Colorado Springs Socialists

The CSS was initially founded as a Marxist reading group in the Autumn of 2016, before developing into a formal political organization in 2017. By late 2018, the group exceeded 100 members,^{[citation needed]} operating on two university campuses and in the city of Pueblo, Colorado.^[1] In January 2020 the group announced on their Facebook page that they would be dissolving and merging into the DSA Communist Caucus.^[2]

The CSS was an organization that holds the position that capitalism must be abolished and replaced with a socialist based political and economic structure. The organization took a non-tendency position on Marxism and Socialism, accepting Democratic Socialists, Anarchists, Libertarian socialists, Left Communists, Maoists and Trotskyists.^[1] The CSS was involved in a project called the Marxist Center, an attempt to unite other non-tendency revolutionary socialist organizations across the United States into "the first nation-wide, non-tendency Marxist organization."^[3]

In March 2017, four members of the CSS were arrested during "March Against Imperialism" protest in downtown Colorado Springs, on charges of obstructing traffic ways, a misdemeanor crime in Colorado.^[4][5] The CSS referred to these arrests as the "Trial of the Socialist Six", alleging The Colorado Springs Police Department took part in outrageous conduct, endangering of protesters,^[6] and frequently participating in arbitrary arrests.^[7] On August 2, 2017 Colorado Springs Independent writer Nat Stein uncovered body-camera footage of Colorado Springs officers discussing the infiltration of the organization.^[8] The Colorado Springs Police Force placed two undercover officers, under the aliases of "Mark" and "Amy", into the CSS as part of a surveillance of the organization.^[9]