‘Bring this country to a halt’: Sarsour, Singham network, students vow nationwide anti-ICE shutdown

Acollection of far-left groups — led by a Communist activist network tied to CCP-linked millionaire Marxist Neville Roy Singham — is attempting to organize a nationwide anti-ICE school and business shutdown, with anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour declaring that “we will bring this country to a halt.”

The general strike effort, scheduled for this Friday, is an attempt to replicate a Minnesota-wide anti-ICE shutdown which occurred last Friday and which was organized by many of the same far-left groups — but now with designs to do so on a national scale. The planned “National Shutdown” announced early this week includes plans for large-scale marches and a day of "no work, no school, no shopping” around the country.

The Manhattan-based Marxist revolutionary People’s Forum, the left-wing BreakThrough News media outlet, the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), the far-left Code Pink anti-war group, and the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition are all involved in either promoting or organizing the nationwide shutdown effort.

Just the News recently reported on how the forum, its propaganda machine, and the PSL were key players in pushing last week’s Minnesota-focused shutdown effort. Just the News also previously reported on how these and other radical activist groups have leadership links or financial ties to the funding network backed by Singham, whom others in his network call "Comrade."

Social media used as organizing platform

The plans for Friday allegedly started with calls by a number of student groups at the University of Minnesota — the Somali Student Association, the Liberian Student Association, the Ethiopian Student Association, and the Black Student Union — who called for “Justice for Alex Pretti & Renee Nicole Good — NATIONWIDE SHUTDOWN” on Instagram on Sunday.

An investigation by Just the News shows that the forum was likely involved in creating the “National Shutdown” website which is now serving as an organizational hub for the coming Friday strike.

The shutdown planned for this Friday comes in the wake of an ICE agent shooting and killing anti-ICE protester Renee Good after she allegedly drove her car at him earlier this month. It also follows the shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis this weekend.

“We witnessed a historic general strike on Friday in Minneapolis. Just yesterday, ICE killed yet another community member, Alex Pretti. This ICE terror on our communities in Minneapolis must end. We will not back down,” the Minnesota student groups said Sunday. “To stop the terror and get ICE OUT, we are calling for an expanded strike this Friday, January 30 at 2 PM in Downtown Minneapolis. We call on everyone across the country to stand with us and shut it down!”

The student groups also shared a graphic — “ICE Out Now! Nationwide Shutdown! No Work. No School. No Shopping.” — which would soon be shared by numerous other groups participating in the protest.

The forum, ANSWER, PSL, Code Pink, and dozens of other groups are all listed as “Endorsers” of the Friday anti-ICE shutdown effort. The GOP-led House Oversight Committee voted this month to subpoena Singham for information about his sprawling activist network.

The forum did not respond to a request for comment. Singham did not respond to a request for comment sent to him through his wife, Jodie Evans, the co-founder of Code Pink.

People’s Forum plays key role in organizing the upcoming Friday shutdown

The People’s Forum on Saturday shared a clip from Sarsour — a close ally of New York City’s socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani — at an anti-ICE protest, previewing the group’s intentions to organize a nationwide shutdown this coming Friday.

The clip was shared by the forum on social media, and Sarsour herself posted the clip, with the forum and Sarsour also tagging other leftwing activist groups such as the 50501 Movement and its New York chapter, the New York Immigration Coalition, and Hands Off NYC.

“What we say today to the leaders — the political leaders — in this country, that we are not afraid, and more of us will come outside, and we will organize general strikes, and we will bring this country to a halt,” Sarsour declared on Saturday. The tweet shared by the forum accompanying the clip of Sarsour argued that “people across New York are mobilizing after the killing of Alex Pretti in Minnesota this morning” and that “this is the moment to protect our neighbors, dismantle ICE, and bring the system to a halt with a general strike.”

The forum on Saturday tweeted that “NYC has taken the streets after federal agents murdered ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minnesota this morning” and said the protest signs read that “Minnesota started it: it’s time for a national shutdown!” The video of the protest featured PSL signs.

The forum again tweeted that day that “NYC has erupted in protest” following the shooting and again argued that “Minnesota started it—it’s time for a national shutdown! ICE OUT OF EVERYWHERE!” PSL signs were again visible at the protest featured in the forum’s video.

