing nearby welcomed the presence of communist and socialist groups, describing the rally as a “big tent,” and inisting that there was “room for everyone,” though they did not support calls to abolish ICE.

The protest concluded without major disruption, with demonstrators marching through the city in largely good spirits. A marching band played upbeat music as participants moved along the route, though speakers delivered more forceful rhetoric as they outlined their demands.

Earlier in the day, smaller gatherings drew limited turnout, including a union-led rally at Government Plaza that a union leader described a union gathering with “no connection to broader protests.”

Power the Future, a pro-energy advocacy group, is asking Congress to take a closer look at the opposition to data centers that is springing up across the country.

In a letter to Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the group asked lawmakers to open formal investigations into millions of dollars in funding they believe is incentivizing nonprofits and local groups to take up an environmental stance against data centers.

In their view, it’s a movement that’s trying to look more grassroots than it actually is.

“We request that your committees open a formal investigation into a coordinated, billionaire-funded, and potentially foreign-backed political campaign designed to block the construction of data center and AI infrastructure across the United States, which sits among the most important economic and national-security buildouts of President Trump’s second term,” the letter reads.

FOREIGN BILLIONAIRES FUNNEL $2.6B TO US ADVOCACY GROUPS TO INFLUENCE POLICY, WATCHDOG REPORT CLAIMS

The letter highlights fears that American laws surrounding nonprofits, which shield donors from public disclosures, could be enabling wealthy ideologues to make donations that are difficult to track.

The group pointed to environmentally-minded nonprofits like the Sierra Club, Food and Water Watch, Earthjustice, Goods Jobs First, Piedmont Environmental Council, the Southern Environmental Law Center, MediaJustice and the Athena Coalition that have received — and spent millions — opposing their expansion.

New Venture Fund, the Sierra Club Foundation and the Sixteen Thirty Fund collectively received over $13 million from pro-environmental donors, according to grant reporting.

It’s unclear if those donations were made for the express intent of opposing data center constructions.

Even so, across the board, the groups affirm that data centers are costing more resources than they are worth — at the expense of local communities’ environmental wellbeing.

Power the Future disagrees.

RAPID RISE OF AI PUTS NEW URGENCY ON CONGRESS TO UNLEASH AMERICAN ENERGY

Beyond generating tax revenue for local communities and creating employment opportunities, Power the Future argued that the data centers enable the U.S. to stay competitive with foreign powers.

“Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has called opposition to that buildout a ‘surrender’ to China,” Power the Future wrote in its datacenter report.

“The compute infrastructure that trains AI models, processes intelligence data and powers the next generation of American economic and military advantage has to be built somewhere.”

Although the group’s founder, Daniel Turner, believes that part of the opposition may well come from legitimate local concerns about unwanted development in rural areas, he’s skeptical of the money being pumped into the picture.

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“There is certainly a lot for communities to discuss around data centers. But is it a paid operation by radical green groups who see banning data centers as the new banning the gas stove or banning the leaf blower?” Turner said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Power the Future has found 188 local opposition groups across 24 states that oppose data center expansion, according to their research.

Under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, New York City has set aside $500,000 to fund community discussions on reparations and other forms of assistance for Black New Yorkers as a major budget deficit looms, internal communications show.

An internal message, dated January, detailed how more than two dozen groups would be given tens of thousands of dollars each to participate in “conversations to discuss the development of a Reparations study” and to gather “input on the early development of the citywide Truth, Healing and Reconciliation plan.” 

Funding, according to the document, “allows for each community member to receive an incentive for their time” and covers the costs of providing participants with “refreshments.”

Amid the reparations spending, New York City faces an estimated $5.4 billion budget deficit throughout the next two fiscal years. Mamdani thus far has not proposed service cuts to address the shortfall, opting instead to seek out increased taxes and dip into the city’s emergency cash reserves while increasing funding for racial equity initiatives.

FAR-LEFT HOUSE DEM PUSHES LAND REPARATIONS FOR DESCENDANTS OF AMERICAN SLAVES

Mamdani has justified his racially focused policies by stating that “Black and Latino New Yorkers” have “been pushed out of this city for decades” and are “bearing the brunt” of the rising cost of living in New York City.

Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, meanwhile, has said that the mayor’s race-based policies sound “fishy/illegal” and pledged to investigate.

The city memo reads, “We must do this work so that we can begin to heal from the harms of the past that have bled into our present and threaten our future. The work of Truth, Healing, and Reconciliation will not stop until we see a better New York City – a New York that is engaging in healing from the traumas of the past, has ended current abuse, and is on the path of a racially equitable and just city for all.”

