In 2019, one of the co-authors of the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) harassment policy wrote a retrospective where she discussed the failures of the very policy she helped create. She describes the cycle:
It happened again. A person in DSA (usually a man) abused another member (usually a woman). The member reported the abuse to someone in chapter leadership, or national leadership, or someone responsible for handling grievances. The grievance went nowhere, or resulted in a warning or short suspension. The abuser is still in DSA. The reporting member is not.
…
I am proud of what we tried to do with Resolution 33, but for every success story there are five about abusers using the process to retaliate.
Six years later, nothing has changed. A victim of felony assault by a DSA North Texas (NTX) member named Aaron Eduardo Alvarez contacted us after reading our report on FRSO’s sexual assault cover ups. What they described was the same cycle, playing out in a chapter whose leadership had never bothered to read their own organization’s grievance policy.
DSA’s History of Misconduct #
The retrospective was prompted by other cases:
Variations on this pattern have publicly played out twice in the last year. In September, I published an open letter from the member who was raped by former NPC [National Political Committee] member RL Stephens. They wrote this letter because the internal investigation into Stephens’ behavior went nowhere. In October 2017, a member of DSA-LA publicly shared that she had been stalked and harassed by Nathan Fisher, and that she had been further harassed for reporting it. This week, another DSA-LA member shared that Fisher had stalked and harassed her as well. Fisher is still a member of DSA, protected by members inside and outside of chapter leadership. Similar stories have quietly played out in DSA chapters across the country.
When Stephens’s abuses became public, he reneged on a promise to go through a restorative justice process and left the organization. He did the same when his behavior came to light in DC years ago. He will likely find other organizations, workplaces, relationships to exploit. Nothing has happened to the members that enabled, covered up, and made excuses for the abuse. Even worse, nothing happened to the system that allowed this all to go unaddressed for so long.
In 2021, members from East Bay DSA reported their experience with DSA’s broken grievance process, and in November 2019, members of the DSA chapter in Lawrence, Kansas made a website where they documented the failures of their chapter’s leadership in detail. One member of leadership they identify who worked to protect abusers is Hannah Allison-Natale, who was elected to the NPC in August 2019, and served until her term ended in August 2021.
The co-author of Resolution 33 argues that there needs to be serious analysis of how these cases came to be, so that the policy can be amended and refined to more effectively stop abuse in DSA:
We need to ask what the fail points were in each case. Did the victim feel they could report it, or not? If not, why? How can we change this so the next person (and there will always be a next person) doesn’t face the same hurdle? How do we address the next hurdle, and the next?
We need to ask how our spaces encourage abuse, and how we can work to change them to stop abuse before it happens.
We need to start listening to members about how Resolution 33 has failed them so we can prepare to change it (or replace it) at the 2019 National Convention. Stephens is gone, and hopefully Fisher will be gone soon, but that means nothing if the next abuser will be given the same free reign.
Since she wrote these words in 2019, the same policy is still in use. It was updated in 2025, but the core flaws remain the same, as can be demonstrated through the case in DSA NTX.
DSA NTX #
In late July 2025, Aaron Eduardo Alvarez, an active member of DSA NTX, assaulted the victim. He was booked on August 20th, 2025, and charged with assault of a family or household member by impeding breathing or circulation — a third-degree felony in Texas. A protective order was filed in September and was granted on October 27th, 2025. His mugshot, charge, and the protective order have been publicly available since. As of February 8th 2026, he was still in the DSA NTX discord server, with his mugshot as his profile picture.
The victim contacted Saya, a member of the DSA NTX steering committee, in August of 2025 to report the abuse. Saya told the victim that “unless any kind of altercation occurred during a DSA event, we are not able to do anything,” mirroring the procedural deflection that we’ve seen from FRSO and PYM Dallas.
Messages with Saya 8/4/25
8/4/25
pangelsaya 9:16 PM Do you know how long they are in inpatient?
victim 9:17 PM he got released today:(
pangelsaya 9:24 PM Have police been involved at all? Also do you mind if I share this information with the other cochair Brinda? In the event we have to act on something it will be easier for her to be up to speed. At this point though unfortunately, unless any kind of altercation occurred during a DSA event we are not able to do anything.
pangelsaya 9:31 PM I understand there will be an issue with you both attending DSA events at the same time. My suggestion would be to try and file a restraining order. Then he would have to stay away from you and we could enforce that at our meetings and such. I’m sorry this is happening to you. Feel free to message me here any time if you need help. My phone number is [redacted].
