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We need mass class struggle, not vigilante violence
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- 16 January 2026 886 hits
On December 31st, 2025, Keith Porter, a 43-year-old father of two in Los Angeles, was shot three times and ruthlessly murdered by an off-duty ICE agent. His “crime”? Being Black. Being alive. Owning a rifle. Celebrating the New Year.
A week later, on January 7th, nearly two thousand miles away in Minneapolis, where ICE had turned the streets into a war zone, Jonathan Ross, another ICE agent, fired three shots into the face of a 37-year-old mother of three Renee Good as she tried to flee an attempted ICE raid. Her “crime”? Defending her Black and Brown neighbors from ICE terror.
These executions, carried out by rabidly racist and sexist, Gestapo-like ICE agents, are becoming the norm under an increasingly fascist U.S. empire. They expose the violent core of capitalism, its state-sponsored terror, and the crisis of its sham democracy. After Renee’s killing, her grieving wife said it plainly: “We had whistles, but they had guns.” Her words reveal the lie that this system, built on violence, can be dismantled with non-violence, especially as fascism sharpens its claws.
Violence and terror are not accidents, they are capitalism’s lifeblood. And as outrage spreads, workers feel the urge to strike back, to deliver vengeance against the state and the capitalists who uphold it. Vigilantism—the belief that individuals can balance the scales of justice with violence is no longer marginal; it is gaining mass appeal and provoking state repression.
Millions cheered when Luigi Mangione killed the United Healthcare CEO in late 2024, yet premiums soared, and Trump’s $30 billion “Big Beautiful” heist funneled funds from healthcare to finance ICE raids carried out by would-be Nazi assassins, like the one who murdered Good. Tyler Robinson murdered MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk live as Kirk was about to utter racist words about Black lives. In a copycat-style killing, Robinson, reportedly in a relationship with his transgender roommate, engraved Catch Fascist and Bella Ciao on the bullet casings.
Kirk’s death was weaponized by Trump and his fascist acolytes, rallying their racist and sexist base, labeling Antifa domestic terrorists, and threatening anyone who spoke out. These acts of violence only begot more violence and repression. The killings of Kirk and the healthcare CEO are not anomalies—they are the inevitable outcome of a system that promotes pacifism while normalizing horror, fetishizing individual heroes, and breeding cynicism about collective struggle, keeping us weak and divided.
The dead end of vigilantism in a failing system
As U.S. domination over global capitalist markets faces competition from Russian and Chinese bosses, workers feel the squeeze. Finance capital’s drive for profit inevitably rolls back the gains workers have fought and died for. Capitalism’s pathologies can only be solved by building a mass communist party; there are no quick fixes to the attacks on the working class.
From Superman to Batman to Paw Patrol, vigilante icons teach workers from infancy to valorize individualism over collective action. No matter the superhero, their role in capitalist propaganda is to “save the day” because the masses are supposedly too weak to save themselves. Many cheered Luigi Mangione’s assassination of the United Healthcare CEO a year ago, but killing one CEO did nothing to challenge the parasitic nature of health insurance—a finance capitalist system that extracts far more than it returns. Premiums have soared. Attacks on healthcare and social services have intensified globally, as bosses, under pressure from military buildup and capitalist competition, cut back gains workers have literally died to achieve.
John Brown set it off, but the masses abolished slavery
Much like the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China, the abolitionist movement and Civil War in the United States, including the militant actions of John Brown, point to important lessons around the necessity for multiracial, collective action to secure long-term gains for the working class. The militant abolitionist John Brown, with a small band of fearless freedom fighters against slavery, orchestrated a raid on the U.S. military arsenal at Harper’s Ferry in 1859, undoubtedly escalating the decline of the racist system of chattel slavery in the country and triggering more quickly what would become the Civil War. But it took the concerted effort of an organized military force and the death of 600,000 soldiers, black and white, to bring about the end of that retrograde, backward mode of production. The main lesson about Nat Turner, John Brown, Harriet Tubman and the dozens of other brave souls who stood up militantly for the overthrow of slavery, is that their efforts could not be realized until the movement became fully mass in political scope and was backed by an army.
