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{{Infobox guerilla organization|name=Red Guards|image=USA Red Guard symbol.png|active=2015-2018<ref group="lower-alpha">Certain Red Guard collectives maintained activity until 2020.</ref>|ideology=[[Maoism|Marxism–Leninism–Maoism]]<br> | {{Infobox guerilla organization|name=Red Guards|image=USA Red Guard symbol.png|active=2015-2018<ref group="lower-alpha">Certain Red Guard collectives maintained activity until 2020.</ref>|ideology=[[Maoism|Marxism–Leninism–Maoism]]<br>|status=Inactive|motives=Initiation of a [[protracted people's war]] in the United States.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Red Guards Austin|title=DON’T VOTE, REVOLT!|date=2016-9-7|url=https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/dont-vote-revolt/|retrieved=2022-9-10}}</ref> | ||
|opponents=[[Democratic Socialists of America]]<br>[[Party for Socialism and Liberation]]<br>Other local opportunist nominally "Socialist" organizations|size=~200|merged_into=[[Committee to Reconstitute CPUSA]]}} | |||
The '''Red Guards''' in the [[United States of America|United States]] were a collection of nominally decentralized [[Marxism-Leninism-Maoism|Marxist-Leninist-Maoist | The '''Red Guards''' in the [[United States of America|United States]] were a collection of nominally decentralized [[Marxism-Leninism-Maoism|Marxist-Leninist-Maoist]] organizations. | ||
The priorities of the US Red Guards included a strong opposition to [[reformism]], and | The priorities of the US Red Guards included a strong opposition to [[reformism]], and eventual initiation of a [[protracted people's war]] against the government.<ref name=":1">{{Web citation|author=Red Guards Austin|title=DON’T VOTE, REVOLT!|date=2016-9-7|url=https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/dont-vote-revolt/|retrieved=2022-9-10}}</ref> The group took up violent approaches against local members of organizations such as the [[Democratic Socialists of America]] and the [[Party for Socialism and Liberation]], leading to violent attacks on their gatherings which were done in the name of [[anti-revisionism]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=Red Guards Austin|title=DSA are capitalist pigs!|date=2018-10-21|url=https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/2018/10/21/dsa-are-capitalist-pigs/|retrieved=2022-9-10}}</ref> | ||
== History == | == History == | ||
===Formation=== | ===Formation=== | ||
The Red Guard movement in the United States first originated in the city of Austin, Texas, when in 2015, communists that were previously participating in an effort to form a [[communist party]] based around Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology split, and instead organized into a smaller group of | The Red Guard movement in the United States first originated in the city of Austin, Texas, when in 2015, communists that were previously participating in an effort to form a [[communist party]] based around Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology split, and instead organized into a smaller group of Maoist cadres, known as the Austin Red Guards, whose activities were largely limited to charity and small-scale protests in favor of the [[LGBTQ+]] community, which were commonly done under the slogan "[[Serve the people (slogan)|serve the people]]." | ||
Later on, the Austin Red Guards were able to gain popularity among other Maoists for their vocal denouncement of the widely-disliked [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] party, the [[International Socialist Organization]], among other infamous groups. The Austin Red Guards exploited this popularity that was created from their polemical attacks against [[Opportunism|opportunists]] to create similar | Later on, the Austin Red Guards were able to gain popularity among other Maoists for their vocal denouncement of the widely-disliked [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] party, the [[International Socialist Organization]], among other infamous groups. The Austin Red Guards exploited this popularity that was created from their polemical attacks against [[Opportunism|opportunists]] to create similar Maoist Red Guard collectives (which largely functioned as merely front organizations) in other parts of the United States. These Red Guard organizations were allegedly created through coercively splitting rival Maoist collectives or, if that tactic failed, eliminating them as an effective organization entirely.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation|newspaper=Cosmonaut|title=Criticism and Self-Criticism: Red Guards or Iron Guards?|date=2019-10-17|url=https://cosmonaut.blog/2019/10/17/criticism-and-self-criticism-red-guards-or-iron-guards/|retrieved=2022-9-10}}</ref> | ||
===Anti-electoralism during the 2016 election=== | ===Anti-electoralism during the 2016 election=== | ||
[[File:Austin red guard demonstration.png|right|thumb|Members of Red Guards Austin.]] | [[File:Austin red guard demonstration.png|right|thumb|Members of Red Guards Austin.]] | ||