8/5/25
victim 12:16 AM Responding to “Have police been involved at all…” omg yeah they have thats the only way I got away safe
victim 12:17 AM Responding to “I’m sorry this is happening to you…” omg yeah i totally will, esp as a trans person going thru this its terrifying
victim 12:17 AM Responding to “we are not able to do anything.” wdym do anything, so is he j gonna be part of dsa lmfao idk he’s said he’s wanted to be violent on the protest of protecting people or wtv idk he was supposed to be my caretaker and he strangled me n I think my neck might have a broken bone, i havent been able to get checked cuz yk, i dont have anything rlly idk if i wanna be involved in an org that lets a person like this exist,,
Since then, the victim has brought up this issue several times to members and leadership of DSA NTX, with no action. The victim later raised the issue directly in an in-person conversation with Sean, a member of DSA NTX steering, including informing him that a protective order had been granted. According to the victim, Sean’s response was that it was safer to keep an abuser within the organization than to let him organize unsupervised. (1)Former Political Secretary and current Central Committee member of FRSO Steff Yorek made the same argument to protect FRSO member Dustin Ponder against accusations raised against him in 2014. The condition DSA had set for acting had been met, communicated to leadership, and disregarded.
The victim reached out to us on February 5th 2026. On February 8th 2026, Sean messaged the victim, stating: “Aaron came to our general meeting today. This caused steering to review the situation and we concluded it was previously improperly handled.” This wasn’t to notify the victim that Aaron was being banned, but to offer the victim the opportunity to file a grievance.
Messages with Sean 2/8/26
2/8/26
Sean 9:13 PM: Hey [victim’s name] - Aaron came to our general meeting today. This caused steering to review the situation and we concluded that it was previously improperly handled. Steering has reviewed national grievance policies and have decided you are well within your rights to file a grievance against Aaron and we encourage you to do so. This will allow us to conduct a proper investigation. If for any reason, you don’t want to file a grievance, then please send us evidence that Aaron is a danger to others and we can decide to take action against him irrespective of a grievance. But the best thing we think is to file a grievance. But it’s up to you. You can use our grievance email dsantxhgo@gmail.com. We are deeply sorry for not handling this properly earlier.
2/9/26
Victim 1:31 PM: what are we achieving by having members who do this to comrades. physical, violent, tangible harm is being done here. are we no better than the cops that we so heavily criticize to protect ingroups and apologist behavior. even if you want to claim that has not happened here (which ig say wtv you want), you did in fact admit to me at recycled that you knew of the situation (even though i only had told saya). who else knew up until this pt??? who knows now????? Aaron has had a violent assault charge against a family member since August. to now give me a half assed apology and send me through the “proper channels” is quite frankly baffling and insisting something will be done in this regard is extremely disrespectful. Where was this solution when i first told saya? Or you when i further reiterated what happened? you had my contact Ten days before you sent me this message. What are you trying to achieve with this genuinely?
Sean 4:30 PM: You are absolutely right to be angry at us. It was our initial understanding that we could not take action against someone for something that happened outside of a DSA space and we did not investigate to see if that understanding was correct until yesterday. That was a dereliction of our duty to you. And we are deeply sorry. The reason I knew about this is that I’m on the steering committee and it’s important that people on steering know about situations like this so we can collectively take action. But no one else but the 8 members of steering knows about this. Nor will we tell anyone, unless you decide to file a grievance in which case our grievance officers will know and conduct an investigation. We weren’t aware of the criminal charge against Aaron but I want you to know that we took the liberty of searching for the charge online, and found his mugshot and a description of his offense. We are using this as sufficient proof, and are moving right now to ban him from all DSA spaces- including meetings, events, our discord, and any signal chats run by DSA north Texas. But we still encourage you to file a grievance against this member so we can make sure there is full accountability. It’s important to go through the proper channels for this, as they are spelled out in DSA rules on grievances. Again, we sincerely regret not taking action on this sooner, it’s our fault. We hope we can regain your trust.
Sean 4:57 PM: I want to clarify as well. The ban is permanent. The only way it could be overturned is if national DSA did so and that is an unlikely event.