Conclusion: Confidence in the working class is key
Progressive Labor Party (PLP) condemns vigilante violence in any form. As one worker said astutely, “when many voices become one for political power in the right direction we can make change.” Communists believe that the right direction is not voting, not adding more Black and brown or “left” politicians to office, and certainly not assassinations, bombings or other acts of adventurism. We must eliminate production of resources for profit. Hundreds of students from Columbia University and beyond faced jail time and expulsion from college in the name of fighting imperialist genocide in 2023. They followed the lead of countless doctors and journalists across Gaza who worked in conditions of utter terror as bombs reigned down over them to save the lives of unarmed workers–mainly children–and reveal these atrocities to the world. Millions of workers have turned out in Italy in the past few months in general strikes to protest the relentless cutbacks in wages and social services as bosses divert funds for military buildup and eventual war. And let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands of workers who poured into the streets all over the world during the Covid-19 outbreak against the George Floyd racist police assassination, as millions more were left at the peril of a deadly virus that the bosses chose not to contain for months and months.
These masses are the heroes of our class. But in spite of all of these heroic deeds, the genocide against workers in Palestine rages, and workers across Italy and worldwide continue to face austerity cutbacks. Each struggle teaches our class new lessons about the limits of reforming capitalism, but we need an organized party that is leading these struggles and fighting for more than just militant reforms. Progressive Labor Party is not a savior to the working class. We do not call for workers to grab guns and shoot any boss they see–or their traitorous thugs in blue or camouflage. But we do understand that armed workers, backed by a revolutionary military of soldiers and officers, led by our party, is a fundamental ingredient for our class to free itself from the grips of this current system and establish something exponentially smarter, healthier and better for the human race. And this collective process is the ultimate heroism.
LEXINGTON, KY, JANUARY 5—Vladimir Lenin once said, “imperialist war is the eve of socialist revolution.” Today, we in the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) call on all workers to turn the U.S. imperialist war against Venezuela, and all of Latin America, into communist revolution.
Earlier this month, PLP members joined a protest rally in Lexington against the U.S.’s recent imperialist actions in Venezuela. Protestors chanted “You can’t stop the revolution!” and “From Venezuela to Palestine, Occupation is a Crime!” We handed out CHALLENGE to almost all attendees (around 100 people) as well as people passing by. Our paper was read by those at the rally and they came up to us to tell us they enjoyed it and wanted to get involved with the Party. When protestors weren’t chanting, we started chants and turned up the energy of the protest. This is our first event in Lexington as the Party, and we hope to grow our base in this area. Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky, after Louisville. PLP members in Owensboro, KY also organized their own protest along with friends of the PLP in the area.
Venezuelan bosses no friends to workers
One issue that many communists still face is viewing the ruling party of Venezuela as sincere socialists, and thinking that that is the reason the U.S. opposes them. The truth is that the Venezuelan ruling class is fine with imperialism, and what is happening in Venezuela is the result of inter-imperialist rivalry. It is not the result of a genuine anti-imperialist force threatening U.S. imperialism, but rather one camp of imperialism attempting to outbid the other. This has only resulted in suffering for the Venezuelan working class.
At the same time, many Venezuelan immigrants are being won to gutter U.S. nationalism. Some thank President Donald Trump, the same president who sent innocent Venezuelans to torture centers, for “liberating” Venezuela. The irony is that U.S. imperialism doesn’t care who stays in power in Venezuela, as long as they cooperate on oil. The U.S. was never motivated by “human rights” in Venezuela. That is simply the justification they present to the working class in the U.S. as propaganda for war. Numerous statements made by U.S. officials have proven that their real motivation is competition with China and Russia. U.S. ambassador Mike Waltz stated, “You cannot have the largest energy reserves in the world under the control of adversaries,” and the U.S. State Department recently posted on X (formerly Twitter) “This is OUR Hemisphere.” (Truthout, 1/5/26). The U.S. has also escalated its threats towards Cuba since the attack.
Communism is key
We must continue to declare that the only solution is communist revolution, not siding with one group of imperialists over another. The workers of Venezuela have been presented with the false choice of supporting either U.S. imperialism, or their own local bourgeoisie backed by Chinese-Russian imperialism. The PLP stands out as the party that has always warned of a global conflict resulting from this inter-imperialist rivalry, and has been publishing articles specifically about the increasing aggression against Venezuela for months now. The PLP stands out also for not defending any imperialist as a “lesser evil” or supporting the reformist leadership of Venezuela. For this reason, we call on all workers of the world, from Kentucky to Venezuela, to join the PLP!