MAMDANI VETOES FIRST BILL IN SIGN OF TENSIONS WITH NYC COUNCIL

In his preliminary budget, released in February, Mamdani requested $4.6 million for the Commission on Racial Equity (CORE), the body responsible for holding the reparations talks, and an additional $5.6 million for the Office of Racial Equity. The more than $10 million in combined funding for the two municipal bodies would represent a roughly $3 million increase from the prior year.

CORE will continue its work on “Reparations, Truth, Healing and Reconciliation” until it releases its July 2027 “Final report for Reparations Study” and its June 2028 “Implementation for Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Plan,” per its website.

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The internal communications, first obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, claim that more than 400 people had attended reparations conversations as of January.

Under a local law passed in 2024, New York City is required to consider “financial or in-kind restitution” as well as “compensation for moral or economically assessable damage” and “public apologies” for the descendants of African slaves. 

The New York City mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment sent by Fox News Digital Friday.

Senate Republicans are eyeing the chance to go after Graham Platner now that Maine’s Senate race is locked in.

Platner’s position as the Democratic nominee against Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was all but cemented Thursday when Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the race over a lack of cash flow.

Mills’ exit is two-pronged. It could signal that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Democratic establishment are losing their grip, given that Mills was handpicked by Democratic Party bosses to challenge Collins.

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It also opens up a new line of attack for Republicans, who plan to lean into Platner’s past progressive views and his connection to his main backers: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

“This is the new Democrat Party,” Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital.
”I don’t know how to, I don’t even know how to digest all that nonsense. This is crazy.”

Scott, who chairs the Senate’s campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, painted Platner as the “extreme” candidate compared to Mills’ more centrist image.

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He previewed points of attack against Platner, including his insults of rural White voters, old Reddit posts where he blamed women for rape, and his “absolute condescension towards minorities, and Black people specifically.”

“Schumer … went after Mills, and what do you find yourself with? Exactly the opposite,” Scott said.

Still, Platner, who has never held elected office, is polling ahead of Collins, who is seeking a sixth term in the Senate.

RealClearPolitics has Platner ahead by an average of nearly eight points. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who chaired the NRSC when Republicans flipped the Senate in 2024, told Fox News Digital that the last time Collins ran, she was behind in early polling as well.

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“Every poll, going right up to Election Day, and she ended up winning by eight points,” Daines said. “Susan Collins is a tough out and she’s going to win Maine.”

Republicans also see Platner’s ascension as the continuation of a shift in the Democratic Party from the old-guard establishment to more progressive candidates, following the success of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — another victory story from Sanders’ and Ocasio-Cortez’s stable of candidates.

They’re hoping to tie Platner to Mamdani, whom Republicans have painted as a proverbial boogeyman in contrast to more centrist Democratic candidates.

“The Democrats continue to nominate far-left candidates,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital. “This is the Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, AOC, wing of the party that is in control.”

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz is zeroing in on five states as the Trump administration escalates its crackdown on fraud, waste, and abuse, he told Fox News Digital. 

“We’ve written letters to Minnesota, California, a letter to Florida because we’re worried about the durable medical equipment fraud, New York, Maine, and there are more coming,” Oz told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview, adding that his concern expands to all 50 states, as well. 

Oz has escalated federal pressure on states to tighten anti-fraud enforcement following Minnesota’s $250 million “Feeding Our Future” scheme. CMS is leaving no stone unturned, he said, looking at programs such as Medicaid and hospices also revealing foreign influence in the fraud scheme. 

READ: DR. OZ PUTS ALL 50 GOVERNORS ON NOTICE OVER BILLIONS LOST TO MEDICAID FRAUD

“We know the Cuban government seems to be implicated in some issues in South Florida, where you have twice as many durable medical equipment suppliers selling wheelchairs and knee braces than McDonald’s,” said Oz.

The anti-fraud task force, led by Vice President JD Vance, announced in February that durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers will be targeted through a nationwide moratorium.

“The Vice President’s task force continues to work closely with Dr. Oz and CMS to track down and root out fraud,” said a Vance spokesperson to Fox News Digital. “The task force is committed to ensuring that American tax dollars are used for the benefit of the American people, and will continue to successfully do exactly that.”

Oz said that he suspects a lot of foreign governments are involved in the fraud schemes taking place across the country targeting specific areas.

“We have evidence that foreign nationals certainly are involved in a lot of this fraud. There’s a Russian mafia presence in Los Angeles. There’s Chinese mafia presence, for example, in Flushing Queens [New York,]” Oz said.

MINNESOTA ‘ON THE CLOCK’ AS HHS THREATENS PENALTIES OVER CHILDCARE FRAUD SCANDAL

Four hundred hospices in Los Angeles were suspended after officials flagged an unusually high concentration of providers in the area.

The programs, designed for people in the final six months of their life, had very high survival rates – where in some cases everyone survived.

