May Day demonstrations expected to draw thousands of people as left-wingers protest 'billionaires'

The Portland Police Bureau announced Friday night more than a dozen people were arrested in the city following events for the May Day protests taking place around the country.

The bureau said officers responded to a sit-in demonstration in a hotel lobby, where eight people were sitting on the floor, chanting and holding signs related to May Day. Other people were in the lobby supporting the group, but ultimately left.

Police arrested eight people, ranging from 25 years old to 37 years old, for participating in the sit-in after they refused to leave, and another person for second-degree disorderly conduct.

In a different location, demonstrators began preparing for their May Day march by gathering in the South Park Blocks. A 37-year-old woman was arrested and charged with harassment and second-degree disorderly conduct.

The march continued until 5 p.m. EST without incident, according to police, and then officers were directed to protest activity outside the Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building.

Five more people were arrested and charged with various crimes, including trespassing, criminal mischief, and resisting arrest.

"At times during the evening, members of the crowd threw rocks and water bottles at officers. One officer received a non-life-threatening injury from a large rock and was transported to a local hospital. Another officer was also injured, and was evaluated at the scene by medical," the bureau said.

According to Portland police, 94 people related to ICE protest activity have been arrested since June 2025.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., criticized May Day protests Friday, arguing they have become too closely tied to socialist and communist groups.

“It’s ironic,” Fetterman told Fox News’ Jesse Watters. “These kinds of protests are being funded by billionaires against billionaires.”

A Fox News Digital investigation identified a widespread “red-blue” network with roughly $2 billion in annual revenue that organized about 3,000 protests Friday while advancing what critics describe as an anti-American agenda.

Fetterman pointed to what he described as a resurgence of socialism being mixed with other political causes, including the anti-ICE movement.

“That’s sad, because it’s supposed to be about labor, like unions,” he said. “I’m absolutely a proud pro-union Democrat, but the kinds of things you’re seeing are showing up in many of them.”

Fetterman added the trend reflects “the worst impulses” within his party.

“We just can’t seem to resist those things,” he said.

A nonprofit executive said Friday he observed hundreds of children being bused in to participate in May Day protests in Chicago.

Josh Weiner, chief strategy officer of the North American Values Institute, said during an appearance on “Fox News @ Night” that students from Chicago Public Schools were mixed in with political groups, including organizations such as the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

“We talked to students on the ground who said that their teachers fully supported this,” Weiner said. “One student told me that their ethnic studies class is the reason that they came to the protest.”

Weiner also said some students used expletives directed at President Donald Trump and alleged similar language was used by teachers in classrooms.

“We talk about the political violence that’s going on in this country,” he said. “You can see why right here, when they’re framing America as fascist and authoritarian, and then saying violence is justified by bringing kids out to protest from classes.”

A spokesperson for the Chicago Teachers Union pushed back in a statement.

"Teaching our students what civic action looks like requires more than textbooks when the president sends federal agents to occupy our cities and the governor chooses to continue giving tax breaks to billionaires instead of giving our students the school day they deserve,” the statement read.

Fox News senior correspondent Mike Tobin also spoke with a Chicago Public Schools student, Cody West, who was carrying a “Party for Socialism” sign during a protest.

When asked whether he understood socialism, the student replied, “Not really, not too much.”

West said some teachers told students, “It’s a walkout, you guys can just go — go protest.”

A Chicago Teachers Union organizer confirmed the event had been planned for weeks.

A Los Angeles-based Communist Party group participated in May Day protests across the city on Friday.

The Richard Castro Jr. Club of Southeast Los Angeles, part of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), said its goal in joining the demonstrations was to show “collective working class power.”

“The Communist Party joined coalitions, labor unions, and community organizations in Los Angeles for May Day to show our collective working class power and unity in this city!” the group wrote on X.

“The people united can never be defeated!” it added.

Members of the Communist Party USA were also visible at May Day demonstrations in other cities, including Minneapolis, where they gathered in large numbers.

Austin City Council Member Zohaib “Zo” Qadri joined a May Day event Friday, showing the city’s growing alignment with progressive labor activism.

Qadri, who identifies as a “progressive Democrat,” posted, “Rain or shine, Austin runs on labor,” as he attended the gathering.