The below is a reprint of a flyer recently written by the New York transit/industrial section. It attacks the racist fare hike that went into effect on the NYC subway this month and is meant to help unite MTA Transit workers and riders against the MTA bosses.
The MTA is at it again! Another fare increase hit the city’s subways and buses on January 4th. Base fares are now $3. Seven- and 30-day MetroCards have been eliminated entirely. This is a racist attack against the majority Black and Latin ridership, who will have to foot the bill for the MTA’s ever-growing $50 billion-plus debt service—while getting paltry train service in return.
These increases, pushed in liberal NYC—which positions itself as pro-working class—show that Democrat or Republican, they’re all the same…and not on our side. While new Mayor Mamdani talks about taxing the rich to pay for free buses and better municipal services, the reality, coupled with this fare increase, points to a path of funding imperialist war.
While this goes on, ICE is terrorizing Latin workers in neighborhoods like Sunset Park and Bushwick, and African merchants on Canal Street. Many of them rely on the subway. This is a ploy to keep us afraid of fighting back together—everything is connected.
The MTA brass is also targeting riders to justify these fare increases. They claim“farebeaters” are to blame for deteriorating subway service. In several poorer neighborhoods, workers are now dealing with spikes over the turnstiles on top of the fare increase. New, useless “smart” fare gates are being installed (and literally attacking riders with their malfunctions).
The state has also raided MTA funds while the MTA outsources critical infrastructure projects to third party companies which often finish late and over budget.
The only thing that will save us is workers and riders uniting to demand an end to these increases! Make the bosses take the losses! Transit riders and workers must also come together against the MTA’s attacks in a multifaceted way.
We call for workers to :
- organize strike ready committees for every department or sector they’re in.
- Forge transit-worker unity against racism. Anytime the cops murder an innocent Black or Latin rider, we must flood the streets and make it clear that it won’t be business as usual as long as we are under siege.
- But most of all, we must fight for a communist revolution led by the Progressive Labor Party! Specifically with Black workers at the helm, we will smash the bosses and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat worldwide. That will get us a subway system we can all be proud of-and much more! Join us!
To learn more visit www.plp.org or contact us at
I could hear them chanting over a block and a half away from the picket lines. Their voices rose over the apartment buildings and hospital structures, mixing with the cacophony of car, truck and bus horns as vehicles passing up and down Amsterdam Avenue, just a few blocks from where I live, honked their horns in approval of the demands and the militant picket lines they could see through their windshields at Mount Sinai Hospital, on 112th Street, New York’s Morningside Heights.
NYC nurses are striking for better staffing ratios, higher pay, improved benefits (especially healthcare), and stronger workplace violence protections. Obstacles to the settlement of the strike are the hospital's claim of financial restraints and the claimed costly changes in staffing the demands would make.
Some of the medical facilities in NYC have already settled with the NY Nurses Association. But the holdouts, among the richest and most important NYC hospitals like Mount Sinai, NY Presbyterian and Montefiore, are refusing the demands for safer staffing ratios.
The militant and large picket line here at Mt. Sinai showed the determination that overworked nursing staff have to change the daily conditions of their work. Chanting “No Contract, No Work” and “The Nurses united will never be defeated,” the preparations the nurses' union has made were evidenced by a bus parked nearby so people could take warming breaks, and plentiful food and signs at long tables stretching along the street. Red hats and red scarves was the swag everyone was wearing as they lifted their voices in unison.
The workers, 15,000 in total, are arguing that management is refusing to meet their demands in order to push back earlier victories in previous years. Of course this is what always seems to happen within capitalism. The workers fight back. If the strike is strong, the bosses accede to their demands. Then, later, piece by piece the workers' victories are whittled down. There are so many problems with medical care in the United States it's hard to begin. But let's start with the fact that millions of workers are uninsured and that the system of subsidized health care has people facing rising premiums they can’t afford. In a communist society, health care will be for all and the profits of insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies will disappear. Those dollars will go into extending the care available to all. The Progressive Labor Party is a revolutionary party that fights for another world that is possible, a world where the working class, the nurses this article describes and everyone else, will have the power to create a society with no bosses that cares for people.
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81st Anniversary of Auschwitz: The Red Army defeated fascism
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- 16 January 2026 762 hits
May, 1945 was the end of one of the most horrendous capitalist systems the world has suffered. The fascist Nazi government of Germany led by Adolph Hitler was defeated by the communist government of the Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin. Today there are many anticommunist lies about World War II, the Nazi period, and especially about the role of the then-socialist Soviet Union in smashing the fascist German forces. As we commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz Concentration camp, let’s refute some of those lies.
