A Marxist caucus controlling 11% of the Democratic Socialists of America’s national leadership has published a formal program calling for armed “people’s militias” with mandatory universal service and training to replace America’s police and prison system — a position that has gained near-total dominance in DSA’s youth wing, where the group’s politics are “approaching cultural hegemony.”
The Marxist Unity Group issued the directive two days ago, declaring that abolishing police and prisons requires “the creation of a democratic and popular militia — flowing from the working class and the oppressed’s organs of self-defense” and explicitly “defined by the right to bear arms, the sovereignty of the people, universal service and training, and a rigorous community control.” The statement argues the road to abolition demands not reform but the wholesale replacement of law enforcement with armed community organizations under what MUG calls “democratic” control.
Growing Power Within DSA
Marxist Unity Group’s influence within DSA has grown rapidly since its founding around 2022-2023. At the organization’s August 2025 National Convention in Chicago, MUG secured three seats on the National Political Committee through the election of Amy W. (Seattle DSA), Cliff C. (Orlando DSA), and Sidney C.W. (NYC DSA). The caucus’s flagship resolution on party-building passed, establishing DSA’s commitment to leaving the Democratic Party.
While MUG’s joint program with Reform & Revolution caucus failed at the 2025 convention, it still garnered 45% of delegate votes — a showing observers called surprisingly strong for such an explicitly revolutionary platform. One post-convention analysis described MUG as “the beating heart at the center of Marxism within DSA” and predicted the group has “a real shot at passing their program in 2029.”
“Cultural Hegemony” in Youth Wing
MUG’s influence extends even further in DSA’s youth wing, where its politics are “approaching cultural hegemony,” according to the group’s own assessment. At the 2025 Young Democratic Socialists of America convention, YDSA adopted a national political program that “while drafted by the multitendency Program Committee, contains aspects of MUG’s programmatic vision,” according to MUG. The program passed with 85% of the vote despite being “heavily associated — derisively — with MUG during debate on the floor.”
MUG’s candidate Claire IJ won an at-large seat on YDSA’s National Coordinating Committee “with over a quarter of the total first-choice votes in a crowded field,” marking the caucus’s third consecutive year of expansion in the youth organization. The group’s flagship resolution for YDSA, “R19: Building Socialist Sanctuaries to Win the Battle for Democracy,” passed by large margins. Bread and Roses, another Marxist causes just recently elected 2 YDSA co-chairs to the national DSA committee as Cross Currents previously reported:
MUG characterized the shift as a dramatic change from just a few years ago: “MUG’s politics, marginal only a few years ago, are approaching cultural hegemony in YDSA,” the caucus wrote in its post-convention analysis.
The caucus operates through a seven-point platform that includes demands to “Fight the Constitution” — arguing the U.S. Constitution is a “slaveholder constitution” that must be replaced through a revolutionary “Popular Assembly” — and calls for abolishing the Senate, Electoral College, Supreme Court, presidency, police, military, and all prisons.
The Florence Program
In January 2025, MUG adopted what it calls “The Florence Program,” a comprehensive revolutionary agenda stating: “To defeat the ruling class in the United States, the working class must organize itself into an independent political party with the aim of conquering political power, replacing the slaver-capitalist Constitution with a radically democratic political system, and introducing socialism.”
The program calls for immediate expropriation of property without compensation, withdrawal from NATO, abolition of all judicial review, and “universal citizenship for long term residents within the boundaries of the state.” It frames these demands not as aspirational goals but as the “minimum program” to be “implemented immediately upon workers taking power.”
Internal Debate
The armed militia statement has sparked debate even within MUG’s own social media following. On Instagram, where the post received 573 likes, commenters questioned whether “replacing the police with armed militias isn’t abolition.” MUG responded by liking comments defending the position as “abolition of control by the capitalist class” and a necessary “transition in the meantime” before full abolition.
One commenter argued: “Replacing the police with armed militias isn’t abolition.” A response that MUG endorsed stated: “its abolition of control by the capitalist class and a transfer of power into the hands of the community. Community defense will be necessary.”
Electoral Context
MUG’s statement comes amid DSA’s mixed 2026 electoral performance. While the organization celebrated high-profile primary wins — including Abdul El-Sayed’s Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan and Angie Nixon’s upset victory in Florida’s Democratic Senate primary — a Brookings Institution analysis found DSA candidates won “well under 1%” of Democratic nominations overall and lost more primaries than they won even in heavily Democratic districts.
DSA’s most significant recent victory came in late 2025 with the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City — the official MUG now criticizes for insufficient commitment to abolition. Mamdani’s administration includes multiple DSA members in senior positions, though the mayor has distanced himself from calls to abolish police and prisons.
The Marxist Unity Group frames its armed militia proposal not as a fringe position but as the logical conclusion of socialist politics. The statement concludes: “A party that asks us to leave the demand for abolition back in 2020 is not a party serious about the liberation of Black, colonized, and working class people.”
Let's just call this what it is: mob rule.