A photo attached to the post shows Qadri alongside union supporters with political signage including a “Talarico for Texas” display visible at a nearby booth.

Qadri framed the day around worker advocacy, writing that May Day is about recognizing “the dignity” of labor.

Austin has increasingly emerged as a hub for left-leaning politics within Texas in recent years.

San Francisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood joined labor unions and left-wing activists Friday for May Day protests in the city amid national unrest.

Mahmood marched alongside demonstrators carrying “Workers Over Billionaires” signs and union banners, including from IBEW Local 6, according to photos from the event.

“Today, I joined our labor unions to march… to stand with all our workers in San Francisco,” Mahmood wrote on X.

The District 5 supervisor said he spoke with 911 dispatchers, drivers and public health workers during the rally, praising them as essential to keeping the city running.

Mahmood emphasized the need to “center and uplift” workers’ voices, thanking them for their contributions to the city.

San Francisco, known as a far-left stronghold, has long been a focal point for labor-backed demonstrations and progressive political messaging.

Police negotiators continue working to convince an anti-Trump agitator to get off a 168-foot-tall bridge in Washington, D.C. amid nationwide May Day protests.

Just after 3 p.m. local time, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) confirmed it is responding to a "barricade situation" involving a man who walked on top of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.

Nearly six hours later, the department said the situation is still ongoing.

The man, who News2Share identified as Guido Reichstadter, allegedly planned the stunt in advance and is doing so in protest of the war with Iran.

Reichstadter previously mounted the bridge to protest abortion access in 2022, according to the outlet.

Video appeared to show Reichstadter with an assembled tent near the edge of the top of the bridge, waving a large fabric streamer.

MPD said some lanes have reopened, as negotiators remain at the scene.

It is unclear if any criminal charges will be filed once the standoff concludes.

Protesters marched east along Lake Street in South Minneapolis on Friday afternoon, with the crowd growing into the high hundreds, approaching 1,000 people, before pausing near Bloomington Avenue around 6 p.m. local time.

Socialist and activist groups made up a large portion of the procession, with participants affiliated with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization carrying flags including a transgender pride flag, a Freedom Road flag, a flag associated with the Islamic Republic and Palestinian flags.

Members of the Communist Party USA were also visible in the march, gathering in large numbers behind those groups as the procession moved through the corridor.

Signs throughout the crowd included messages such as “Workers Over Billionaires,” “Stop the War,” “Educators for Palestine,” “Fight Trump’s Agenda,” and “F–k ICE,” reflecting a wide range of political causes.

Chants calling for a “revolution” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, border wall has got to go” echoed as demonstrators moved through the area.

High-visibility marshals affiliated with protest groups were seen directing the march and blocking side streets, while little to no visible police presence was observed along the route

Members of radical socialist and communist groups took to the streets in Minneapolis on May Day to denounce capitalism and the American political system, with some protesters openly praising authoritarian regimes and defending donations from wealthy billionaires.

A protester named Andy Koch, representing the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), told Fox News Digital the U.S. is "run by billionaires" and should instead be run by working people.

However, when asked about Neville Roy Singham, an American tycoon living in China who reportedly funds various protest organizations, Koch quickly defended the financial backing.

"If one billionaire out of like, you know, all of them wants to donate to progressive pro-worker causes, that's great," Koch said, dismissing concerns about the hypocrisy of a socialist group taking billionaire cash.

When asked for examples of successful socialist countries, the FRSO member praised the current Chinese Communist Party, saying "China's doing pretty good right now."

He also glorified the former Soviet Union for having "done a lot for its people" and claimed that life in Cuba was "night and day" compared to Haiti.

Members of the Revolutionary Communists of America (RCA) were also out in force, with one Minneapolis protester claiming they were "radicalized" in 2020 after watching the death of George Floyd.

The RCA member called for an end to capitalism and praised the USSR for creating housing and food security, though they admitted the Soviet regime ultimately collapsed.

"We're calling for down with Trump and down with the Democrats," the member told Fox News Digital.

The group accused both major parties of supporting "backward imperialist ideas," including wars in Ukraine and Iran, as well as the "genocide of the Palestinian people."

Unlike the FRSO, the RCA representative attempted to distance the group from wealthy donors like Singham, insisting they do not receive corporate or billionaire donations and remain "100% class independent" by relying on member dues and paper sales.