“We also began to notice that there were some folks who were probably not honorable doctors who were designated to supervise patients in multiple hospices,” said Oz. “A lot of hospitals had foreigners that owned them, or they were able to cheat by keeping the numbers of their membership low enough that they don’t have to actually report their outcomes.”

Oz said the auditor of California informed Gov. Gavin Newsom of hospice fraud evidence in 2022.

MINNESOTA FRAUD WHISTLEBLOWER SAYS ‘LACK OF GUARDRAILS WAS PRETTY SHOCKING’

“The fact that we can suspend more than 400 hospices from getting paid in just a few weeks highlights the reality that no one was watching the till for the last several years,” said Oz. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for additional comment.

“In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation placing a moratorium on new hospice licenses – a policy that remains in effect today, preventing bad actors from entering the system while strengthening oversight of existing providers,” a spokesperson for Newsom previously told the New York Post of hospice fraud in the state. 

SENATE REPUBLICAN EXPANDS CHILD CARE FRAUD CRACKDOWN TO MORE BLUE STATES

Oz recently put all 50 states on notice ordering governors to identify and remove noncompliant Medicaid providers.

Oz gave governors and state Medicaid leaders 10 business days in April to tell CMS whether they will commit to conducting a swift “revalidation” of high-risk Medicaid providers and provide a proposed timetable, alongside a separate 30-day deadline for a broader provider-revalidation strategy, escalating federal pressure on states to tighten anti-fraud enforcement.

“We can audit states that don’t want to comply with the revalidation request,” said Oz.

“Let’s revalidate, which means double check that everyone is providing services within Medicaid, especially for these high-risk services where these are the things your family would normally do for you,” he said.

Oz pointed to examples of autism babysitters, non-emergency transport to clinics, and services such as carrying and delivering groceries that may fall outside of Medicaid scope, possibly revealing fraud.

“Like what do these people actually have as credentials to allow them to be able to this? And so we asked this question of all the states and all 50 now are charged within 10 days of telling us whether they want to work with us,” he said. 

Officials suspect the fraud costs Americans billions of dollars each year.

“This is an important issue for Americans to recognize because the states run Medicaid, but the federal taxpayer foots the bill,” said Oz.

Democrats who rallied with liberal activists at nationwide “No Kings” protests just weeks ago were widely mocked for pivoting to offer the United Kingdom’s King Charles III a royal welcome in Congress and elsewhere.

Charles’ speech highlighted a contradiction between anti-monarchy rhetoric and public protests involving Democrats and the raucous welcome extended to the British monarch during his address to Congress.

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., criticized Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., whom he said hypocritically cheered Charles several months after speaking at a “No Kings” protest in Savannah.

“Hold on a minute, wasn’t this the same Jon Ossoff who was just out there a few weeks ago hooting and hollering about ‘No Kings’ at his rally… He’ll shout ‘No Kings’ all day, but once the king comes around, man, he’s got him a front-row seat,” the Jackson lawmaker said.

TIM ALLEN TROLLS ‘NO KINGS’ LAWMAKERS FOR FAWNING OVER ACTUAL KING CHARLES

“I was on my way to hear an actual King speak,” Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., said in a statement after Charles’ address. “Funny how the ‘No Kings’ crowd is nowhere to be found. Guess the outrage depends on who’s talking?”

At a March 29 “No Kings” protest in Minnesota, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minneapolis spoke at an event headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, telling the crowd that the U.S. pledges allegiance to the “Constitution, not a King.”

The day prior, Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., spoke to the press at a “No Kings” protest in his area, saying that the crowd was exercising its freedom of speech against Trump while titling the clip on his social media page “No Kings, not now, not ever.”

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., authored the “No Kings Act” in 2024 in rebuke of the Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution stemming from actions taken under their constitutional authority while in office.

“‘No Kings’ protest leaders welcome KING CHARLES with a standing ovation; you can’t make this up,” quipped former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, as press cutaway shots of Charles’ address to Congress showed multiple ‘No Kings’ Democrats like Beyer smiling or clapping.

‘NO KINGS’ CALLS ITSELF LEADERLESS BUT ITS OWN INTERNAL DOCUMENTS TELL A VERY DIFFERENT STORY

“Look who was elated to see the king – Ms. No Kings,” quipped liberal pro-Israel actor Michael Rapaport, who included photos of a grinning Omar taking photographs of Charles on her phone.

Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., also called out alleged hypocrisy from the royals’ trip:

“Why did I just watch every Democrat in Congress stand and clap for an actual King?” she said, featuring screenshots from Fox News Channel’s House chamber feed.

“‘No Kings’ crowd greets King Charles with a standing ovation,” added right-wing X commentator “EndWokeness.”

“Biggest bull**** artists of the century,” added commentator Robby Starbuck.

Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli shared another clip from b-roll of Charles’ speech, characterizing Democrats’ position as “No Kings +/- 1.”

Trump himself weighed in on the “No Kings” aspect during an interview with CBS’ Norah O’Donnell after she asked him about Hilton assassination suspect Cole Allen attending such a protest in California.

TRUMP REACTS TO ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS BY SAYING ‘I’M NOT A KING, I WORK MY ASS OFF’

“No Kings, yeah… If I was a king, I wouldn’t be dealing with you,” Trump retorted.

After Charles departed for London, the Democrat representing former President George Washington’s longtime home lambasted Trump for what he characterized as a concession to the king.

Trump announced Friday he agreed to an apparent request from Charles to remove trade restrictions on whiskey to help Scotland work with Kentucky’s liquor businesses, as the former utilizes the latter’s used barrels.

“Now we’re taking orders from the King of England,” said Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Mount Vernon.

“George Washington just rolled over.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Beyer, Ossoff and Omar for comment.

The chair of the California Republican Party and other conservatives on social media are calling for the vice mayor of Los Altos, California, Larry Lang, to resign after he posted “86 47” on social media multiple times, including in response to one of the state Republican Party’s Facebook posts.

The now-deleted posts, screenshots of which were shared by the California Republican Party and reviewed by Fox News Digital, show that at some point this week Lang updated his Facebook “cover photo” so it was the same image of a “86 47” seashell formation reading that resulted in former FBI Director James Comey getting indicted in federal court last month for threats against the president. 

Meanwhile, Lang also commented “86 47” on a post shared by the California Republican Party earlier this week on Facebook. The clip included a news segment featuring California GOP Chairperson Corrin Rankin talking about a recent debate between California’s current gubernatorial candidates. She argued during the segment that Democrats in the state “have no solutions,” adding that Californians are ready for new leadership after 16 years of Democratic Party rule in the state.

“This death threat directed at Donald Trump is unacceptable. Either this elected ‘leader’ is completely unaware of recent events, or he is somehow fueling the violence that erodes our political system,” Rankin said Friday in a post on X that included calls for Lang to resign. “Los Altos deserves leaders who unite the community and focus on solutions.”

Kentucky school official resigns after allegedly calling to ‘shoot Republicans’ on social media

The California GOP also echoed Rankin’s remarks, pleading with Democrats to “stop advocating for the death of Donald Trump and Republicans.”

When reached for comment about the “86 47” posts, Lang’s email address returned an automatic response indicating he was “traveling” until May 4. His Facebook “cover photo” indicated it had been changed Friday.

Lang is the vice mayor of the Los Altos City Council and also sits on over half-a-dozen regional boards of directors. Fox News Digital also reached out to city council members in Los Altos for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

JONATHAN TURLEY: COMEY’S SHELL POST MAY BE CRASS, BUT CHARGING HIM IS A FREE SPEECH TRAP

“He needs to resign as vice mayor!” conservative social media account Libs of TikTok said after uncovering the posts.

Nick Poche, spokesperson with the Republican National Committee, added that Democrats “must immediately dial back their unhinged rhetoric” or risk encouraging “deranged” supporters who might wish to kill the president, such as the suspect from the recent White House Correspondents Dinner shooting that was stymied by the Secret Service.  

“We suggest he resign to check into a mental hospital,” Poche said of Lang. 

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey was indicted for a second time by the Justice Department last month, which stemmed from a May 2025 Instagram photo of an “86 47” shell formation on a beach — the same shell formation that appeared in Lang’s Facebook “cover photo” until it was deleted.

In slang, often used in certain industries and in various cultures, “86” typically means to get rid of something. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is currently the 47th President of the United States.

Comey removed the post the same day it was uploaded, claiming he had misinterpreted the shells as a general political message.

The former FBI director is facing charges of making threats to harm the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.

NEW YORK CITY — A group financed by a pro-Chinese Communist Party tech tycoon was one of the first on the scene for Friday’s May Day demonstrations and socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s remarks.

The People’s Forum and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which both receive direct or indirect funding from Shanghai-based Neville Roy Singham, were key players in the organization of protestors in Union Square ahead of the May Day events.

A self-identified speaker from PSL announced a People’s Forum spokesperson who was the second to speak into a microphone. The speaker rallied the crowd of demonstrators, asking them to repeat chants and later bashed capitalism. Shortly before remarks, PSL arrived with dozens of pre-made anti-Trump signs and equipment, unloading them from a van parked next to Union Sq. Park.

CHINA’S AMERICAN MAO: INSIDE SINGHAM’S BLUEPRINT TO ‘WAGE WAR’ FOR A ‘NEW WORLD ORDER’

A Fox News Digital investigation found that the nonprofit received $22.4 million from  Singham.

