A subgroup of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is prepping for a national intifada against law enforcement, a reminder that political violence and mayhem remain high priorities for the organized left.
The organization has become a serious force in domestic politics and is devoted to putting socialists into political office, two of whom, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) have ties to DSA, which boasts of its influence as the “largest socialist organization in the United States” on its website.
Engaging in the political process is one thing, planning for a “national uprising against federal agents and police brutality” is another, and that’s what the DSA’s “Red Rabbits” are apparently busying themselves with.
Socialist ‘Red Rabbits’ are training for national uprising against cops https://t.co/Tc4UCq9pNL pic.twitter.com/qEJcn946uC
— NY Post Opinion (@NYPostOpinion) June 9, 2026
The City Journal’s Stu Smith sheds light on the “Red Rabbits” initiative, which he describes as “DSA’s Emerging Militant Network” in a bombshell expose on the effort, which has maintained a low profile since its launch at the DSA’s 2025 convention. The report on the subversive subgroup is getting attention, with it also being published in the New York Post.
In his story on the subgroup of radicals focused on what it calls “community defense,” Smith peels back the curtain on the “Red Rabbits” and shares video of a panel discussion with organizers discussing tactics, including “takedowns on intersections” training and blocking “fascists” with umbrellas, which have been utilized by militant left-wing activists at numerous domestic protests.
DSA says its Red Rabbits initiative is about “security.” But according to its own authorizing resolution, the project is preparing for a “national uprising against federal agents and police brutality.”
A recent panel showed what that means in practice.
“Takedowns on… pic.twitter.com/5lnZNxlNHA
— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) June 9, 2026
According to Smith, the discussion also included “direct-action support for Palestine and immigrant-justice groups.”
The initiative’s organizers picked the “deliberately innocuous” name in honor of Richard Adams’ 1972 novel “Watership Down,” in which “anthropomorphized rabbits are outnumbered and beset by enemies.”
“The Red Rabbits claim that 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 marshalling (crowd management during demonstrations). The commission has set a goal of having at least five members in 40 percent of DSA chapters complete these trainings,” Smith reports.
“During the event, local chapters described a range of security preparations broader than that envisioned by the national commission,” he wrote of the panel discussion. “These included martial-arts sparring, evacuation planning, wound-packing, radio communications, the use of umbrellas and signs to shield participants from and block ‘fascists,’ and even chemical-exposure training, in which participants practiced being pepper-sprayed.”
Smith reports that some chapters are already conducting in-house training, with a chapter in Philadelphia planning on developing “sick” training on firearm safety. He notes that DSA’s “Oklahoma City Queer Fight Club has evidently become a local training hub, teaching self-defense and broader ‘community defense’ skills” and that “Portland DSA has organized trainings on blocking intersections with bicycles, a practice known as ‘corking.’”
“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,” Smith warned. “If Republicans, Democrats, and state and federal authorities keep ignoring these red flags, they may eventually find themselves living under one.”