Fox News Digital's Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

During a May Day rally in Chicago, several demonstrators — including students participating in a walkout encouraged by teachers — struggled to explain the core ideologies they were championing, according to on-the-ground reporting by Fox News senior correspondent Mike Tobin.

Tobin spoke with a Chicago Public Schools student, Cody West, who was carrying a "Party for socialism" sign.

When Tobin asked the student if he believed in or knew what socialism was, West admitted, "not really, not too much."

West mentioned that some teachers told students "it's a walkout, you guys can just go, go protest."

A Chicago Teachers Union organizer confirmed they had been putting the event together for weeks.

When pressed on the fact that students were supposed to be in class, the organizer defended the walkout as a way to "develop their civics" and show them "what it's like to be humane."

One protester, holding a "Cleanup Aisle 47" sign, claimed President Donald Trump is "giving money to billionaires" and has "taken billions from the U.S. government."

When she was asked to name the billionaires or provide proof that he had taken billions, she deflected, saying, "If I could pull up the stats right now, I would."

Tobin interviewed another protester who claimed the recent assassination attempt on the president at the White House Correspondents' dinner was "staged."

When asked why they believed it was staged, the protester could not provide evidence, saying, "I don't know, it all just seems too suspect to me," before refusing to answer further questions.

A massive, highly coordinated network of radical protesters, backed by billions in funding and alleged ties to foreign adversaries, is using American freedoms as a "Trojan horse" to dismantle the country, Fox News Digital’s Asra Nomani reported after observing the Washington, D.C. May Day protest.

Describing the experience as being like a "war correspondent in my own country," Nomani’s firsthand account of demonstration revealed an army of "professional protesters" who she said are pushing a corrosive, anti-capitalist ideology. 

The streets were filled with foot soldiers representing groups like Refuse Fascism, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Code Pink. Steps from the White House, demonstrators brazenly flew the flags of autocratic regimes and recognized U.S. adversaries Including the Islamic Republic of Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, China and Palestine.

“They want to bring to America a system that has failed across the world," Nomani said, adding that protesters held signs reading, "Trump is the symptom, capitalism is the disease" and shouted for activists to assassinate the president.

The scale of the movement is far from a purely grassroots operation, according to Nomani. The broader nonprofit network encompasses roughly 600 organizations boasting $2 billion in collective revenues, which have unleashed 6,000 events across the nation.

A key figure highlighted in the financial web is Neville Roy Singham, who is accused of funding the operation to do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party.

Nomani warned that the very freedoms that define the U.S. have become its "Achilles’ heel," allowing a foreign-linked enemy to march unchecked within its own borders.

She added if the government does not investigate and dismantle the nonprofit infrastructure allowing the groups to operate, "this country will not be recognizable in the decades to come.”

Crowds at the main May Day rally site in South Minneapolis grew to several hundred Friday afternoon, with a visible presence of socialist groups alongside labor unions and other activists.

Members of the Communist Party were seen distributing newspapers and leaflets to attendees, including a publication titled The Communist with the headline “Down with Trump’s War!” and flyers calling for participation in May Day protests.

The rally drew a mix of groups, including Indigenous activists performing traditional dances in full regalia, alongside labor organizers and political activist groups.

Signs in the crowd shared messaging opposing ICE and President Donald Trump, including “Fuera ICE” and “Fight Trump’s Agenda,” as well as slogans calling for “care, not warfare” and opposing conflict with Iran.

Chants of “Hey, hey, ho, ho, border wall has got to go” broke out between speakers.

A small number of elected officials were also present, where presenters read out a resolution marking May Day.

The growing turnout and range of messaging reflected the broad coalition participating in this year’s May Day demonstrations under the theme “Workers Over Billionaires.”

One Fair Wage representative Elvis Diaz traveled to the May Day protest Friday to advocate for a $30 minimum wage across all industries in Los Angeles.

Diaz described the $30 ask to Fox News Digital as a "fair living wage."

"Go to any worker in Los Angeles and [ask] them if they can afford to live in this city," Diaz said. "Go ahead and look at their bank accounts. Look at their savings. Look [at] how much they're spending on food and groceries."

"In Los Angeles, gas itself [has] skyrocketed," he continued. "... These workers are suffering day to day. It's very important that they get a higher minimum wage."