Sean 5:01 PM: Saya would also like to apologize to you personally, but only if you’re comfortable with her DMing you. No pressure at all.
Sean 7:13 PM: We did some more digging and we came to the conclusion that we can file a grievance on your behalf, because we know this individual is a threat to people in our chapter. Right now, he is banned from all DSA North Texas spaces. But in order to make sure that he is banned from DSA altogether, we need to file a grievance. We know our case would be stronger if we had your cooperation, so I hope you’d be willing to help us. We want to build the strongest case possible so that any attempt by Aaron to appeal to national would be unsuccessful. He is being informed of his ban and the upcoming grievance tonight. We of course will protect your anonymity in this matter. Please let me know as soon as you’re comfortable if you’re willing to help us make sure he doesn’t get anywhere near a DSA space again.
Sean admitted DSA NTX steering had never actually read the harassment policy’s provisions on scope: “It was our initial understanding that we could not take action against someone for something that happened outside a DSA space, and we did not investigate to see if that understanding was correct until yesterday.” Nineteen hours after Sean’s first message, steering had finally searched for Aaron’s name online, found the mugshot that had been publicly available since August, and determined it was sufficient to ban him.
Even after that, DSA NTX steering insisted on a formal grievance: “But in order to make sure that he is banned from DSA altogether, we need to file a grievance.” Sean assured the victim that “no one else but the 8 members of steering knows about this.” No doubt the rank and file of DSA NTX are also in the dark about their leadership’s gross negligence in this case.
Why does DSA NTX steering insist on this process, even after they’ve already determined they have enough evidence to ban Aaron? Under DSA’s harassment policy, grievances are handled confidentially by the local steering committee. The Harassment and Grievance Officers investigate and make a recommendation. Steering makes the final decision behind closed doors. The rank and file never see how their leadership handles abuse cases. (2)FRSO’s policy functions the same way, as do the policies of several organizations which have had cover up scandals.
Further, under DSA’s 2025 grievance policy, once a grievance is filed, the victim speaking publicly about the case - including through social media, publications, or organizing efforts - can be classified as “escalation of conflict” and treated as retaliation, triggering a separate complaint against them. (3)2025 Unified Grievance Policy, Section 9(a)(iv) and Section 10(3)(vi). The policy nominally states that “a complaining member will not be silenced,” but defines disclosure by anyone involved in the investigation, “including the complaining member,” as potential retaliation if it results in escalation.
The confidentially and retaliation provisions were not in the original 2017 (TODO: year?) version of Resolution 33. [explain history, HGO consultant who was getting paid a ton, etc]
The co-author of DSA’s original harassment policy argued against the confidentiality and retaliation provisions.
The formal process Sean was pushing the victim into would not just shield steering from scrutiny — it would create organizational consequences for the victim seeking accountability outside the institution.
DSA NTX Steering’s offer to file a formal grievance wouldn’t serve the victim. It would allow DSA NTX to resolve this quietly, shielding steering from accountability for months of inaction. And it would mean the same leadership that didn’t know their own harassment policy existed retains final say over the next case.
Denton Anti-ICE Coalition and FRSO #
DSA NTX steering’s handling of the victim’s case was not isolated. On February 3rd 2026, the Denton Student Union (DSU) publicly stated that DSA NTX, as part of the Denton Anti-ICE Coalition, had been pushing coalition partners to collaborate with FRSO, whose history of covering up abuse is documented extensively on this site, and FRSO’s front group NAARPR Dallas for a protest. The DSU statement notes: “DSA North Texas has been notified of the evidence of abuse and has brushed it off, saying that sexual abuse happens in a lot of groups.” DSA Denton and UNT YDSA withdrew from the event after learning about FRSO’s record. DSA NTX did not.
DSU Statement against DSA NTX and Revolutionary Front
Yesterday, 2/2/2026, Denton Student Union received an invitation by a higher-up in the Denton Anti-ICE coalition, who is also a member of the DSA caucus “Revolutionary Front,” to join in their scheduled protest for February 8th, next Sunday. We noticed that among the organizations hosting this event were Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and the Dallas chapter of its front organization, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR). This information was alarming to our membership, since we have contacts that have left FRSO for its political opportunism, chauvinistic behavior, and its systematic cover-up of abuse in the organization.