At around the time of the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 election in the United States]], the Red Guards began to escalate both their rhetoric and tactics, with Red Guards beginning to take militant action against [[Donald Trump|Trump]] supporters, and calling on voters to boycott the presidential election and instead take revolutionary actions against the bourgeois democracy. | At around the time of the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 election in the United States]], the Red Guards began to escalate both their rhetoric and tactics, with Red Guards beginning to take militant action against [[Donald Trump|Trump]] supporters, and calling on voters to boycott the presidential election and instead take revolutionary actions against the bourgeois democracy. | ||
Also at this time, the Red Guards would attempt to attract support from protestors from [[Black Lives Matter]] as well as [[feminist]] and [[LGBT+|transgender]] movements, with one notable Red Guard cell renaming itself to the ''Popular Women’s Movement''. However, these efforts were not met with notable success, with the Red Guards later refuting the Black Lives Matter movement as [[liberal]] and reformist<ref>{{Web citation|author=Red Guards Austin|title=What the fuck is wrong with the Black Lives Matter Movement in Austin?!|date=2016-7-18|url=https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/2016/07/18/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-the-black-lives-matter-movement-in-austin/|retrieved=2022-9-11}}</ref> and even embracing quasi-transphobic tendencies.<ref name=":2" /> | Also at this time, the Red Guards would attempt to attract support from protestors from [[Black Lives Matter]] as well as [[feminist]] and [[LGBT+|transgender]] movements, with one notable Red Guard cell renaming itself to the ''Popular Women’s Movement''. However, these efforts were not met with notable success, with the Red Guards later refuting the Black Lives Matter movement as [[liberal]] and reformist<ref>{{Web citation|author=Red Guards Austin|title=What the fuck is wrong with the Black Lives Matter Movement in Austin?!|date=2016-7-18|url=https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/2016/07/18/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-the-black-lives-matter-movement-in-austin/|retrieved=2022-9-11}}</ref> and even embracing quasi-transphobic tendencies.<ref name=":2" /> | ||
===Later activities=== | ===Later activities=== | ||
After the conclusion of the presidential election, and in the immediate years following it, the Red Guards would largely maintain their anti-reformist rhetoric and [[Antifa|anti-fascist]] stance, with the Austin Red Guards publishing a statement which called on other collectives to begin "militarization," and declaring that "the war is not coming, it is here and now."<ref>{{Web citation|author=Red Guards Austin|title=Everywhere a Battlefield|date=2017-8-27|url=https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/2017/08/27/everywhere-a-battlefield/|retrieved=2022-9-11|quote=The war is not coming—it is here and now. We must take our historic task seriously. We must accumulate forces and steel them in small-scale street battles. We must respond accordingly to the apocalyptic reality that capitalism-imperialism has forced on us. There is no third way, no middle road, and all who refuse to grasp this have in fact chosen a side already—they have chosen the side of business as usual for oppression. We too have chosen our side and we have stood and will stand on the front lines of class struggles in the US. We are at war and we always have been—it is time we behave like soldiers. We are guided by the promise of communism. The world is in chaos, and we must choose either the socialist future or the barbarism of extinction, and this is what it means to live in the age of the strategic offensive.}}</ref> At this time, the Red Guards further intensified their attempts at creating and expanding aligned-cells. However, also at this point, the Red Guards would soon begin to direct criticism and even take forceful action against organizations which failed to adhere to a similar | After the conclusion of the presidential election, and in the immediate years following it, the Red Guards would largely maintain their anti-reformist rhetoric and [[Antifa|anti-fascist]] stance, with the Austin Red Guards publishing a statement which called on other collectives to begin "militarization," and declaring that "the war is not coming, it is here and now."<ref>{{Web citation|author=Red Guards Austin|title=Everywhere a Battlefield|date=2017-8-27|url=https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/2017/08/27/everywhere-a-battlefield/|retrieved=2022-9-11|quote=The war is not coming—it is here and now. We must take our historic task seriously. We must accumulate forces and steel them in small-scale street battles. We must respond accordingly to the apocalyptic reality that capitalism-imperialism has forced on us. There is no third way, no middle road, and all who refuse to grasp this have in fact chosen a side already—they have chosen the side of business as usual for oppression. We too have chosen our side and we have stood and will stand on the front lines of class struggles in the US. We are at war and we always have been—it is time we behave like soldiers. We are guided by the promise of communism. The world is in chaos, and we must choose either the socialist future or the barbarism of extinction, and this is what it means to live in the age of the strategic offensive.