California's state minimum wage is $16.90 per hour. Georgia and Wyoming have the lowest state minimum wages at $5.15 per hour.

A $30 wage would amount to $62,400 yearly for a standard 40-hour work week.

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

May Day demonstrators gathered outside the San Francisco International Airport with megaphones and whistles demanding a $30 minimum wage as part of the ongoing nationwide pro-labor protests.

The group could be heard shouting “ICE out of SFO," among other chants.

Airport officials said the international terminal departure level road was temporary closed to vehicle traffic "in order to safely accommodate free speech activity."

It later reopened to regular traffic, though the airport noted travelers should allow extra time for residual delays "due to ongoing first amendment activity."

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented an intense May Day speech amid nationwide rallies on Friday, pushing a sweeping progressive agenda that includes taxing the city's wealthiest residents and shielding individuals from federal immigration enforcement.

During the pro-labor rally, Mamdani touted his administration's efforts to put "working people right at the heart" of his democratic socialist agenda, taking aim at what he called "mega corporations" that he claims are ripping off workers and small businesses.

The mayor promised to fight for "universal child care," faster buses, cheaper groceries, and "protecting our neighbors from the cruelty of ICE."

To fund the initiatives, Mamdani openly said he is "working to tax the wealthiest and the most profitable corporations in New York City."

The mayor emphasized his solidarity with labor unions throughout the speech, boasting about his past appearances on the picket line alongside striking nurses and Starbucks workers.

"There is no New York City without unions," Mamdani told the crowd.

He concluded the address by quoting American Federation of Labor (AFL) founder Samuel Gompers before leading the rally-goers in a repeated "Union strong" chant.

Gombers advocated against partisanship, particularly resisting Socialist influence within the labor movement.

Former Los Angeles mayor and California gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa braved the heat to join the nationwide May Day rallies on Friday, telling Fox News Digital his motivation was to celebrate workers and "protect our democracy."

"Today on May Day we celebrate the people who put food on our table, people who take care of our kids and our elders, people who work as security officers and janitors," Villaraigosa said. "We're here to say we need an economy that's working for more people."

"There are too many people who work every every single day, they're not on welfare, ... and they can't make ends meet," he continued. "They can't pay for rent, they can't buy a home. Gas prices and utility costs are out of reach for them. We celebrate these people who have sacrificed to make our economy better [and] our country stronger."

Another topic highlighted by activists marching in Los Angeles is immigration enforcement, with protesters fighting against the Trump administration's strict border and deportation policies.

"We also are marching to protect our democracy," Villaraigosa said. "To say that every country has a right to secure its borders, but they should do so humanely. That we shouldn't be ripping children from the arms of their parents. We shouldn't be able to go into schools and hospitals and courthouses and places of work without a warrant."

He added he believes detention centers should be "protecting the health and safety of people," alleging that instead, detainees are "sleeping on the floor, crowded among one another, and dying in [large] numbers."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported 46 deaths in its custody or detention facilities since the start of the second Trump administration in January 2025.

There are 68,000 illegal immigrants being held in detention centers as of February, a more than 70% increase from the 39,000 who were being held at the end of the Biden administration in December 2024, according to the KFF, an independent research organization.

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

A small group of activists affiliated with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) was seen setting up at the main May Day rally site in South Minneapolis more than two hours before the event was scheduled to begin.

The group appeared to be organizing materials out of vehicles in a nearby parking lot, including signs, water supplies and equipment such as bullhorns and high-visibility vests.

Sticker messaging visible on bullhorns at the scene included phrases such as “Stand with our families,” “F--- ICE,” “Free Palestine,” “No human being is illegal,” and “F--- the border.”

A flatbed truck and a separate newer rental-style truck were also present, with organizers unloading gear and preparing for the afternoon rally.

The older truck was draped with large banners reading “20th Annual March for International Workers’ Day,” with the same message in Spanish on the reverse, while the newer truck appeared to be outfitted with large speakers.

One protester at the scene was seen filming while draped in a hybrid flag combining LGBTQ Pride colors with the former Soviet Union (USSR) flag, he told Fox News Digital.

The early setup suggests organized preparations ahead of the larger demonstration expected later in the day at Chicago Avenue and East Lake Street.