The forum then tweeted once more the same day that “New Yorkers have taken to the streets following the murder of Alex Pretti this morning in Minnesota” and that “now is the time to defend our communities, shut down ICE, and shut it all down with a nationwide general strike.” The People’s Forum also retweeted announcements by BreakThrough News about the Friday shutdown effort.

The forum’s co-founder Manolo De Los Santos, also retweeted relevant posts by rapper Vic Mensa, the ANSWER Coalition, numerous tweets by BreakThrough News and hosts at the outlet, PSL members, socialist and communist influencer accounts, and others about the Friday national strike effort.

The “National Shutdown” website for the Friday nationwide strike effort also appears to have been created by a member of the People’s Forum.

A search of the website’s domain registration through GoDaddy.com revealed that the site was created by Hannah Craig, with the full name of Hannah Priscilla Craig. The email address provided by Craig indicated that she is the same Hannah Craig who claims to do “art, culture, communications” for the People’s Forum, and the mailing address provided by Craig was for the People’s Forum’s Manhattan office.

"National Shutdown" website encourages businesses to close and students to walk out

The “National Shutdown” website seemingly created by a member of the People’s Forum, includes a “Downloads” page with proposed social media graphics as well as a “Student Walkout Guide.”

“Somali and Black student organizations in Minneapolis are calling for a shutdown on Friday, January 30th, after the execution-style murder of Alex Pretti by immigration officers. They're asking people across the country to support the call,” the walkout guide contends. It says that last week “Thousands of students across the country walked out to protest ICE terror in our communities, and to demand justice for Renee Nicole Good. Three days later, the people of Minnesota organized a powerful shutdown — no work, no school, no shopping.”

The walkout guide adds: “This week, after Alex’s murder and while Congress is debating giving ICE even more money, it’s time to take our movement to the next level. ICE has kidnapped our neighbors and classmates; they do not make our communities more safe. We demand ICE out for good! Students are always at the heart of movements for justice across the world. On January 30th, we will organize walkouts across the country and stand in solidarity with immigrant communities in Minnesota and everywhere else!”

The guide for students says that “in many cities, on the same day as the student walkouts, people all across the country will be holding protests against ICE’s reign of terror” and that “students are encouraged to participate in those protests after walking out.”

This guide includes a host of proposed “Chants” including: “Walk Out! ICE OUT!”; “What do we want? ICE OUT! When do we want it? NOW!”; “Donald Trump! Let’s be clear! Immigrants are welcome here!”; “When immigrant rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”; and “Up, up, with liberation – down, down with deportation!”

The walkout guide also provides an email address and blares that “AFTER YOUR WALKOUT, SEND ANY PHOTOS AND VIDEOS YOU TAKE.”

The broader shutdown website encourages people to “join a nationwide day of no school, no work, and no shopping” because “the people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country – to stop ICE’s reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN.”

BreakThrough News seeks to promote the anti-ICE strike across the U.S.

Amanda Yee, the host of “The China Report” on BreakThrough News, late Sunday night tweeted that a “NEW CALL FOR GENERAL STRIKE JUST DROPPED” as she shared a graphic which had been shared by University of Minnesota student groups. Yee’s “China Report” promotes a largely pro-CCP viewpoint, and Yee is also listed as the managing editor of Liberation News, the official newspaper of PSL.

BreakThrough News said Monday that “the student organizations that mobilized heavily for [last] Friday’s massive ‘shutdown’ in Minneapolis are calling for a repeat this Friday, ‘expanded’ nationwide.”

The media outlet shared a graphic titled, “Minnesota Somali and Black Student Groups Call for Nationwide General Strike on January 30.” The outlet repeated verbatim a statement released by three student groups at the University of Minnesota — the Somali Student Association, the Black Student Union, and the Ethiopian Student Association — who said that “to stop the terror and get ICE OUT, we are calling for an expanded strike this Friday” and that “we call on everyone across the country to stand with us and shut it down! NO WORK, NO SCHOOL, NO SHOPPING.”

