Radical Group Taught Teens Maoist Tactics at Secretive 'Anti-Imperialist Summer Camp'

A radical group with ties to terrorism conducted an "Anti-Imperialist Summer Camp" in the Pacific Northwest, instructing teenagers in Maoist war tactics and displaying flags linked to terrorist organizations. The Anti-Imperialist Front USA (AIF-USA) organized the late August event, which included teenagers from its offshoot, Revolutionary Youth, along with college students and young workers.

Materials provided by the North American Values Institute (NAVI) showed images of nearly 20 campers around a fire, some wearing hoodies and bandanas, alongside flags from groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. One banner read "Victory to the Axis of Resistance!"

Other flags displayed included the Palestinian flag and a green flag bearing the Shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. The campers studied materials from foreign communist groups designated as terrorist organizations in their home countries, according to a since-deleted post on the AIF-USA website.

Among the groups studied were the Communist Party of Peru (Shining Path), which was responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in its attempt to overthrow the Peruvian government starting in 1980. The Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist Leninist, founded in 1972 for "armed struggle," was also studied. The Turkish government designates this group as a terrorist organization due to its numerous kidnappings and attacks on soldiers and police.

Additionally, the campers reviewed the Communist Party of India (Maoist), which, according to the South Asia Terrorist Portal, has committed over 4,000 terrorist attacks since its formation in 2004.

The AIF-USA website described the camp's activities, stating, "Camaraderie was strengthened through physical discipline cultivated through sports and collective singing of revolutionary songs. Exercise and diligent study strengthened comrades revolutionary optimist spirits."

Chapters of Revolutionary Youth from Seattle, Bellevue, Puget Sound, Bellingham, and Issaquah participated, according to an Aug. 25 Instagram post.

Mika Hackner, Director of Research at NAVI, stated that Revolutionary Youth recruits high school students on the West Coast by organizing class walkouts, including one on the anniversary of October 7. "High schoolers are being led into a dangerous, violent ideology by groups associated with terrorist organizations," Hackner said.

The AIF-USA's website was hosted on servers operated by the Italian extremist group Autistici/Inventati (A/I Collective). The U.S. Treasury sanctioned this group and the State Department designated it as a Global Terrorist group in August, stating it "builds and operates the digital infrastructure for violent Antifa cells and other far-left militants across the world."

Following the Aug. 26 designation, the A/I Collective's servers became unavailable in the U.S., and the AIF-USA website was taken down. Autistici/Inventati reportedly provided technological services, including web hosting and encrypted communications, to terrorist groups such as Masar Badil, a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The AIF-USA also trains its members using teachings from Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist group that has launched numerous rockets at civilian targets in Northern Israel since October 7, 2023, according to the AIF-USA worksheet titled "Learn from Hezbollah."

The exact location of the camp in the Pacific Northwest was not immediately disclosed.