Lou Villalvazo, a Los Angeles May Day protester representing Teamsters Local 630, told Fox News Digital he joined the rally because he feels the government has "overlooked the American worker.

"Every year it gets harder and harder for people to survive," Villalvazo said. "... It's not about Democrat or Republican. It's us against the billionaires. They're buying our government. They're buying these politicians. We're done with it because at the end of the day, they don't relate to the worker. ... We're going to march for all workers, for everybody's rights. Nobody's illegal on stolen land."

He went on to label the government "fascist" and call President Donald Trump a "wanna-be dictator who doesn't know anything about putting gas in your car [or] paying for rent."

"It's not about red and blue," Villalvazo said. "It's us against the billionaires. ... Wake up America."

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Zainab Hedayat, an Iranian American from Chevy Chase, Maryland, stepped to the front of a Washington, D.C. May Day march carrying two flags of the Islamic Republic of Iran — a striking image within a protest largely billed around workers’ rights and economic justice.

“The USA is shaytan,” Hedayat told Fox News Digital, using the Arabic word for “devil.”

Moments later, she passes Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, a nonprofit that is part of a broad network of organizations examined in a Fox News Digital investigation pushing May Day protests in a leftward turn nationwide.

At the corner of 14th and I streets, Benjamin stood on a light pole above the crowd, waving as demonstrators rounded the turn, like royalty waving regally at the passersby pushing their wagons with signs. Next to her, her companion activist, Tighe Barry, held a sign reading, “Peace with Iran.”

Around them, the protest’s messaging widened. Others raised flags of Palestine, Lebanon and the communist regimes of Venezuela. The U.S. flag was present but far less prominent, trailing behind the cluster of international symbols.

The scene reflected what experts describe as a “red-blue-green” alignment — a convergence of socialist groups symbolized by red, Democratic activists symbolized by blue and Islamist movements and governments symbolized by the Islamic color of green.

That convergence is part of a broader network identified by Fox News Digital: roughly 600 groups with a combined $2 billion in annual revenue organizing thousands of May Day events across the country.

On the ground in Washington, those connections weren’t abstract. They were visible — in the flags, the slogans and the activists moving together in a single march that blended domestic political demands with global ideological grievances.

“U.S. out of Congo!” CodePink activists chanted.

Anti-Trump protesters gathering at May Day rallies in Washington, D.C, New York City and Los Angeles carried posters donning “86 47,” a message that landed former FBI Director James Comey an indictment for allegedly threatening President Donald Trump.

Fox News Digital spotted a D.C. protester holding a sign bearing the message at the corner of 14th Street in, a block from the White House.

When asked what he meant by his sign, he coyly responded, “We're out in the kitchen.”

He refused to share his name.

A man beside him carried a sign that read, “86 them all.”

"86" is a term used in the military and law enforcement, referring to killing a target. Trump is the 47th president of the U.S.

The message was also spotted on signs at protests in New York City and Los Angeles, Fox News Digital observed.

Fox News Digital's Asra Nomani, Louis Casiano and Preston Mizell contributed to this report.

Footage was captured of people protesting outside of an Amazon facility in New York City on Friday amid a broader trend of May Day protests taking place nationwide.

Apparently referring to U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, one person could be seen carrying a sign that carried the messages, "NO TECH FOR ICE" and "NO TECH FOR GENOCIDE."

People could be heard engaging in an anti-genocide chant.

Another person carried a sign that read, "NO AMAZON AI FOR DEPORTATIONS."

Someone else held a sign that read, "Amazon workers say NO TECH FOR GENOCIDE."

A man donning a revolutionary-style costume took to the streets in Los Angeles on Friday amid nationwide May Day protests.

Lawrence Herrera, 68, told Fox News Digital he attended the rally protest immigration and "the separation of families."

"People are being taken off the streets for not showing their IDs," Herrera said. "... They grab you, they put you in detention and nobody knows where you're at. That's one of the main reasons why I'm here."

He added he first wore the costume in 2016 when Trump was elected for his first term.

Attached to the jacket were pins that read "not my president" and "No Kings."

Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Fox News Digital observed a large amount of porta potties and portable sinks at a Los Angeles May Day rally on Friday, highlighting the organization behind the nationwide protest.

The portable restrooms, stationed in a parking lot, were seemingly provided by "National Construction Rentals," though it is unclear which organization paid for the service.

