The tragic assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk has reportedly been linked to an armed leftist group, which is currently under investigation.
This group, known as Armed Queers Salt Lake City, is allegedly connected to activist networks that have ties to the Chinese and Cuban regimes.
According to the Daily Caller, federal law enforcement agencies are investigating Armed Queers Salt Lake City and other groups in Utah and online to determine if they had prior knowledge of Kirk's assassination on September 10 in Orem. The founder of Armed Queers SLC, Ermiya Fanaeian, has reportedly traveled to Cuba as part of a pro-communist program and worked for a socialist activist group that is friendly towards China.
Following Kirk's death, the University of Utah, where Fanaeian studied, and Armed Queers SLC, have reportedly deleted or hidden web content and social media profiles related to Fanaeian or his organization. The 22-year-old accused of Kirk's murder, Tyler Robinson, allegedly shot Kirk from a rooftop during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University.
Robinson's family informed authorities that he had shifted towards leftist ideologies in recent years, contradicting his father's values. The FBI is currently investigating Robinson's online presence, members of a chat room he was part of, and anyone close to him who might have known about his plans.
Despite the ongoing investigation, no evidence has emerged linking Robinson or his roommate to Armed Queers SLC. The group and Fanaeian have not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Fanaeian, who identifies as transgender, left the Pink Pistols group in 2021 to form Armed Queers SLC. In a statement addressing Kirk's assassination, Pink Pistols clarified that any social media accounts advocating or celebrating violence are not affiliated with them, describing such behavior as "monstrous, unethical, and hypocritical."
Armed Queers SLC is listed as a member organization by the National Network on Cuba (NNOC), a U.S.-based group that organizes trips to Cuba for Americans through its May Day Brigade program. The NNOC coordinates these trips with the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), an organization created by the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro to promote his communist propaganda, as per a 2012 CIA report.
Kyle Shideler, a senior analyst at the Center for Security Policy, has expressed concern over Armed Queers SLC's involvement with the NNOC. He believes this should prompt the State Department and U.S. intelligence agencies to investigate the May Day Brigade program.
Shideler warns that the Cuban regime has historically used such trips to identify potential assets and provide additional training and indoctrination to these individuals, who then return to the states to engage in subversion, and sometimes violence.
Fanaeian, who served as the director of diversity and inclusion at the Associated Students of the University of Utah, endorsed violence as a means of political change in a 2020 interview.
He stated, "Im a member of the LGBTQ community, and our liberation and our rights came after the Stonewall riots I wouldnt even be able to be a student at this school if it wasnt for a violent riot that took place within a span of three days, so I absolutely agree that sometimes violent protest and really riots and those kinds of loud rebellions must take place for tangible change."
Fanaeian was also an organizer for the Salt Lake City chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a socialist group involved in protests for leftist causes around the country. Leaders of PSL have held leading roles in groups funded by Neville Singham, a left-wing businessman reportedly based in Shanghai, whose projects revolve around propagating pro-China narratives.
Armed Queers SLC and the PSL have participated in events together in Utah since at least 2023. The PSL has celebrated mass-murdering dictator Mao Zedong for creating the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and denied the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of protesters in China, echoing the CCPs own propaganda.
Shideler has noted that gun-toting leftist groups are becoming increasingly common. He and his organization have tracked Armed Queers SLCs activities for about three years. The group is dedicated to the armed and militant protection of oppressed people, abolishing prisons, creating a socialist society and other goals. Shideler warns that participation in such armed Antifa groups or in armed demonstrations has been a common denominator related to far-left attacks.
The recent case of a July 4 shooting ambush at an Alvarado, Texas, immigration detention facility, which led to more than a dozen arrests, serves as a stark reminder of the potential threat posed by such groups. Some of the defendants, including alleged ringleader Benjamin Song, previously belonged to the leftist Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, which often guards local LGBTQ events or protests against conservative speakers.
Armed Queers SLC is seen as typical of the kind of armed 'anti-fascist' 'community defense' organizations which are becoming increasingly prolific on the radical left, according to Shideler. As the investigation into Kirk's assassination continues, the connections between Armed Queers SLC, the Chinese and Cuban regimes, and the broader network of leftist activist groups will undoubtedly remain under close scrutiny.
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