Virginia activists leading the campaign against data centers are tied to a Marxist-Leninist party with documented connections to the Chinese Communist Party, according to public records and social media posts reviewed by the Daily Caller.
Local political figures including Frederick County Board of Supervisors candidate Alexander Ritter, Winchester activist Klio Stroubakis, and grassroots organizer Jack Tensley all appear connected to the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL)—and all three are involved with the Protect Frederick anti-data center group.
The PSL seeks to replace U.S. capitalism with socialism and describes its goal as abolishing “the corrupt, rotten and anti-people capitalist economy, state and governmental system.”
“IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH TO RAPIDLY ORGANIZE AND POLITICIZE THE MASSES.”
The party’s network blocked $23.6 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure projects by inserting itself into local protests in 14 states, a June 2026 Bitcoin Policy Institute report found.
Data center opposition has intensified across Virginia over concerns about electricity demand, water use, and noise pollution—but the involvement of PSL-linked activists raises questions about who’s really driving the resistance.
Ritter Denies PSL Ties Despite “Freudo-Marxist” Profile
Ritter, a lifelong Frederick County resident running as an independent for Board Chairman, led a June 3 Winchester data center protest and helped make Protect Frederick’s website.
“My org is not affiliated with the PSL in any way,” Ritter told the Daily Caller in an email signed as “The Protect Frederick Team.”
But his X account still describes him as a “Freudo-Marxist” in his profile. When pressed, Ritter claimed it was “merely a philosophy joke” and said he thought Freud was “absurd.”
Ritter was photographed wearing plaid in the middle of a group of protestors promoting the anti-data center protest in a joint PSL West Virginia and PSL Virginia Instagram post from June.
“Virginia has more data centers than anywhere else on the planet and the people have had enough,” the PSL Instagram caption read. “The people have spoken: NO DATA CENTERS!”
When asked why the PSL posted about his protest, Ritter would not clarify whether he was affiliated with the group and refused to condemn the socialist organization.
His past social media activity tells a different story. An October 2018 repost on his X account declared: “When you say ‘transgender debate,’ I hear ‘Jewish question.’ TERFs and transphobes are just fascist songs in a different key.”
When you say “transgender debate,” I hear “Jewish question.”
TERFs and transphobes are just fascist songs in a different key.
Loving the trans people in our lives is anti-fascism. ❤️🖤✊
— AntiFash Gordon (@AntiFashGordon) October 21, 2018
“Professional Tree Hugger” Running for City Council
Stroubakis, an activist and teacher running for Ward 4 on the Winchester City Council, describes herself as a “professional tree hugger” on Instagram with pronouns listed as “hers/she.”
Her campaign website features a photo of her holding a “No Data Center” sign positioned below the caption “built to last, not built to extract.”
She was photographed wearing a PSL shirt at a pride parade in a June 6 PSL West Virginia Instagram post.
Stroubakis contributed $85 to socialist Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign between 2019 and 2020, according to Federal Election Commission receipts.
She frequently pays Jack Tensley coffee, groceries, and “stuff n things,” according to public Venmo transactions. She did not respond to questions about those payments.
“Socialism and Democracy Go Hand In Hand”
Tensley refers to himself as a PSL “organizer” on Instagram, which features Palestinian flags. He operates out of the Eastern Panhandle Liberation Center—a hub run by Justice Eastern Panhandle, Inc. and PSL West Virginia.
He spoke out against data centers at Frederick County Planning Commission meetings in January and March.
“We really, very strongly believe in democracy, and socialism and democracy go hand in hand,” Tensley told West Virginia Public Broadcasting in a May 2023 interview. “We’d like to give that power back to people so they can have self-determination of their lives.”
PSL West Virginia featured Tensley in party merchandise promoting its events in a July 8 Instagram post.
To show support for his cause, Tensley has written articles for the national PSL’s Liberation News, reposted the organization’s content on social media, and led protests involving the organization.
He began protesting during Occupy Wall Street in 2011 and donated $172 to Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign.
So, any groups should I follow to #OCCUPYWALLSTREET ?
— Jack Tensley (@JackTensley) August 29, 2011
The Chinese Communist Party Connection
Shanghai-based left-wing billionaire Neville Roy Singham reportedly funneled large sums into U.S. nonprofit groups associated with PSL activities and is connected to Chinese Communist Party propaganda entities, according to a 2024 Network Contagion Research Institute report.
Singham moved hundreds of millions of dollars through 67 groups in five continents to spread pro-China messaging, a March Fox News Digital investigation found. These 223 transactions have been dubbed Singham’s “Red Web.”
Top PSL leaders run allegedly Singham-funded nonprofits. Brian Becker, PSL co-founder, also leads the ANSWER Coalition, which is reportedly funded by Singham. Claudia De la Cruz, the PSL’s 2024 U.S. presidential nominee, co-founded The People’s Forum, which reportedly receives Singham funding.
The Department of Justice began an investigation into Singham’s financial network and his alleged funding of left-wing activist groups in late June 2026.
Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton wrote a letter on June 10 imploring the Department of Justice to investigate alleged Chinese and other foreign influence over public perception of data centers.
“Alarming reports indicate that a network of foreign actors, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is attempting to manipulate U.S. policy and public opinion on data centers,” Cotton said in the letter.
Stroubakis, Tensley, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation did not respond to requests for comment.
I’ve never been so turned on. https://t.co/YcPHUQpkmC
— Jack Tensley (@methevictor23) February 25, 2020
Reminder: no trans person’s gender expression has ever hurt anyone in a bathroom or anywhere
Anti-trans measures cause violence, entrench patriarchy & pain
I am w/ my trans family members
ALWAYS.
— Cameron Esposito (@cameronesposito) October 21, 2018