Nearby, workers were seen wearing matching bright yellow T-shirts.

A Fox News Digital investigation found roughly 600 groups, with a combined $2 billion in annual revenue, are backing an estimated 6,000 May Day events nationwide.

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson joined a coalition of mayors from across the U.S. on Friday signing the Haymarket Declaration, a joint commitment to "defend democracy, worker’s rights and the livelihoods of [their] residents."

The declaration builds cooperation between cities who are "responding to Trump's attacks" while "demonstrating solidarity, resilience, and a commitment to economic justice," according to the mayor's press office.

"Like the union leaders and workers who fought to win our rights, as cities we must remain unified — because we are stronger when we stand together," Johnson wrote in a statement on X. "I am honored to sign the Haymarket Declaration — a symbol of solidarity and a shared commitment to defend the rights of workers and their wellbeing while fighting to preserve our democracy."

Earlier in the day, Johnson praised students at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition May Day event for skipping class, despite the city's literacy struggles.

Only 4% of Chicago Public School (CPS) students in grades 3 through 8 can read at grade level and 40% of students are chronically absent, according to the most recent Illinois Report Card data.

A woman snaked through the crowd near the Washington Monument at about 12:15 p.m., handing out pre-made protest signs from her group, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that reported $671,799 in revenue in its 2024 tax filing.

It’s a modest sum in a D.C.-area nonprofit ecosystem where many organizations operate with budgets in the tens of millions.

A Fox News Digital investigation found roughly 600 groups, with a combined $2 billion in annual revenue, are backing an estimated 6,000 May Day events nationwide.

Nearby, Karla Pineda, executive director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, stood on a grassy field as activists from the openly Marxist Party for Socialism and Liberation marched past, drums pounding.

Pineda barely glanced in their direction, telling Fox News Digital she is not focused on ideological divides.

Instead, she positioned her work in the middle ground — where, she said, “corporations are held accountable” and “workers are respected.”

"I came to the United States when I was 10 years old. I'm Salvadorian," Pineda said. "The reason why I came to this country was because back home, we were going through a civil war in the country. The conditions were not safe, especially for a child like myself, so we came here."

"I'm the product of two immigrant parents who have been in the country since the 70s, working and supporting their families," she continued. "I was able to grow up here, go to school, and now I'm here in D.C. ... Incorporations need to be held accountable and we should not punish the workers."

Fox News Digital's Asra Nomani contributed to this report.

May Day protests from Paris and Istanbul to Madrid, Manila and Seoul blended traditional labor grievances over inflation, housing and workers’ rights with anti-war activism, Palestinian flags, anti-Israel rhetoric and broader anti-Western messaging.

Violence erupted in several major cities as demonstrations turned confrontational. In Paris, police reportedly deployed tear gas grenades and made forceful arrests after projectiles were thrown.

In Istanbul, riot police blocked demonstrators from reaching banned Taksim Square, sparking scuffles, barricades and detentions.

In Manila, workers clashed with police near the U.S. Embassy, while in Munich reporter footage showed riot police using batons to push back radical leftist demonstrators after pyrotechnics were set off.

“The United States is fighting to defend the free world against tyranny, and yet across Europe and beyond we are seeing protesters direct their outrage at America and its allies instead of the brutal regimes driving so much of this global instability,” Nile Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation told Fox News Digital. “That should deeply concern anyone who cares about the future of Western civilization.”

Fox News Digital's Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.

The head of a major Los Angeles labor union took to the streets on Friday claiming America's "democracy is under attack," using an annual workers' rights march to slam immigration enforcement and demand unity.

Yvonne Wheeler, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, tied the traditional labor movement to the cause of immigrants.

Wheeler told Fox News Digital the march, while recognizing the historical 140-year fight for the 8-hour workday, was largely in solidarity with immigrant communities who she claimed have been "under attack" by the Trump administration.

"People are afraid to go to work, people are afraid to go the doctor, people [are] afraid to go to school," Wheeler said.

The union leader alleged that while enforcement initially targeted criminal illegal immigrants, it has since expanded inappropriately.

"It expanded beyond that, to those who were brown," Wheeler said. "When you see your brown sisters and brothers under attack, that's a problem."

She added the labor union has "wrapped our arms around our immigrant community," to stand with them during what she described as a difficult time.

