Justice First is a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group which brands itself as an organization designed to promote affordable housing in D.C. Though it is ostensibly nonpartisan for tax reasons given its status as a 501(c)(3) organization, Justice First has extensive connections to the radical left-wing Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and the radical-left activist group ANSWER Coalition. It is associated with the Green New Deal movement.

Justice First lists two leadership staff members, Radikha Singh Miller and Eugene Puryear, on its website. ¹ Puryear was the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s 2016 candidate for Vice President of the United States, and both Miller and Puryear are listed as members by the party’s news outlet, Liberation News. ²

Activity

Justice First combines educational programs with left-wing advocacy, seeking to redistribute D.C. government funding from developing projects to new public housing projects. ³

Justice First conducts comprehensive training in far-left political advocacy for subsidized housing. ⁴ These include “demanding” that the D.C. Council commit $50 million to limited equity housing cooperatives and fighting private development initiatives in the District. ⁵

Justice First is committed to stopping real estate development in the D.C. area, launching a petition to stop development in Ward 8 which could lead to an economic boom. Sanford Capital, a development company, set to build two large towers surrounding the Congress Heights Metro transit station. One tower was designed to be used for office space, while the other would contain 200 housing units. ⁶ Justice First responded to these plans by organizing a tenant association to fight the development, arguing instead that the current tenants should partner with the local government, nonprofits, or corporations to become owners of the property to create a socialized cooperative of subsidized housing. ⁷

Justice First advocates for increasing government control of housing in the District, at the expense of business development. Clashing for a second time with Sanford Capital, Justice First demanded that the local government comply with their desires to transfer a building acquired from Sanford Capital to a non-profit housing development partner which would grant tenants cooperative ownership of the building, rather than putting it up for public auction. ⁸ Justice First frequently employs far-left, anti-market rhetoric, referring to all developers investing in low-income areas as “slumlords.” ⁹

People and Funding

Justice First is a small organization that files its annual tax return on the IRS’s “e-Postcard,” limiting public disclosure of the organization’s finances. ¹⁰ One identified funder of Justice First’s activities is the Benjamin Fund, a foundation headed by radical-left activist and Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin. ¹¹

Justice First tax records list Brian Becker as the organization’s principal officer. ¹² Becker is the National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition. ¹³ Becker is also one of the founders of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a left-wing party which alleges that “capitalism…is the source of the main problems confronting humanity today” which must be “replaced by socialism.” ¹⁴ The PSL exists far outside even the left-wing mainstream; it describes its ideology as “revolutionary Marxist.” ¹⁵ Becker co-hosts “Loud and Clear” on Sputnik Radio, a Russian government-funded outlet. ¹⁶

Justice First has further ties to radical-left movements including both ANSWER and the PSL. Sarah Sloan is also listed as a director of Justice First, as well as a founding member of the PSL and the national staff coordinator of ANSWER. ¹⁷¹⁸ Radhika Singh Miller, the director of advancement for Justice First, is a member of the PSL. ¹⁹²⁰

Eugene Puryear, the director of field operations, is a multiple-time political candidate and founding member of the PSL. ²¹²² Puryear was the PSL nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2008 and 2016; he also unsuccessfully stood for the Council of the District of Columbia as the nominee of the left-wing Statehood Green Party in 2014. ²³ Like Becker, he hosts a show on Russian government-funded Sputnik Radio, titled “By Any Means Necessary.” ²⁴

1. “About.” Justice First. Accessed September 11, 2019. https://www.justicefirst.org/about.
2. “Liberation News Bloggers.” Liberation News, May 17, 2017. https://www.liberationnews.org/blogs/.
3. “The State of Housing in D.C.” Justice First. Accessed September 9, 2019. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/justicefirst/pages/20/attachments/original/1425443800/The_State_of_Housing_in_DC.pdf?1425443800
4. “Justice First.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Form 990, 2010. Schedule O. https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2011/263/749/2011-263749211-08a30a8e-Z.pdf
5. “Support Limited Equity Housing Cooperatives.” Justice First. Accessed September 10, 2019. https://www.justicefirst.org/support_limited_equity_housing_cooperatives.
6. “Support Congress Heights Residents.” Justice First. Accessed September 10, 2019. https://www.justicefirst.org/support_congress_heights_residents.
7. “Stop Gentrification in Ward 8.” Justice First. Accessed September 10, 2019. https://www.justicefirst.org/stop_gentrification_ward_8.
8. “Transfer 3200 13th St. Now!” Justice First. Accessed September 10, 2019. https://www.justicefirst.org/3200petition.
9. “Transfer 3200 13th St. Now!” Justice First. Accessed September 10, 2019. https://www.justicefirst.org/3200petition.
10. Data retrieved from IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search for Justice First, EIN: 26-3749211 Washington, DC, United States. Queries conducted September 12, 2019.
11. Benjamin Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part XV Line 3
12. Data retrieved from IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search for Justice First, EIN: 26-3749211 Washington, DC, United States. Queries conducted September 12, 2019.
13. “Liberation News Bloggers.” Liberation News. Party for Socialism and Liberation, May 17, 2017. https://www.liberationnews.org/blogs/.
14. “About.” Liberation News, September 13, 2017. https://www.liberationnews.org/home-page/about/.
15. “PSL Home.” Party for Socialism and Liberation. Accessed September 12, 2019. https://www.pslweb.org/.
16. Kurzius, Rachel. “Russian-Funded News Station Replaces Bluegrass on 105.5 FM.” DCist. WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio, June 30, 2017. https://dcist.com/story/17/06/30/russian-funded-news-station-replace/.
17. “Justice First.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Form 990. 2010. Part Four. https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2011/263/749/2011-263749211-08a30a8e-Z.pdf
18. “Liberation News Bloggers.” Liberation News. Party for Socialism and Liberation, May 17, 2017. https://www.liberationnews.org/blogs/.
19. “Liberation News Bloggers.” Liberation News. Party for Socialism and Liberation, May 17, 2017. https://www.liberationnews.org/blogs/.
20. “About.” Justice First. Accessed September 10, 2019. https://www.justicefirst.org/about.
21. “Liberation News Bloggers.” Liberation News. Party for Socialism and Liberation, May 17, 2017. https://www.liberationnews.org/blogs/.
22. “About.” Justice First. Accessed September 10, 2019. https://www.justicefirst.org/about.
23. “Meet Eugene Puryear.” Gloria La Riva for President 2016. Accessed September 12, 2019. http://www.glorialariva4president.com/meet_eugene.
24. Kurzius, Rachel. “Russian-Funded News Station Replaces Bluegrass on 105.5 FM.” DCist. WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio, June 30, 2017. https://dcist.com/story/17/06/30/russian-funded-news-station-replace/.