The outlet also shared a graphic that day which declared, “ICE Out! Justice for Alex Pretti! Justice for Renee Good! Nationwide Shutdown! … No Work. No School. No Shopping.” The media outlet tweeted that day that hundreds of students at California State University Long Beach had walked out of class in opposition to ICE, and claimed that “students say they are joining the call for a nationwide shutdown on Friday.”

The outlet said Monday that it “has confirmed anti-ICE high school walkouts in eight states” and claimed that “since Minnesota-based Somali and Black students issued the call for a general strike last night, they say it has been joined” by groups such as the 50501 Movement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a number of higher education unions, and others.

Adding Somalians into the mix

This post tagged the Somali Student Association at the University of Minnesota, CAIR National, the MIT Graduate Student Union, and the Ohio chapter for 50501, among others. The outlet on Monday also interviewed Somali business owner Abdul Kadir who told them that Pretti had showed up at the Karmel Mall in Minneapolis “every day” to protect Somali businesses, and that Kadir was in favor of a shutdown.

“I’m gonna close my store, and I have to be on the streets with solidarity [sic] Alex and Renee. … On Friday, we have to unite and show up. We have to close again our stores,” Kadir said in the outlet’s video.

The outlet also shared an interview that day with a University of Minnesota Law School student spoke about “why he supports an expanded general strike against ICE.”

“This is the only thing that matters right now. Normal life has to stop [...] ICE needs to go,” the student told them. “The majority of us are workers, and we make society run [...] What unites us is our class.”

Eugene Puryear, a host for BreakThrough News, also tweeted on Monday: “ICYMI there is a growing call from a wide variety of organizations, emerging from Minneapolis, for a nationwide ‘shutdown’ on January 30th, in response to multiple killings by Federal immigration agents.”

Puryear’s X biography describes himself as a “Revolutionary” while The People’s Dispatch — also linked to the Singham network — says Puryear is also part of the ANSWER Coalition.

The outlet on Tuesday also interviewed Jaylani Hussein, the executive Director of CAIR’s Minnesota chapter, “about why he supports expanding the general strike this Friday.” “It is not getting smaller. I think we have found a reason, and Minnesotans are gonna do what is necessary to hold ICE accountable,” Hussein said. “And I think this is the end for ICE.”

Party for Socialism and Liberation yet again central to anti-ICE efforts

Adrian Antonioli, who lists himself as a member of PSL, said on X on Monday that “following the call from Minneapolis Somali student groups, a website for a nationwide general strike for this Friday is live” and that “to make this happen we all have to come together and get organized!” The PSL member shared the aforementioned graphic in his tweet, and he shared a link to the forum-linked website for the “National Shutdown.”

PSL added: “What happened in Minnesota can happen across the entire country. Now is the decisive moment. The Minnesota General Strike has given us a historic opening. If we all take a stand now, we can stop the killings and the kidnappings, and end Trump’s war on our most basic rights! Make a plan. Organize your people. Stay tuned for actions this January 30 around the country.” “Stand With Minnesota! ICE Out! National Day of Action. No Business As Usual,” PSL’s tweet graphic added.

Claudia De La Cruz tweeted on Tuesday that “the only way we stop this madness is shutting it down! ICE Out of Everywhere! Abolish ICE!” She was sharing the Tuesday post by PSL.

De La Cruz said in a 2024 interview about her campaign as the PSL nominee to be U.S. president that “I co-founded and co-directed […] the People’s Forum.” The forum says that De la Cruz “is a central committee member of The Party for Socialism and Liberation” and that “in 2018, she co-founded The People’s Forum.”

"We are willing to shut everything down," union member says

De La Cruz and Karina Garcia, the vice presidential running mate in the 2024 race against Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, both tweeted on Tuesday that their followers should “join the National day of action this Friday, January 30, to say ICE OUT!” PSL also released a video on Tuesday which featured a member of the Teamster’s Local 120 Political Action Committee and also included PSL signs touting the shutdown.

“As you’ve seen across Minnesota, and across the United States, we are fighting. We are willing to shut everything down,” the Teamster in the video said.

