{"id":1680,"date":"2026-06-10T09:39:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T09:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1680"},"modified":"2026-06-10T09:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T09:39:34","slug":"socialist-red-rabbits-are-training-for-national-uprising-against-cops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1680","title":{"rendered":"Socialist ‘Red Rabbits’ are training for national uprising against cops"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As its national influence has risen, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has simultaneously grown more extreme. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the group\u2019s \u201cRed Rabbits\u201d initiative.<\/p>\n

Read more NYC\u2019s failing small landlords deserve a Rent Guidelines Board split decision<\/a><\/p>\n

The Red Rabbits Security Commission, a subgroup within the DSA focused on \u201ccommunity defense\u201d efforts, is, according to its authorizing resolution, preparing for a \u201cnational uprising against federal agents and police brutality.\u201d<\/p>\n

In practice, that means training cadres in tactics like armed and unarmed self-defense, blocking intersections, and fighting \u201cfascists\u201d with umbrellas.<\/p>\n

A recent panel offered an unprecedented window into what the project looks like. Organizers from Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Tucson, Austin, and Portland compared notes.<\/p>\n

As the discussion made clear, the DSA is trying to construct a nationwide security apparatus to support its expanding role in street protests and direct-action organizing. And in so doing, it fears drawing the attention of the Internal Revenue Service \u2014 likely with good reason.<\/p>\n

Safe name<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The DSA launched the Red Rabbits Security Commission at its 2025 national convention.<\/p>\n

Organizers chose the deliberately innocuous name as a nod to the novel \u201cWatership Down,\u201d in which anthropomorphized rabbits are outnumbered and beset by enemies. Earlier branding proposals, including \u201cNational Vigilance Committee,\u201d were deemed too politically stark, with some members concerned that they could be interpreted as an endorsement of vigilantism.<\/p>\n

The Red Rabbits claim their focus is on five core security skills: de-escalation, Stop the Bleed (a first aid training on bleeding control), firearm safety, unarmed self-defense and protest marshaling (crowd management during demonstrations). The commission has set a goal of having at least five members in 40% of DSA chapters complete these trainings.<\/p>\n

Since its inauguration, the committee has been a source of internal controversy. That includes an unsuccessful effort by members of the DSA\u2019s governing National Political Committee to remove a Maoist organizer whose past public comments included praise for revolutionary violence. The committee ultimately voted to retain him.<\/p>\n

Still, the Red Rabbits have mostly kept a low profile. The recent panel, an introduction to the Red Rabbits\u2019 nationally approved training, marked the commission\u2019s first major public-facing appearance.<\/p>\n

The panel was organized by Hazel Williams, a National Political Committee member and former co-chair of California DSA, and was meant to provide \u201clessons learned, best practices, and practical guidance for building security committees in local chapters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Self-defense squad<\/strong><\/h2>\n

During the event, local chapters described a range of security preparations broader than that envisioned by the national commission. These included martial-arts sparring, evacuation planning, wound-packing, radio communications, the use of umbrellas and signs to shield participants from and block \u201cfascists,\u201d and even chemical-exposure training, in which participants practiced being pepper-sprayed.<\/p>\n

Some chapters already conduct in-house trainings or are working to expand them, such as the Philadelphia chapter\u2019s plan to develop what one member called \u201csick\u201d firearm-safety trainings. The DSA\u2019s Oklahoma City Queer Fight Club has evidently become a local training hub, teaching self defense and broader \u201ccommunity defense\u201d skills. Portland DSA has organized trainings on blocking intersections with bicycles, a practice known as \u201ccorking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more 55 kids, teens charged in Hersheypark opening day brawl \u2014 as families shielded children, hid under tables<\/a><\/p>\n

Panelists also explained that, as the Red Rabbits initiative has grown, other activist groups have come to depend on it for \u201cself-defense\u201d purposes.<\/p>\n

In New Jersey, DSA\u2019s immigrant justice working group has become a go-to security resource for immigrant organizations and Palestine affinity groups. In Philadelphia, the Red Rabbits started with abortion clinic \u201cdefense\u201d efforts, then expanded to helping groups focused on everything from \u201cimmigrant justice\u201d to \u201cPalestinian solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philly DSA\u2019s Red Rabbits team apparently functions as a \u201cmovement incubator\u201d due to its many community relationships. Those include the Philly Palestine Coalition, where the Red Rabbits team led the \u201cdirect action contingent.\u201d<\/p>\n

That work has also drawn the DSA into closer alliance with even more radical groups. Tucson\u2019s Red Rabbits, for example, work with the Party for Socialism and Liberation \u2014 a would-be revolutionary political party with close ties to the Communist Party of China. Portland DSA cited its work with the National Lawyers Guild \u2014 a left-wing legal group with historic ties to the Soviet Union \u2014 to provide know-your-rights trainings.<\/p>\n

Legal scrutiny<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Because they may be outside DSA\u2019s mandate as a 501(c)(4) \u201csocial welfare\u201d organization, the Red Rabbits trainings could invite legal scrutiny and jeopardize the tax-exempt status of its sister group, the DSA Fund.<\/p>\n

As a 501(c)(4), the DSA must, according to the IRS, \u201coperate primarily to further the common good and general welfare of the people of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some Red Rabbits activities, like know-your-rights education and de-escalation training, probably meet that threshold. But it\u2019s hard to argue that a street-level security force geared toward disruption, confrontation, and resistance to law enforcement exists primarily to \u201cfurther the common good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Tactics such as blocking traffic with bicycles, training activists to escape physical holds, forming umbrella phalanxes to confront \u201cfascists\u201d and conducting \u201ctakedowns on intersections\u201d bear little resemblance to traditional social-welfare activities.<\/p>\n

Instead, they suggest preparation for a broader \u201cnational uprising\u201d \u2014 one of the organization\u2019s stated directives.<\/p>\n

The DSA has largely avoided scrutiny, despite its increasingly extreme rhetoric and practices. As the organization grows in influence and increasingly aligns itself with radical activists and hostile regimes abroad, elected officials and government institutions have continued to look the other way.<\/p>\n

If Republicans, Democrats and state and federal authorities keep ignoring these red flags, they may eventually find themselves living under one.<\/p>\n

Read more Look who saved the day when Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Bryant Park \u2018warmth of collectivism\u2019 grew too hot<\/a><\/p>\n

From City Journal.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As its national influence has risen, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has simultaneously grown more extreme. 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