"Today, we're talking about unity," Wheeler said, noting that while protesters fight for respect and dignity on the job daily, the march was focused on a "unified mission about immigrants' rights, workers' right and everybody's rights."

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Demonstrators gathered outside Trump Tower in New York City on Friday as May Day events were planned across the U.S.

Protesters could be heard chanting "no hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here."

There was also a call-and-response style chant where someone would say, "Tell me what democracy looks like" and others would reply, "This is what democracy looks like."

Fox News' Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report.

Outside George Washington University, Farid Razavi, an Iranian American volunteer with the Iranian American Community of Virginia, did not realize he had set up his table next to activists who support the regime that runs the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Just after 11 a.m., after canvassing the socialist activists for a while to sign his petition for regime change with little luck, he told Fox News Digital, “I have nothing to do with them.”

Razavi said he wants the Iranian regime deposed and recoiled learning the socialist activists support them.

"Unfortunately, some people support the regime, they are funded by the regime, and they claim that the regime should stay," Razavi said. "The regime of Iran should be toppled. The Iranian regime is very brutal. During the last 47 years, they have executed more than 150,000 Iranian people. ... In the last election, only about 8% of the people voted for this regime."

Fox News Digital's Asra Nomani contributed to this report.

More than 20 North Carolina school districts canceled classes Friday as teachers participated in "Kids Over Corporations" protests, organized by the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE).

The protest, held at Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh, drew thousands. Protesters are demanding more funding for public education.

At least 11 school districts announced last-minute schedule changes, leaving parents scrambling to make childcare arrangements, The News & Observer reported.

"Nearly 20 school districts across the state have made the powerful choice to support their workers," the NCAE wrote in a Facebook post. "It’s a strong reminder of what’s possible when we unite in support of our colleagues and students!"

Fox News Digital's Asra Nomani is reporting from outside a left-wing group's headquarters in Washington, D.C., ahead of May Day protests on Friday. Standing on the corner of 4th and 8th Streets in the nation's capital, Nomani details posters seen at the D.C. Liberation Center, a socialist hub that was making posters Thursday night for May Day demonstrations.

"What is a liberation center? There are about 30 of them across the country. And they are headquarters for the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Which is a little bit misleading in its name because in fact, they are self-declared communists," Nomani says, detailing posters promoting anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rhetoric and May Day.

On the fliers, Nomani notes, are the logos for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Amalgamated Transit Workers Union, the AFL-CIO [American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations], the Washington Teachers Union and others.

"What do they have as images there? 'Educators are workers,' so these are the teachers' unions that are letting kids out of school today in Chicago and in Madison, Wisconsin and other places. Why does it matter to look at the fine print? Because it's there that you can then see the network," Nomani said. "Then what you have in here is the Far Left Socialist Groups, the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America, and that's their logo."

"So what you see then in just this one poster is this ecosystem of the far left organizations that you're gonna see unfold later today," she added. "We're gonna keep teaching you about what is happening in America. These concepts like malign foreign influence, agitation propaganda, and the cognitive warfare that is happening in America."

It's showtime in Washington, D.C.

At 10:35 a.m., activists from the Party for Socialism and Liberation arrived at the corner of 23rd Street Northwest and I Street Northwest on the campus of George Washington University, unloading protest materials from a black Subaru Outback hatchback.

They operated like well-trained foot soldiers, moving efficiently as they set up, reflecting the experience they have built organizing protest after protest, particularly since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas in Israel, when they mobilized alongside a coalition of anti-Israel organizations.

The signs this time included recycled messaging, including pro-Islamic Republic of Iran themes such as “STOP WAR ON IRAN!”

Alongside those were familiar political messages like “WORKERS HAVE TRUMP!”—echoing anti-Trump themes they have emphasized since the first Trump administration and continuing into the second.

As outlined in their organizing strategy, a book titled “Socialism Reconstructed,” the group promotes a broader agenda that includes dismantling the United States free enterprise system, the stock market, U.S. military bases at home and abroad and police agencies, as well as freeing prisoners from jails.

They are part of a network financed by a tech tycoon Neville. Roy Singham, an American born self-declared Marxist living in Shanghai. Congressional lawmakers are investigating the network for alleged malign foreign influence, parroting the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party.