Liberals and conservatives lie about World War II
The capitalist media never stops rewriting history. In the Public Broadcasting System’s series “The Messengers,” one of the episodes begins with someone saying: “My biggest mistake was to believe that the Red Army won World War II” (PBS, 1995). Actually the Red Army did win World War II. Nine out of 10 German casualties were at the hands of the Red Army.
The liberal PBS is not alone in lying about WW II. In 1995 the “historian” of the U.S. House of Representatives, Christina Jeffrey, was fired when it was publicized that in 1986 she had criticized a school curriculum on the Holocaust by complaining that the perspectives of the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan were not included in it (New York Times, 1/11/95).
The truth about the Nazis
In 1933, Hitler took power with the support of most of the German bosses. He began what he thought was going to be the “Thousand-Year Reich [empire].” He ordered the building of the Dachau, Oranienburg, and Buchenwald concentration camps. These were the first of what was to become 900 big and small concentration camps that existed until the end of the war. One of Hitler’s first decrees introduced the concept of Schutzhaft – preventive imprisonment of “enemies of the state.” First, last, and always, these were mainly communists.
Hitler was very specific about the role of these camps. “Brutality inspires respect … The masses need someone to inspire fear and make them tremble and submissive … I don’t want concentration camps to become family housing. Terror is the most efficient political instrument ... Those who are discontent and disobey us will think twice before confronting us if they know what is waiting for them in the concentration camps.”
The Red Army liberated Auschwitz
Twelve years later, the Third Reich’s “thousand year” reign of terror was cut short by the communist movement. Around 3 p.m. on January 27, 1945, Soviet troops of the First Ukrainian Front of the advancing Red Army, led by Marshal Ivan S. Konev, saw a sign that read: “Arbeit Macht Frei” – “Work Makes You Free” – on the top of the main gate of Auschwitz. The Nazis called these death camps “labor camps.” These troops saw with their own eyes what up to then was only a suspicion based on messages smuggled out from the concentration camps: the incarceration and systematic elimination of Jewish and Romani workers, and political “deviates” (read: pro-communists). It was all part of the plan created by the top leadership of the Third Reich, which murdered millions (El Mundo, 1/8/95).
The Red Army troops found 5,000 prisoners. These prisoners were left behind by the Nazis because they were too weak to move (and, in spite of the efforts by the Red Army to save them, many died). A few days earlier, knowing the Red Army was getting closer to Auschwitz, Hitler ordered the camp closed. On January 18, the Nazi SS (Schutzstaffel-elite Nazi squadron)–Hitler’s killer-troops—led the “March of Death” of 60,000 Auschwitz prisoners to Buchenwald, another death camp. Thousands of prisoners died on this march.
But the United States had delayed opening a Western Front for at least a year. They were hoping the Nazis and the Soviet Union would weaken each other. So the 42nd and 45th Divisions of the U.S. Army did not get to the Buchenwald concentration camp until April 11, just a few weeks before the Red Army liberated Berlin and ended the war. But the 5,000 prisoners that remained at Buchenwald had organized a rebellion and had killed most of the SS guards. The same thing happened at Dachau when at 9 a.m. on April 29, dozens of prisoners stopped the SS men from eliminating all the inmates by fighting them. It was not until nine hours later, at 6 p.m., that the 42nd and 45th Divisions entered Dachau and joined the fight, which lasted until the early morning of April 30. 30,000 survived the order, issued by Heinrich Himmler, chief of Hitler’s SS, to kill all the prisoners. But it was the rebelling prisoners that saved these lives. Many more would have been saved if the U. S. had not delayed landing in France.
The Soviet Union defeated the Nazis
Today the capitalist regimes in Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and elsewhere in Eastern Europe,deny that the populations of these lands were “liberated” at all (though Jewish organizations continue to insist that the Red Army were indeed liberators). Everything is being done to excuse the Polish, British, French, and U.S. capitalist rulers, who sabotaged all efforts to stop Hitler. Instead, these capitalist rulers urged Hitler to invade the Soviet Union and put a stop to the communist movement and the socialist Soviet Union, which did everything possible to stop the Nazis and whose troops ultimately beat the fascist scum.