Communism was a recurring theme at May Day in New York, with the Revolutionary Communists of America, the Revolutionary Communist Party and signs for the Communist Workers of America held by several demonstrators.

Pro-communism advocates were canvassing the crowd, hawking communist newspapers and encouraging participation in upcoming organization events.

‘ABSOLUTELY A COMMUNIST’: MAMDANI DODGES LABEL, BUT HIS RECORD AND EXPERT SAY OTHERWISE

“The existing capitalist-imperialist system and institutions of government in this country must be abolished and dismantled – and replaced by a new, socialist system based on the constitution for the new socialist republic of America,” one paper read.

Fox News Digital interviewed one of the members of the Revolutionary Communists of America, who went only by Tom, who said that capitalism “is in crisis in the U.S.”

“The small farmer has been killed off by capitalism,” Tom told Fox. “The small businessman has been killed off capitalism. Big corporations dominate the society. So America is very proletarianized. And therefore, the working classes has more of a, let’s say, the class balance of forces. It’s more on the side of the working class now than it ever has been.”

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Teamsters and unions gathered downtown at Washington Square Park while TPF and PSL marched from Union Square several blocks up. The union workers’ rally ended shortly after the Singham-connected groups arrived. 

May Day is historically focused on advocacy for pro-workers, but once New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani began speaking, a significant number of teamsters and union employees had already left as calls for their cheers were dull, and the presence of other organizations dominated the crowd. 

Mamdani stood in front of billboards labeled “NO ICE, NO WAR” and “NO BILLIONAIRES,” and pushed his commitment to taxing the rich, and noted “faster buses” instead of his usual commitment to making bus transportation in the city free. 

The crowd cheered loudly for Mamdani, whose appearance was not publicized and seemingly not expected from many of the demonstrators.

“That is why we continue to fight for those who power this city as we look to deliver universal child care,” Mamdani told the crowd. “Faster buses, cheaper groceries, protecting our neighbors from the cruelty of ice. And yes, working to tax the wealthiest and the most profitable corporations in New York City.”

Crowds dispersed following Mamdani’s brief address, but some roads remained closed as demonstrators continued the march, and one ambulance with flashing lights was forced to turn around earlier in the day on the march from Union Square to Washington Square.

EXCLUSIVE: A bipartisan group of lawmakers is moving to crack down on foreign influence in American education by targeting universities’ financial ties to adversarial nations.

The package would ban federal funding to colleges that operate “branch” campuses in adversarial countries or accept research funding for sensitive fields like artificial intelligence, biotech and quantum computing. China, for example, has been a major source of foreign influence in American education through its Confucius Classrooms, which states like Oklahoma have cracked down on.

On a federal level, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., has taken the mantle of defending education against issues from foreign influence to antisemitism on campus; famously headlining a hearing after which UPenn’s then-president resigned amid pressure over her responses on the latter.

Stefanik again is out in front of an education protection endeavor, telling Fox News Digital she is part of a bicameral, bipartisan group focused on keeping foreign influence away from America’s young and growing minds.

“I introduced the No Branch Campuses in Hostile Countries Act with Senator Rick Scott, and this is part of the broader higher education reform effort that I have been leading on in the Congress,” Stefanik said in an exclusive interview.

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“One of the challenges that I’ve seen is the influence of foreign adversaries sowing discord on our higher education campuses. And part of this has been coming from the foreign dollars flowing in, but also the existence of branches in these foreign adversarial countries.”

She noted her home state of New York has major universities operating branch campuses in China, but said the problem extends beyond the Empire State to other top schools in Chicago, Washington and elsewhere.

Stefanik added that Confucius Institutes and classrooms were recently banned through the national defense bill, and that just as that effort was bipartisan, so is her second education security bill this week.

The Defending American Research Act prevents any institution of higher education from receiving federal research funding for five years if it receives funds from certain foreign countries including Qatar, Venezuela, Turkey and North Korea.

In Stefanik’s own book, “Poisoned Ivies,” she noted she dove into the topic of dangerous aspects of today’s campus life from foreign influence to antisemitism.

“[Ours] was the most viewed hearing in the history of Congress. It led to multiple university presidents’ resignations, but importantly, it set off an earthquake in higher education reform. There have been seismic shifts in higher-ed, both in the marketplace, as you’re seeing parents and students voting with their wallets and feet, as it’s shifted,” Stefanik said, adding that many American youth are seeking collegiate education at southern schools where the liberal northeast and west coast influence is more muted.

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Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., are joining Stefanik in the effort, and Scott told Fox News Digital that America “has enemies” and should “start acting like it” when it comes to their influence on higher education.

“Countries like Communist China and terror-supporting Qatar should not be able to use America’s colleges and universities as outposts to spy on us, steal sensitive research, and spread anti-American propaganda, but we’ve been letting them do it for years,” Scott said.

