REVEALED: Seattle-based anti-cop Twitter account run by former ‘journalist’ for Chinese Communist Party

Justin Ward, the man behind the account, bragged on socials about working for The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

The outlet described Ward as “A journalist hailing from the United States. He graduated from the University of Texas in 2007 with a degree in sociology and freelanced for a few publications in Austin,TX before moving to China to witness the massive changes the country is undergoing in the 21st century. He is currently studying Chinese, living in Beijing, and working as an editor and columnist for the People's Daily Online English edition.”

Ironically, Ward is wearing a Cincinnati Reds t-shirt in his profile picture for the outlet.

On February 2, 2020, Ward tweeted praise for the Communist country that sends Uyghur Muslims to concentration camps writing, “I lived in China for eight years. I worked for state media. I had 15 days paid vacation and my health insurance covered 90 percent of medical costs with no premium or deductible, I had a free apartment. My female colleagues had like two months maternity leave guaranteed by law.”

His profile is filled with pro-communist messaging including phrases such as “Communism will win,” and “I wish either automated luxury communism would come around or extinction.”

He also wrote, “I’m a communist. I just don’t think Stalin’s model of implementing communism was good. Mao’s either.”

Ward asks in his profile for people to support his work for DivestSPD via Venmo.

He also has connections to the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center.

According to KIRO 7, “DivestSPD is an activist arm of the Seattle Democratic Socialists of America.”

In addition to anti-police rhetoric, Ward regularly posts personal details about Seattle police officers. He also criticizes anyone he deems to be in alignment with Republicans and anything he feels runs contrary to his far-left dogma.

Ward told Converge Media during the summer of 2020, when anti-cop civil unrest rocked the Emerald City on a regular basis, that his goal was to encourage divestment from the non-profit Seattle Police Foundation, which he called a “propaganda arm” of the Seattle Police Department.

Ward added that one of his methods is to “Name and Shame” organizations and companies that support the foundation. During the interview, Ward downplayed rioting and property destruction in the city.

Over the weekend, Ward came under fire for criticizing the “March To Take Back Our City,” a rally planned in response to the unprovoked fatal shooting of a pregnant woman in her car in broad daylight.

Ward criticized the event because the organizer is a Republican.

Even though, according to attendees of the event the makeup of the crowd was diverse, Ward claimed: “This seems like an opportunistic move that's part of a larger Republican strategy to woo Asian voters through a combination of grievance politics (see also that kid who didn't get accepted to Berkeley) and fear-mongering about crime and homelessness.”

Brandi Kruse, host of the UnDivided podcast, called out DivestSPD for the posts, writing on Twitter, “Imagine being so DEEPLY SICK that you criticize a march to honor a murdered pregnant woman because a Korean American who happens to be Republican organized it. Seattle – this is the sort of unhinged ideology that must be ignored if you want change. Sick sick sick.”