Their leaders refused to answer questions. They wear shirts that say, “Socialism is the future.”

Several major unions are promoting May Day demonstrations across the United States on social media meant to protest what leftists condemn as the capitalist billionaire class.

One group posting about May Day festivities is the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), which had an annual revenue for 2024 of about $131 million, according to its latest tax filing.

In a post Thursday, the AFL-CIO, which is a federation of 65 labor unions, said, "Working people are living on the edge and struggling to make ends meet. We work harder while our wages don’t budge and the rich get richer."

"It’s time to show billionaires CEOs the power of our solidarity," it added.

"We’re coming together at events across the country this May Day to celebrate our solidarity and show that we won’t back down when it comes to our union siblings and all working people," AFL-CIO wrote in another post on X Friday, promoting pro-socialist events.

It shared a link for people looking for events in their communities.

While May Day began as an effort to protect worker rights, the big-money political operations of labor unions today give the protest a partisan bias that is focused very much today on anti-President Donald Trump rhetoric, critics say.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the United Farm Workers are more unions also promoting May Day events on social media this week.

"It's #MayDay! Today is about all of us coming together, across race and background, to stand in solidarity for what’s long overdue: Money. Power. Respect," SEIU wrote on X Friday.

“#MayDay is a reminder for workers to stand together. If you’re going to a May Day event, you can download this graphic and use it as a sign,” UFW also wrote, sharing the graphic.

Fox News Digital's Asra Q. Nomani contributed to this report

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., celebrated May Day in a post on X Friday as leftist groups plan hundreds of pro-socialist demonstrations across the country.

"Illinois holds a special place in union history. From the Haymarket Riot to the Pullman Strike, workers in our state have given their lives to protect employees’ basic dignities," Durbin wrote on X.

"On May Day, we recognize their contributions to a more equal, prosperous, and democratic America," he added.

Here in the good old United States of America, we have a lovely holiday each September called Labor Day, on which we celebrate the contributions of the nation’s workers. We do not celebrate the communist holiday of May Day, as most of the globe does, at least not until recently.

Today, hundreds of leftist organizations and Damoractic Party adjuncts around the nation will rally, protest and cheer on May Day in an act of radical Marxist globalization. It should make Americans who are not fans of Mao’s little red book very nervous.

As usual, progressives want to destroy the wholesome homegrown aspects of our culture and replace them with cold, ugly, almost Soviet-style international slop, even though our American ancestors firmly rejected it.

This is an excerpt from an opinion piece by Fox News Digital columnist David Marcus

The Madison Metropolitan School District is closed on Friday as left-wing activists mobilize for May Day.

“Our Madison Teachers Inc. (MTI) partners recently shared that they received 70% of staff signatures supporting participation in 'A Day without Immigrants' as part of the May Day Strong national day of action,” the district noted in a message on its website about the school cancellation.

MTI is a teachers' union.

"I'm in shock," Wisconsin Moms for Liberty activist Scarlett Johnson said during a Friday morning appearance on the Fox & Friends. "Although maybe I shouldn't be considering the history of the Madison Metropolitan School District."

"They are not just indoctrinating the kids in the classroom. They are encouraging actively for students to leave the classroom and go march in the streets with teachers, with administrators," she claimed.

"And make no mistake about it: This entire rally, this May Day, Friday May 1st ... this is an anti-capitalist, anti-Trump movement, and they're using our kids as political pawns," she said.

FIRST AT FOX: Some 600 groups, including hard-line communists and groups affiliated with the Democratic Party, are mobilizing all over the country today to demonstrate for May Day, socialism's high holy day.

A Fox News Digital investigation has identified a sprawling "red-blue" network with combined annual revenue of about $2 billion organizing some 3,000 protests and events and advancing what critics describe as an anti-American agenda. They have called for Americans to skip work, school and shopping.

At the center of the May Day mobilization, which has expanded from earlier indications, is a network of communist, socialist, Marxist and other far-left organizations, led by chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America and a network of groups – including the People’s Forum, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, ANSWER Coalition and Code Pink – funded by an American-born tech tycoon, Neville Roy Singham, based in Shanghai, promoting the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party. 

This is an excerpt from reporting by Fox News Digital's Asra Q. Nomani, Michael Dorgan and Preston Mizell.