PSL had tweeted: “Momentum is building in Minnesota and across the country for the January 30 nationwide shutdown to say ICE OUT OF EVERYWHERE! The people are fed up with the terror being unleashed on our communities. It’s time to take action! Answer the call of Minnesota-based Somali and Black student organizations — join us in the streets of Downtown Minneapolis at 2PM on January 30 to show Trump, ICE, and CBP that the people have the power!”

Alec Johnson, a self-described PSL member with a Communist hammer and sickle in his X profile, also on Tuesday shared a graphic promoting Friday’s shutdown.

Andre Easton, a self-described “socialist” running for Congress in New York City who has been endorsed by PSL, also shared the Tuesday PSL post and said, “As a teacher, I know who makes history: it’s the people, not those in power sending death squads to our cities, and not the Democrats standing idle and letting it happen. I’ll be in the streets again on Friday with other union members, parents, and immigrant workers.”

Code Pink on Monday also tweeted: “FRIDAY: NATIONWIDE SHUTDOWN! The people of Minnesota have led the way – to stop ICE’s reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN. We join their call to expand Friday's general strike. On Friday, January 30, join a nationwide day of no school, no work, and no shopping.”

Friday shutdown also promoted by celebrities, leftists, foreign Marxists, and more

Rapper Vic Mensa — a critic of Israel and pro-Palestine activist — tweeted on Monday, “Are you participating in the strike against ice friday? nationwide. no work. no school. no shopping. shut it down.”

Actor Pedro Pascal on Instagram on Tuesday shared the aforementioned anti-ICE graphic along with the link to the forum-linked website promoting the shutdown. Other wealthy celebrities joined in the scrum, including singer Billie Eilish and actress Natalie Portman, according to CNN.

The New York chapter of the far-left Indivisible group said Monday that it would be part of Friday’s “Nationwide Shutdown” against ICE and said that there should be “No Work, No School, No Fucking Shopping.” The group also shared the same aforementioned graphic.

The leftwing North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign tweeted on Tuesday that it was also “joining the ‘ICE Out!’ National Shutdown on Friday, January 30, in solidarity with our siblings and immigrant neighbors in Minnesota.” The group also shared the link to the forum-linked shutdown website.

The far-left Mint Press News on Tuesday put out a tweet with a blaring red siren emoji and said that there was a “national strike against ICE” scheduled Friday.

A Marxist influencer account named “Sofie” with a hammer and sickle in her X bio and “I [heart] Kim Il Sung” (the former North Korean Communist dictator) in her Instagram bio, tweeted Tuesday that “we don't need a ‘better trained’ gestapo. We need to abolish ICE. Get these murderers the fuck out of our communities. NATIONWIDE SHUTDOWN JAN 30. It's time to strike. Everywhere.” She also shared the aforementioned graphic and the forum-linked shutdown website, saying, “national shutdown dot US. no work no school no shopping january 30. ABOLISH ICE!!!”

A far left “Proud Socialist” influencer account with Karl Marx as its profile picture also shared the same aforementioned graphic on Tuesday and tweeted, “Minnesota understands the assignment and is not letting up at all. There is another shutdown planned for January 30th, and they are asking the country to join them.”

The Marxist-oriented Sindicato de Estudiantes (the School Students Union in English), a Spanish students' union, said on X on Tuesday that “following the murder of Alex Pretti, student and community organizations in Minnesota are once again calling for a GENERAL STRIKE this Friday, January 30, and are calling on the rest of the US to join. NO WORK, NO SCHOOL, NO SHOPPING. Defeat ICE terror! #AbolishICE”

Izquierda Revolucionaria — known as the Revolutionary Left in English — is a Marxist group which tweeted on Tuesday that it was also endorsing the “GENERAL STRIKE this Friday” in an effort to “Defeat ICE terror!”

Francesca Hong, a socialist running for Wisconsin governor, said Tuesday on X that “last Friday, Minnesota launched a general strike that shut down Minneapolis. On January 30, the movement goes nationwide. No work. No school. No shopping. When we withhold our labor, divest our dollars, and stand together in solidarity, the people have real power.”

It remains to be seen how successful the nationwide effort opposing the Trump Administration’s anti-illegal immigration policies will be, but the rallying cries for a shutdown highlights the organizational abilities and long reach of the Singham network and allied anti-American voices.

© Just The News