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“This legislation is critical to America’s national security and the future of our higher education system — neither of which should be for sale.”

While the list includes more obvious entries like North Korea, Cuba and China, Qatar is also included, even as it remains a somewhat neutral or cooperative partner on national security concerns such as evacuations from Afghanistan and the Iran conflict.

However, Stefanik said when it comes to its influence on U.S. education, her research led her to “billions of dollars” from Doha appearing to prop up antisemitic interests and “pro-terror professors” at some universities including in her home state.

“I think that’s one of the major ways we need to push back on this foreign influence that’s really shifting away from the founding missions of these higher education institutions,” she said.

Other nations on both bills’ lists include the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation.

The bill sponsors’ collective hope is that their measures will provide the leverage needed to force U.S. universities to cut ties with adversarial governments or risk their bottom line.

FIRST ON FOX: The educational background of the alleged White House Correspondents’ dinner Correspondents dinner shooter Cole Allen is generating renewed scrutiny from critics about the current state of academia and bias in the teaching profession, as well as questions about far-left politics and rhetoric on college campuses, including the specific institutions the alleged shooter attended.

Allen graduated from Cal State University Dominguez Hills in May 2025 with a Master’s Degree in computer science, according to his LinkedIn page. He spent a few years at the Carson, California, institution that multiple university employees who spoke to Fox News Digital said is rife with far-left ideology and antipathy toward countering views to that.

“I was not shocked,” a CSU Dominguez employee, granted anonymity to protect against retribution, told Fox News Digital about the news that Allen was a former student at the university. “Campus policy treats ICE like it is an invading army. There is constant talk of ‘the community under threat.’”

“I hope no one here approves of violence, but continually talking about the government as a threat to the community isn’t healthy.”

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Some professors and administrators at CSUDH emphasize race and division in their teaching, and while they may not be the majority, they are highly visible and appear to be well supported, another employee said. 

For example, the employee explained that the university maintains three separate ethnic studies departments, Chicana/o studies, Africana studies and Asian Pacific studies, even though these programs have relatively few majors and graduates. Despite the university facing a serious financial crisis, there are no plans to consolidate them into a single department, which could reduce costs. 

“Faculty who spearheaded the push for an ‘ethnic studies’ requirement in the CSU were almost uniformly rewarded with deanships and administrative positions throughout the CSU,” the employee said.

Additionally, the Chicana/o Studies Department publicly supported Gaza on Nov. 3, 2023, weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, but did not face any official consequences or requests to apologize, the employee said. 

“Conservative and independent professors and lecturers can expect scorn and insult when they try and actually voice their viewpoints, if not outright censure,” one of the employees told Fox News Digital. 

“Conservative students can realistically expect retaliation from faculty for disagreeing with said faculty member’s political views. I’ve heard a member dismiss a rather good student as being libertarian, ‘And, therefore, he can’t be that smart.’”

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One of the employees suggested that “regular folks from 20 years ago likely “keep their mouths shut” in order to not be branded a “right-wing bigot.”

“If you aren’t ‘anti-racist’ you are part of the problem to many of the most vocal people here. Certainly I’m not comfortable letting my views be fully known and I’m a lifelong Democrat.”

One of the most prominent voices on campus during Allen’s tenure was the school’s president, who often talked about race and labeled the Trump administration as racist.

“We need to be cognizant of how our minds and spirits, minds and spirits, have been contaminated by the residuals of racism and white supremacy,” Thomas A. Parham, former president at Cal State University Dominguez Hills, said during a webinar last fall titled, “Liberation Psychology: Unlocking the Shackles of Conceptual Incarceration,” first reported by Gateway Pundit.

Parham served as the president of CSU Dominguez Hills from March 2018 through this past December, when he stepped down after the school’s Academic Senate passed a resolution of “no confidence” over his leadership during his tenure.

Parham said during the webinar that it was his goal to “disrupt” and “dislodge” individuals who feel “comfortable” with the “way things are” when it comes to race.

“I want to dislodge them from that comfortable category of intellectual, emotional, and behavioral apathy that has been stuck in the way things are and then acting in the way that happens,’ Parham explained in the webinar, which was hosted by the American Psychological Association (APA) Leadership Development Institute.

 “If I need to adjust or disrupt that fragility in order to do that, that is the only thing that is going to instigate change. If I make them too comfortable, then all they do is receive information and passively go about doing it as if everything they’re doing is okay. So, I have to be one that’s unapologetic about being able to confront the fragility.”

Parham also offered criticism of Trump in the webinar, saying, “When you can brag about grabbing women by the privates, that is sexual assault that would wind everybody else up in jail. And 53% of the women still vote for you. Mostly White. You know this is something more than just a political issue.”

