Durham man sentenced in anti-Israel protest flag burning
Michael Snow, Jr. has ties to the Party for Socialism and Liberation
A man from Durham has been sentenced for his role in an anti-Israel riot that took place on July 24, 2024, near Union Station in Washington, D.C. last year.
Michael Snow, Jr., age 25, was arrested for theft and destruction of federal property; specifically an American flag, which he doused with lighter fluid and set on fire as a crowd chanted “Burn that sh--.”
Yes, you read that correctly; someone brought charcoal lighter fluid with them to a protest.
Snow entered into a plea deal. He pleaded guilty in February 2025 to destruction of government property valued at less than $1,000, per the DOJ. He has been sentenced to 40 hours of community service, and to pay $525 in restitution.
Snow's sentence is light due to his being a first time offender and ending "marijuana use" during the legal proceedings. The potential penalty listed in the plea agreement, made him eligible for up to a year in prison and $100,000 fine.
The National Park Service estimated the cost of cleaning up after the anti-Israel rioters as well as repair to statues, flags, and structures at $11,282.
The sentencing memorandum submitted by his public defender lawyer says Snow is a "literal Eagle Scout" and an East Carolina University graduate.
"Mr. Snow is not alone in feeling empathy towards the people of Palestine,
particularly the civilians and children who have suffered because of the Israeli
government’s actions in prosecuting the war. For him, burning the flag was a symbolic gesture against the American government."
The sentencing memorandum also tries to make the case that the judge should go easy on Snow and treat him like a juvenile because his brain isn't fully developed yet.
The most cringe-inducing part of the memorandum is the January 6 pardon comparison on page 6.
The DOJ press release says open-source video and surveillance video helped them identify and catch Snow. Also, the release says a user on X posted pictures of the flag burning and "As a result, law enforcement located a driver’s license photograph of Snow."
Snow was also identified in video and photographs of the riot through his “PSLCarolinas” t-shirt, which the criminal complaint describes as a "Carolina-based offshoot" of an organization called “Party for Socialism and Liberation.”
A photo posted on X of a May 5, 2024, of Snow holding a PSL banner was also mentioned with regard to how authorities tracked him down.
The complaint against Snow also shows two other individuals wanted for destruction of property and assault of federal officers.
Case documents:
More To The Story
Snow, based on his attire and protest activities is clearly a member of Triangle PSL.
A point of interest related to the flag burning charges was Snow's Inclusion in Asra Q. Nomani's March 5 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee covering the increasing antisemitism across the United States.
Other members of PSL have also been involved in criminal activity, like Lillian House and Joel Northam, who had been charged with multiple felonies including kidnapping and inciting a riot in connection with a protest in Aurora, Colorado.
The PSL itself is among half a dozen groups slapped with a lawsuit for conspiring and orchestrating a traffic blockade during protests in Washington, D.C. last year.
There is also ample evidence online on various social media platforms that the PSL has been involved in every major anti-Israel protest since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) was founded in 2004 and is headed up by Gloria La Riva, who ran for president in 2020. PSL allegedly got on the ballot in 15 states that year, per La Riva's campaign website.
Just a cursory web search of PSL's positions show the organization and its followers are fans of Mao Zedong's deadly "revolution," that murdered upwards of 80 million people, as well as being big fans of Vladimir Lenin.
The PSL's homepage has been archived. One can visit the archive without having to go to PSL's actual website. To say this group is far-left is an understatement.
Chapters in North Carolina include Charlotte, the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) and "Western NC." The "Western NC" chapter also has a public Facebook page.
It’s unclear who or what funds the PSL, as it is not a registered non-profit of any type. The PSL funding page asks for public donations and notes that donations are not tax deductible.
The PSL's "program" has two parts: The struggle for socialism and a revolutionary socialist government. The entire thing should be read, but here are some of the highlights.
"The Party for Socialism and Liberation exists to carry out the struggle for socialism inside the United States, the center of world capitalism and imperialism,” the programs section states. “The PSL stands in solidarity with working-class and oppressed people around the world who are resisting capitalist exploitation and imperialist domination."
A subsection described "21 Century Imperialism.”
"As Marxists in the United States, our starting point is an assessment of the world situation, of the struggle between the classes on an international scale,” per the section on 21st Century Imperialism. “Only by taking the international situation as the point of departure is it possible for our strategy and tactics to conform to the needs of the working class and oppressed peoples worldwide. Nowhere is this approach more critically important than in the United States, the most powerful imperialist country in the world today."
"The right of revolution" subsection details how the” present form of government is destructive of the rights of the great majority. It is not a government “of, by and for the people.” The existing government and state — the military, police, intelligence agencies, courts, prisons, bureaucracy and so on — defend the interests of the capitalist class.”
That same section later goes on to say "For the people and planet to live, capitalism must go,” and calls for a “socialist revolution.” In the same paragraph, the PSL says it “participates in the labor, anti-war, anti-racist, immigrant rights, women’s, lesbian/gay/bi/transgender/queer, environmental, student and other movements.”
Under the section titled, "Part two: A Revolutionary Socialist Government," is essentially the societal destruction blueprint in Ayn Rand's world best seller, Atlas Shrugged, sans the department monitoring speech, the State Science Institute. But that kind of censorship and termination of free speech can and will eventually come under PSL's proposed government, just as it has every time socialism has been attempted throughout history.