}}</ref> At this time, the Red Guards further intensified their attempts at creating and expanding aligned-cells. However, also at this point, the Red Guards would soon begin to direct criticism and even take forceful action against organizations which failed to adhere to a similar Maoist line, which included reformist [[Socialist|socialists]] and even other [[Communist|communists]], with their tactics beginning to encapsulate what has been described as "street gang tactics."[[File:Austin red guard Anti-reformist graffiti.png|thumb|241x241px|Red Guard graffiti.]]Their actions at this time reportedly included disrupting tenant organizing efforts due to their location being within what Red Guards had claimed was their "turf," threatening rival Maoists by harassing them or leaving dead animal remains on their doorsteps,<ref name=":2" /> attempting to attack ''Democratic Socialists of America'' gatherings,<ref>{{Web citation|author=DSA Metro Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky|newspaper=DSA|title=Statement of Solidarity with KC DSA|date=2019-10-14|url=https://dsacincy.org/statement-of-solidarity-with-kc-dsa/|retrieved=2022-9-11}}</ref> and even physically assaulting a Democratic Socialist congressional candidate.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Asher Price|newspaper=Austin American-Statesman|title=Austin Democratic congressional candidate says she was assaulted|date=2020-1-13|url=https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/flash-briefing/2020/01/13/austin-democratic-congressional-candidate-says-she-was-assaulted/1903834007/|retrieved=2022-9-11}}</ref> | ||
===Statements of dissolution=== | ===Statements of dissolution=== | ||
| Line 30: | Line 25: | ||
With the largest and most influential Red Guard collectives disbanded, most other Red Guards followed suit and dispersed, with many collectives likely suffering from a lack of discipline, collective leadership and [[democratic centralism]], and internal unity.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Tampa Maoist Collective|title=Statement on the History of the Tampa Maoist Collective and its Dissolving: If You Don’t Dare to Struggle, You Don’t Deserve to Win.|date=2018-3-22|url=https://tampamaoistcollective.wordpress.com/2018/03/22/the-tampa-maoist-collective-year-summation-if-you-dont-dare-to-struggle-you-dont-deserve-to-win/|retrieved=2022-10-13}}</ref> | With the largest and most influential Red Guard collectives disbanded, most other Red Guards followed suit and dispersed, with many collectives likely suffering from a lack of discipline, collective leadership and [[democratic centralism]], and internal unity.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Tampa Maoist Collective|title=Statement on the History of the Tampa Maoist Collective and its Dissolving: If You Don’t Dare to Struggle, You Don’t Deserve to Win.|date=2018-3-22|url=https://tampamaoistcollective.wordpress.com/2018/03/22/the-tampa-maoist-collective-year-summation-if-you-dont-dare-to-struggle-you-dont-deserve-to-win/|retrieved=2022-10-13}}</ref> | ||
== | ==Reception== | ||
The Red Guards | ===Cult allegations=== | ||
The website [https://maoistcultexposed.wordpress.com/ maoistcultexposed.wordpress.com] was established in late 2023 and made various claims against the Red Guards and Committee to Reconstitute CPUSA, including physical and verbal assault, forced sleep deprivation, stalking and isolation, and death threats. The claims of cult-like behavior would be countered by the Committee to Reconstitute CPUSA and [[International Communist League (2022)|International Communist League]] as being the result of "snitching and police work."<ref>[https://redlibrary.info/works/usa/a-statement-of-the-situation-of-the-maoists-in-the-usa.pdf "A Statement of the Situation of the Maoists in the USA"].</ref> | |||
==Further reading== | |||
* [[Library:If You Don’t Dare to Struggle, You Don’t Deserve to Win.|''If You Don’t Dare to Struggle, You Don’t Deserve to Win'']], by the Tampa Maoist Collective | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* [[Sunbelt thesis]] | |||
*[[Communist Party of Peru | *[[Communist Party of Peru]] | ||
*[[Red Guard Party]] | *[[Red Guard Party]] | ||
*[[Communist Party of Ecuador – Red Sun]] | *[[Communist Party of Ecuador – Red Sun]] | ||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
* [https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/ Red Guards Austin] | * [https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/ Red Guards Austin] | ||
* [https://kcmlm.wordpress.com/ Red Guards Kansas City] | * [https://kcmlm.wordpress.com/ Red Guards Kansas City] | ||
| Line 52: | Line 49: | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||
[[Category:Maoism in the United States]] | [[Category:Maoism in the United States]] | ||
[[Category:Maoist | [[Category:Maoist organizations]] | ||
Latest revision as of 18:10, 1 December 2025
| Red Guards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates of operation | 2015-2018[a] |
| Merged into | Committee to Reconstitute CPUSA |
| Motives | Initiation of a protracted people's war in the United States.[1] |
| Ideology |
Marxism–Leninism–Maoism |
| Status | Inactive |
| Size | ~200 |
| Opponents |
Democratic Socialists of America Party for Socialism and Liberation Other local opportunist nominally "Socialist" organizations |
The Red Guards in the United States were a collection of nominally decentralized Marxist-Leninist-Maoist organizations.