We carefully discussed and drafted a response to Denton Anti-ICE Coalition’s invitation. We emphasized that we could not abide by unity with an organization whose entire structure, both locally and nationally, had engaged in the defense of grotesque bourgeois rape and abuse culture and the co-opting of people’s movements. We also shared a link to the website frso-accountability.org, which is a collective effort to document the abusive behaviors and tactics used to justify and protect abuse in the organization, and chronicle the efforts of our comrades before their exit of the organization.
Our friends and comrades left Freedom Road because of the various unprincipled political lines they struggled against. They left because of the verbal abuses they faced. They left because the organization, from its National Political Secretary Mick Kelly, all the way down to local leadership like Rick Majumdar, engaged in the justification & cover-up of sexual and emotional abuse, instead asking members to remember the “contributions” of abusers.
At 3:15 p.m. yesterday, we learned that Denton Anti-ICE coalition had gone ahead in announcing & promoting the event, despite our criticism and plentiful evidence of the systematic cover-up of sexual abuse. Immediately, we asked the “Revolutionary Front” representatives if there had been collective discussion, and expressed our disappointment at the turn of events. There has been no response up to now.
We additionally tried reaching out to other groups in DAIC. We reached out to contacts in student groups and community groups that were a part of the coalition including Denton DSA and UNT YDSA, asking if they had received the information on the cover-ups and if they had collectively discussed the decision before moving to collaborate with FRSO. They informed us that no information was passed on to them and were appalled when they heard about the events that occurred with FRSO. The leadership of “Revolutionary Front” knew about the allegations and neglected to share them with the members of their coalition, leading them to potentially work with and be exposed to abusers and their associates. The enabling of abusers by a so-called “revolutionary” organization slanders the good name of revolutionary mass activism in and slanders the names of the masses who fought and died in the struggle against patriarchal violence and corrupt class society.
DSA North Texas, a group in Denton Anti-ICE Coalition, has been notified of the evidence of abuse and has brushed it off, saying that sexual abuse happens in a lot of groups. There has come no public statement from DSA North Texas, or independent action in taking down the posts. The so-called “progressives” that lead the organization have placed themselves directly on the side of patriarchal sexual abuse. They have done it for the sake of benefiting their own organization at the expense of the masses and the movement. This is a stain on DSA North Texas that it must self-criticize and rectify for. Otherwise, the masses must see it as a part of the system which we must fight against.
As of now, Denton DSA and UNT YDSA have retracted their posts in support of the protest with FRSO. They have chosen the principled line in not collaborating with Freedom Road. We fully support their decision to back out of the protest after learning about what FRSO did to former members and victims of sexual assault, and we commend them in making the difficult choice of separating themselves from such a harmful organization. They have upheld a struggle that many choose to avoid. However DSA Denton, in its role in the Denton Anti-ICE Coalition, has refused to take any action or make a public statement. Such inaction demonstrates an unwillingness to rectify abuses and errors, an unwillingness that leads to the perpetuation of abuse. The broader coalition has also yet to address the issue, but this will hopefully change in the next couple days as more member organizations are notified and take action.
The masses must know when activists and community members are being abused, misled, and silenced. While some organizations may decry public condemnation as “inflammatory” or “infighting”, we firmly deny this notion. Building community defense against the fascist onslaught requires principled, democratic, and vigilant organizational standards. We will NOT unite with Chauvinists and opportunists!
NO ABUSE IN OUR MOVEMENT! SAY NO TO FRSO!
The Denton Anti-ICE Coalition posted a response on February 4th 2026, where they framed FRSO’s cover-ups as “internal contradictions” that were not the coalition’s place to resolve, and to argue that the threat of fascism required unity above all else. The protest proceeded without FRSO or the Denton groups.
DAIC Statement
A STATEMENT ON DAIC PRINCIPLES
Our organization exists to make ICE’s job harder in Denton County. Everything we do is aligned to this purpose: protect the people who live and work here.
We come from different backgrounds, organizations, ideologies, and institutions, but we are all united in this one goal.
Points of unity that guide DAIC actions:
Anti-Bigotry: Bigotry of any kind only serves to divide working people. Any action against state power must unite all sectors of the working class and all oppressed groups.
Need For Community: Social change is never going to come through individual acts and will be achieved solely through the organized community of workers, immigrants, and every other oppressed group.
“No one is illegal on stolen land.” The United States is a country built on stolen land. Therefore, it is hypocritical for this country to say that anyone entering this country is “illegal.”