At another point in the webinar, Parham claimed the Trump administration doesn’t like minorities, saying, “Everybody knew this current federal administration was not liking Black folk, was not liking Latino folk, and was not down with immigrants. Everybody knew that.” 

One of the CSU Dominguez employees told Fox News Digital, “That’s Parham.”

“He centered race in everything, but only in a Black-White binary despite campus being 2/3s Latino,” the employee said. “He was defiant about not following DOE/admin rules on DEI and always made it feel like if you weren’t far-left, you didn’t share the values of the ‘Toro Family.’ A lot of professors, especially the loudest voices on campus, are the same way. I’m sure a lot of professors aren’t pushing an agenda, but the dominant narrative on campus, including from administration, that the mission of the university is race-conscious, Leftist, and activist.”

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On April 17, 2025, a month before Allen graduated, CSUDH faculty and staff joined a press conference and rally as part of the National Day of Action for Higher Education. This was coordinated with other Southern California campuses to protest what organizers called the Trump administration’s “attacks on higher education.”

Dr. Rick Addante, a neuroscientist who spent years working in the Cal State University system and was present during Parham’s webinar, which he posted online, told Fox News Digital he was “shocked and appalled at the kind of vile hate and discrimination that he [Parham] was spewing,” and made the case that the political climate at CSU Dominguez was one that could easily radicalize an impressionable student.

Addante, who has been sounding the alarm on X over alleged liberal radicalization on college campuses over the last few years after being fired from Florida Tech after blowing the whistle on DEI, argues that the rhetoric found in the shooter’s manifesto is indistinguishable from the official “ideological breeding ground” established by Parham. He believes the shooter was “indoctrinated” by an institutional culture that explicitly targets the Trump administration and its supporters.

“When you look at that, and you ask yourself, why is this person willing to run through a gauntlet of Secret Service people to attack the entire line of succession of the United States government and the President of the United States, where do his ideas, where do his thoughts and this drive come from?” Addante said. “Well, to me, you can draw a straight line connecting the two dots because this is clearly what he was indoctrinated with.”

“As far as I’m concerned, they should be yanking funding from all of these places and treating them like the madrasas for the terror breeding grounds that they are,” Addante added.

Beginning in March 2020, Allen’s LinkedIn profile says, he joined C2 Education, a tutoring company, enrolling at California State University, Dominguez Hills, in 2022 to pursue an MS in computer science, graduating in May 2025. That school also confirmed that a person by the same name graduated with a master’s degree that year.

A Dec. 30, 2024, Facebook post from C2 Education congratulated “Cole Allen of C2 Education Torrence on being honored as December teacher of the month.” A photo matching that of Allen was attached to the post.

According to law enforcement officials, Allen’s past includes descending into anti-Trump hate, attending at least one of the three “No Kings” protests organized over the past year by groups including Democratic-leaning nonprofits, like Indivisible, MoveOn and American Federation of Teachers, and a network of socialist organizations.

In the days following the high-profile shooting authorities say was carried out by Allen, social media users began pointing to his educational background and his leftist commentary on social media, while highlighting the allegations in recent years that the education system in the United States has been increasingly promoting and funding far-left ideologies.

“If you’re surprised that the wannabe Trump assassin is a teacher, you haven’t been paying attention,” political commentator Riley Gaines posted on X on Monday in response to a Fox News Digital report highlighting the over $1 billion teachers’ unions have sent to far left causes over the last decade.

“The elephant in the room is that a left wing teacher just tried to assassinate multiple members of the Trump administration after teachers unions spent more than $1 billion on left-wing causes,” Republican communicator Steve Guest posted on X in response to the same report.

In addition to attending CSU Dominguez, in September 2013, according to his online profile, Allen enrolled in the highly competitive California Institute of Technology, known as Caltech, to pursue a BS in mechanical engineering, graduating in 2017.

Caltech has had its own issues with perceptions of far-left curriculum and ideology, highlighted most notably by a National Association of Scholars report that concluded DEI, widely viewed by conservative critics as a key tenet of far-left ideology on college campuses,  is not just administrative at Caltech, it’s inserted into scientific research culture itself. 

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The report explains that “Caltech’s administration is thoroughly saturated with DEI’s broader ideological agenda” and that “DEI was established to operate at every level of campus work.” 

DEI was also a top priority of Parham during his tenure at CSU Dominguez, according to his own words in an exit interview where he took a shot at the Trump administration’s efforts to rein back race-based hiring and curriculum.

“We are acutely aware of the federal government’s hostility toward anything that looks like it wants to be diverse,” Parham said. “Not a surprise to us, but we try to delicately dance, not to skirt the law, but really to be in tune with the law as it is written, and separate out what is someone’s opinion and perspective about what they like and don’t like, versus technically what is legal.”