The priorities of the US Red Guards included a strong opposition to reformism, and eventual initiation of a protracted people's war against the government.[2] The group took up violent approaches against local members of organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, leading to violent attacks on their gatherings which were done in the name of anti-revisionism.[3]
History
Formation
The Red Guard movement in the United States first originated in the city of Austin, Texas, when in 2015, communists that were previously participating in an effort to form a communist party based around Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology split, and instead organized into a smaller group of Maoist cadres, known as the Austin Red Guards, whose activities were largely limited to charity and small-scale protests in favor of the LGBTQ+ community, which were commonly done under the slogan "serve the people."
Later on, the Austin Red Guards were able to gain popularity among other Maoists for their vocal denouncement of the widely-disliked Trotskyist party, the International Socialist Organization, among other infamous groups. The Austin Red Guards exploited this popularity that was created from their polemical attacks against opportunists to create similar Maoist Red Guard collectives (which largely functioned as merely front organizations) in other parts of the United States. These Red Guard organizations were allegedly created through coercively splitting rival Maoist collectives or, if that tactic failed, eliminating them as an effective organization entirely.[4]
Anti-electoralism during the 2016 election
At around the time of the 2016 election in the United States, the Red Guards began to escalate both their rhetoric and tactics, with Red Guards beginning to take militant action against Trump supporters, and calling on voters to boycott the presidential election and instead take revolutionary actions against the bourgeois democracy.
Also at this time, the Red Guards would attempt to attract support from protestors from Black Lives Matter as well as feminist and transgender movements, with one notable Red Guard cell renaming itself to the Popular Women’s Movement. However, these efforts were not met with notable success, with the Red Guards later refuting the Black Lives Matter movement as liberal and reformist[5] and even embracing quasi-transphobic tendencies.[4]
Later activities
After the conclusion of the presidential election, and in the immediate years following it, the Red Guards would largely maintain their anti-reformist rhetoric and anti-fascist stance, with the Austin Red Guards publishing a statement which called on other collectives to begin "militarization," and declaring that "the war is not coming, it is here and now."[6] At this time, the Red Guards further intensified their attempts at creating and expanding aligned-cells. However, also at this point, the Red Guards would soon begin to direct criticism and even take forceful action against organizations which failed to adhere to a similar Maoist line, which included reformist socialists and even other communists, with their tactics beginning to encapsulate what has been described as "street gang tactics."
Their actions at this time reportedly included disrupting tenant organizing efforts due to their location being within what Red Guards had claimed was their "turf," threatening rival Maoists by harassing them or leaving dead animal remains on their doorsteps,[4] attempting to attack Democratic Socialists of America gatherings,[7] and even physically assaulting a Democratic Socialist congressional candidate.[8]
Statements of dissolution
Following increasing controversy over alleged attacks on DSA and other organizations by Red Guards, along with other reasons, on December 17, 2018, a Red Guards Austin (RGA) WordPress account published the statement, "this project has reached its conclusion, we are no more."[9] A Red Guards Los Angeles (RGLA) WordPress published a similar statement on May 17, 2019, stating, "Red Guards Los Angeles, as of today, is no more."[10]
With the largest and most influential Red Guard collectives disbanded, most other Red Guards followed suit and dispersed, with many collectives likely suffering from a lack of discipline, collective leadership and democratic centralism, and internal unity.[11]
Reception
Cult allegations
The website maoistcultexposed.wordpress.com was established in late 2023 and made various claims against the Red Guards and Committee to Reconstitute CPUSA, including physical and verbal assault, forced sleep deprivation, stalking and isolation, and death threats. The claims of cult-like behavior would be countered by the Committee to Reconstitute CPUSA and International Communist League as being the result of "snitching and police work."[12]
Further reading
- If You Don’t Dare to Struggle, You Don’t Deserve to Win, by the Tampa Maoist Collective
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ Certain Red Guard collectives maintained activity until 2020.