Human Dignity: We believe that every human deserves dignity and we will fight for this right for all people.
Because of that last belief, we have not and will not tolerate any malpractice in our organization including sexual misconduct or cover-up of misconduct. We expect all of our partners to respect human dignity within their organizations, and we are always trying to partner with organizations who share our tenets, values, and mission. Still, we recognize that organizations have internal contradictions, and as a coalition, we do not feel it is our place to resolve them.
At a time when fascism in the US is on the rise, we must unify our community and the organizations who will fight against fascist violence.
Our priority remains the communities who are affected by ICE, and we realize that organizations are the only vehicles through which those communities are able to struggle against injustice.
We are sitting on the precipice of total fascism; the stakes could not be higher. We need a radical level of collaboration to stop the illegal harassment, home invasion, kidnapping, and murder happening in our communities.
The ruling class is united on this issue, we too must be united.
“The great battles are drawing closer; battles which will perhaps be more bloody and harder than those of previous years. With that in mind, all the energy of our leaders will be needed, the best form of organization and concentration of the party’s mass, a great spirit of initiative and a great rapidity of response.”
— Gramsci, “Against Pessimism”
This was happening at the same time DSA NTX steering was sitting on the victim’s case. An organization that dismisses another group’s sexual assault cover-ups as something that “happens in a lot of groups” is telling you exactly how it handles abuse in its own ranks. The victim’s experience confirms it.
What Needs to Change #
1. DSA NTX Steering Should Resign #
DSA NTX steering has demonstrated at every stage that it is not capable of handling the responsibilities it holds. Leadership admitted they believed the harassment policy didn’t cover conduct outside DSA spaces and never checked, meaning they were handling abuse cases without having read the most basic provisions of the policy they were responsible for enforcing. They told a victim of a felony assault that nothing could be done. They were informed a protective order had been granted and still defended keeping the perpetrator in the organization. When they finally acted months too late, their first instinct was to pull the victim into a confidential process that would shield steering from scrutiny.
These are the people responsible for adjudicating future grievances.
They should resign and allow DSA NTX members to elect leadership that takes member safety seriously.
2. DSA National Should Investigate #
DSA national bears responsibility as well. The policy requires annual grievance reporting from chapters. The National Grievance Program exists to ensure chapter compliance. Either national’s oversight mechanisms failed to identify a non-compliant chapter, or they identified it and didn’t act. DSA national should investigate how this failure occurred, the cases in other chapters mentioned above, and what other chapters may be operating with the same gaps. The results of these investigations should be shared publicly.National has investigated DSA NTX before. In February 2021, the AfroSocialist and Socialists of Color Caucus issued a statement after DSA NTX co-chairs unilaterally suspended a Black woman member for posting proposals in the chapter Slack, claiming a bylaw violation that their own secretary confirmed was not one. The caucus noted that the chapter was under investigation by national leadership at the time. The results do not appear to have been made public.
3. DSA Members Should Amend the Policy #
Finally, DSA members across the organization should understand the structural limitations of the current grievance framework. Cases are handled confidentially, behind closed doors, by steering committees with no accountability to the broader membership. The co-author of the original harassment policy warned against these provisions at the 2021 convention. Until DSA builds accountability mechanisms that don’t depend on having the right people in charge - which this case proves cannot be assumed - these failures will continue. While in the case of FRSO we recommended members leave due to the lack of internal democracy, DSA members have a convention process available to them to push for transparency and structural reform. Use it.
4. DSA Chapters Should Refuse to Collaborate with Organizations that Cover Up Abuse #
DSA Denton and UNT YDSA took a principled stand when they withdrew from the Denton Anti-ICE Coalition after learning about FRSO’s documented history of covering up sexual assault. DSA Fort Worth recently put out a public statement condemning FRSO and unifying with our demands.
DSA NTX, other DSA chapters, and organizations in general should follow the lead of Denton, UNT YDSA, and Fort Worth. Organizations that cover up sexual assault - whether FRSO and their front groups (4)Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), Legalization 4 All Network (L4A), Anti-War Action Network (AWAN) , or any other group - should not be treated as legitimate coalition partners. The same applies to organizations that are aware of such cover-ups and choose to collaborate anyway. The health of the movement depends on the willingness of organizers to draw these lines.