In the same interview, Parham expressed his reverence for anti-colonialist writer and activist Frantz Fanon, a French political philosopher who died in 1961, who was labeled the “Patron Saint of Political Violence” by The Atlantic in 2024. 

“They become mantras and symbols of possibility. When I see Fannie Lou Hamer talking about — I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired — it sometimes creates the mood and the ambiance that allows me to kind of move forward,” Parham said when asked about the “black intellectuals” that are “meaningful in his life.” “When I see Fanon, which is kind of my daily mantra, say that Each generation, out of relative obscurity, must reach out and seek to fulfill its legacy or betray it — I go to work every day and go to bed every night deciding, have I fulfilled or betrayed the legacy that I’ve been blessed to inherit by my ancestors and my elders?”

In his farewell email to the university, obtained by Fox News Digital, Parham said he hoped his “lasting legacy” was his “commitment” to DEI measures. 

CSUDH’s interim president, Mary Ann Villarreal, appears to have made racial “equity” a key part of her resume as well, joining the university after serving as “vice president for institutional excellence at the American Association of Colleges and Universities, a global membership organization dedicated to advancing equity, innovation, and educational excellence,” according to her bio.

Before that, Villarreal served as the vice president for equity, diversity and inclusion.

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“I am excited to join CSUDH in advancing its vital mission of serving California students in all their diversity and promise,” Villarreal said after her appointment in a press release on the school website. “Dominguez Hills is a beacon of inclusivity and a vital anchor for its community.” 

A spokesperson for CSU Dominguez pointed Fox News Digital to their previous statement on April 27 that said, “CSUDH reiterates its condemnation for the act of violence at the WHCA dinner. The university community is grateful for law enforcement’s swift response and greatly relieved that no one was seriously injured.”

In response to questions about the climate on campus, the spokesperson said, “CSUDH is committed to creating a safe, healthy environment in which our campus community can thrive and exchange ideas. Our mission is to provide a transformative educational experience that helps students in their academic and career journeys.”

The statement continued, “CSUDH upholds the tenets of the First Amendment: our staff, faculty, and students, each of whom has their own perspectives and life experiences, are free to engage in dialogue and debate. No one is discouraged from speaking their mind, and the university cannot and will not intervene in individual expression unless it violates the law. CSUDH urges anyone experiencing retaliation or harassment to make a report so that the university can respond appropriately and provide any necessary supports.”

A Caltech spokesperson told Fox News Digital the shooting incident is “deeply troubling” and that “we unequivocally denounce all forms of political violence and extend our concern and support to all those impacted by this incident.”

“Caltech is firmly committed to—and solely focused on—advancing knowledge; promoting critical, data-driven inquiry; and providing the next generation of scientists and engineers with access to research and learning experiences that drive discovery, innovation, and technological advancement.”

The spokesperson also pointed to reporting on community members and classmates who have said Allen was  actively involved with the Caltech Christian Fellowship club and fencing during his time at Caltech.

Nicole Neily, president of the education watchdog Defending Education, pointed to a 2024 report her organization released highlighting the “activist pipeline” on college campuses.

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“Colleges of education have strayed far from their mission of providing best practices and tactics for teachers, instead focusing on leveraging pupils to combat a so-called ‘oppressor-oppressed matrix,’” Neily said. 

“For far too long, teachers have viewed their role as ‘agents of social change’ rather than of educators – and the results of this sea change are obvious when looking at test scores. America’s students deserve to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic – not be enlisted as child soldiers in progressives’ war on our country’s values.” 

Skeptic Research Center, a project of The Skeptics Society, released a study in 2025 suggesting a correlation between a high level of education and being more open to supporting political violence.

“Americans with the highest level of formal education were also the most supportive of political violence,” the study stated, adding, “[Thirty-six] percent of those with a graduate or professional degree agreed at least somewhat with the statement ‘If you are protesting something unjust, it is reasonable to damage property,’ while 40 percent agreed that ‘Violence is often necessary to create social change.’”

Addante told Fox News Digital that Saturday’s shooting should be a wakeup call to the threat of radical ideology on college campuses nationwide. 

“Where did the manifesto come from? Where did the ideas that drove the manifesto and the actions and the threats, where did they come from? They didn’t come from Reddit, they didn’t come from social media,” Addante said.

“They might have been exacerbated by Reddit and social media and Bluesky, and sure, blame them too. But we’re not going to solve anything by blaming BlueSky and Reddit. We’re going to solve things by addressing the root cause, which is actually the ideological breeding grounds and where he was trained to think this way by the actual employed people receiving federal funds who specifically spent five — four years, five years teaching him literally this. That is what we’re not doing as a country in focusing and that’s why it’s going to continue to happen over and over again because there are a thousand of these institutions around America.”

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca and Asra Q. Nomani contributed to this report.