Meet the Left-Wing Groups and Operatives Rallying Behind Jewish Museum Shooter Elias Rodriguez

A radical student group at Brandeis University. Members of a socialist organization affiliated with House "Squad" members. The treasurer of a Democratic super PAC funded heavily by George Soros. These are just some of the figures and groups calling to "free" Elias Rodriguez, the Chicago man police say confessed to the Washington, D.C., murders of two Israeli diplomats.

Twenty-one organizations, along with Democratic activist Kamau Franklin, signed an open letter in support of Rodriguez organized by the Tariq El-Tahrir Youth and Student Network. It calls Rodriguez's shooting of Israeli diplomats Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside of the Capital Jewish Museum "fully justified," "eminently defensible," and "morally righteous." It also urges readers to "give pause to the zionists" and "GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA," a popular rallying cry among student radicals on Ivy League campuses like Columbia University and Harvard University. One signee, Unity of Fields, has been involved in the Columbia protests.

Another signatory is the Liberation Caucus of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)—"Squad" members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), and Greg Casar (D., Texas) are members of DSA, the largest socialist group in the country. Franklin, who serves as treasurer of the Black Voters Matter Action PAC, a Democratic group that received $2.4 million from Soros and the Soros-funded Democracy PAC, signed the letter and promoted it on his Twitter page. So did the Brandeis Jewish Bund, a self-described "Anti-Zionist" group at Brandeis University, a school founded by Jewish Americans to address anti-Semitism in the American education system. Another signee, Bronx Anti War, was cofounded by Janet Goodman-Clarke, a member of the Soros-funded Jewish Voice for Peace.

While many of the groups backing Rodriguez are not well known beyond radical activist circles, their ties to prominent Democratic lawmakers, donors, and organizations reflect the extent to which anti-Semitism has infiltrated the party. Ocasio-Cortez, for example, held a virtual event with DSA’s New York chapter in December. She has not addressed the Liberation Caucus's signing of the pro-Rodriguez letter.

Some signatories have links to Palestinian terrorist groups.

The leader of Nidal Seattle, another signatory, is a member of Samidoun, an anti-Israel group that the United States and Canada designated as a terrorist group last year because of its ties to Hamas. Bissan Barghouti, the Nidal Seattle leader, is also a former official with the Washington chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the largest liberal activist groups in the country, according to its annual reports.

Tariq El-Tahrir Youth and Student Network, the organization that released the open letter, was formed last year by Masar Badil, a multinational anti-Zionist group. Khaled Barakat, the founder of both Masar Badil and Samidoun, is a senior member of the terrorist group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to the U.S. government.

Rodriguez, a Chicago native, does not appear to have direct ties to any of the organizations, though he was a member of two radical groups involved in the anti-Israel movement. He was a member of the Party of Socialism and Liberation and ANSWER Coalition, both of which have been linked to a network funded by Neville Roy Singham, an American businessman with links to the Chinese Communist Party.

According to the Network Research Contagion Institute, the Singham network uses groups like ANSWER Coalition and the Party of Socialism and Liberation as a conduit for Chinese Communist Party-affiliated groups to use "pro-Palestinian activism in the U.S., advancing a broader anti-American, anti-democratic, and anti-capitalist agenda."

The Chicago chapter of the ANSWER Coalition organized a fundraiser for Rodriguez to attend the People’s Congress of Resistance in September 2017, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

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