By Timothy Page
On Saturday, March 28, 2026, Vermont—long known for its independent streak and progressive leanings—hosted dozens of “No Kings” rallies across the state, from Montpelier’s Statehouse lawn (where U.S. Sen. Peter Welch and Attorney General Charity Clark spoke) to marches in Burlington, Rutland, Bennington, St. Albans, and more than 40 other towns. Organizers claimed thousands turned out in opposition to Trump administration policies on immigration, the Iran conflict, and executive power. At first glance, these events looked like classic Vermont grassroots activism: neighbors with handmade signs, local speakers, and a distinctly New England flavor.
But a closer look reveals significant outside influence. The Vermont protests were not spontaneous local uprisings. They were coordinated through the national “No Kings” coalition — a network of roughly 500 groups with an estimated $3 billion in combined annual revenues — and included direct participation from radical socialist organizations tied to controversial national and international funding streams.
Local Faces, National Backbone
Vermont’s events were heavily promoted and organized by local chapters of national groups. Key sponsors included:
- Champlain Valley Indivisible and other Vermont Indivisible chapters (e.g., Burlington Old North End and South End marches, Bennington County Indivisible).
- League of Women Voters of Vermont (a state affiliate of the national LWVUS, listed as an official “No Kings” partner).
- 50501 Vermont (the local arm of the national 50501 movement, which helped coordinate events statewide).
- Third Act, the climate-and-democracy group founded by Vermont-based environmentalist Bill McKibben.
These groups handled logistics, signage, and turnout via platforms like Mobilize.us and the official NoKings.org site. Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) and local coalitions like May Day Strong also played supporting roles. The sheer scale—over 46 planned actions in a state of just 650,000 people—mirrored the national template pushed by Indivisible, MoveOn, 50501, and the AFL-CIO.
The Singham Network’s Long Shadow
What sets these protests apart from purely local dissent is the involvement of harder-left factions within the coalition. The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) — a Marxist-Leninist group with a Vermont chapter — actively promoted and participated in the rallies, often pushing “Socialist Contingents” and revolutionary messaging alongside the more moderate groups.
PSL and its allies (including the ANSWER Coalition and CodePink) are part of a documented funding ecosystem traced to Neville Roy Singham, the American tech billionaire now living in Shanghai who has poured hundreds of millions into global Marxist causes. Fox News Digital’s investigation into the “No Kings” protests highlighted how Singham-backed entities provided pre-printed materials, training toolkits, and mobilization infrastructure for the nationwide day of action.
While no public records show direct Singham grants flowing exclusively to Vermont chapters, the national infrastructure he funds (The People’s Forum, CodePink, PSL) explicitly coordinated with Indivisible and 50501 for March 28 events. PSL Vermont’s social media and joint actions with groups like Green Mountain DSA and Migrant Justice VT further illustrate how national ideological networks amplify local turnout.
Singham’s Shady Background and Funding Web
Neville Roy Singham’s own trajectory adds layers of scrutiny to the network influencing events like Vermont’s protests. Born in 1954 in Middletown, Connecticut, to a Sri Lankan-born Marxist academic father, Singham joined the League of Revolutionary Black Workers — a Maoist-influenced Black nationalist group — as a teenager. He worked on a Chrysler assembly line in Detroit, where the FBI flagged him in 1974 as “potentially dangerous” due to his background and activities. He earned a political science degree from Howard University before founding ThoughtWorks, a global IT consulting firm he sold to Apax Partners in 2017 for approximately $785 million.
That same year, Singham married Jodie Evans, co-founder of CodePink, in a Jamaica ceremony dubbed “Revolutionary Love” attended by leftist activists who later became key figures in his network. He relocated to Shanghai, where he has lived since, openly embracing socialist and Maoist ideas while directing his fortune into activism.
Since the sale, Singham has funneled an estimated $278 million to $591 million (per Fox News analysis of hundreds of transactions) through layered U.S. nonprofits and donor-advised funds — often using generic names and mailbox addresses — into roughly 2,000 organizations worldwide. Major recipients include the People’s Forum (over $20–28 million admitted), CodePink, PSL, and media outlets producing content aligned with Chinese Communist Party narratives. Critics describe the structure as a modern “united front” tactic echoing Mao Zedong’s playbook: seemingly independent groups coordinating messaging while obscuring origins. Singham has shared office space in Shanghai with pro-CCP media firms, attended party workshops, and seen his outlets amplified by Chinese state media.
Ongoing congressional probes by the House Ways and Means, Oversight, and Senate Judiciary Committees are examining potential Foreign Agents Registration Act violations, tax-exempt abuses, and foreign influence. While Singham and associates insist their work reflects personal convictions, the funding trails have drawn calls for greater scrutiny of how such resources shape U.S. protests — including the coordinated “No Kings” actions.
A Pattern in Vermont Politics
This is not the first time outside leftist money has influenced Vermont events. The state’s progressive reputation — home to Bernie Sanders and a strong anti-war, pro-Palestine activist scene — has long attracted national funding. Organizations like Indivisible and Singham-linked networks have repeatedly injected resources into Vermont protests on issues from ICE enforcement to foreign policy. Critics argue this creates an astroturf effect: genuine local frustration is professionalized, scaled up, and steered toward broader anti-capitalist or anti-imperialist goals.
League of Women Voters Vermont’s decision to join as a national partner, alongside openly revolutionary outfits, shows how mainstream civic groups are now rubbing shoulders with Singham-funded radicals in the same coalition. Vermont’s small size and tight-knit activist community make it especially susceptible: a few national grants or toolkits can dominate the messaging.
Vermonters have every right to protest. Yet when events in a small rural state align with a $3 billion national machine — including factions backed by a Mao-admiring billionaire in China — the purely “local” narrative requires scrutiny. This pattern of outside leftist influences professionalizes dissent in Vermont, blending genuine local voices with broader ideological agendas.
The full picture shows how national coalitions and foreign-tied funding streams help shape political events even in the Green Mountains. Vermonters and observers nationwide continue to debate whether this strengthens grassroots democracy or imports external priorities.