MAGA Influencer Leads 'Free Palestine' Event

A former leftist-turned-Donald Trump acolyte is co-hosting a "Free Palestine" event in a city home to one of the country's largest Arab American populations.

Pro-Palestinian protests continue around the U.S., stretching from coast to coast and including some of the nation's most prominent Ivy League institutions as backdrops for civil unrest. They've taken place on the campuses of Yale, California Berkeley, New York University, Rice University and Princeton, among others.

Columbia University, located in Manhattan, has garnered a plethora of attention the past week after protesters took over a portion of university grounds as part of a sit-in to protest aggression by Israel Defense Forces against women and children in Gaza.

Jackson Hinkle, 24, a self-described "American Conservative Marxist-Leninist" originally from California, will host the May 24 live show and presentation in Dearborn, Michigan. He will be joined by Haz Al-Din, a Marxist-Leninist and "MAGA Communist" based in Detroit who hosts the online program Infrared.

The listing for the event, which according to the co-hosts is already halfway sold out at $45 per ticket, says the pair will discuss "the most vital strategies for contributing to the cause of Palestinian liberation in America." The location of the venue is only being released to ticket buyers due to security concerns.

It's a traditionally different perspective on the war in Gaza when compared with other staunch Trump supporters, such as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene or activist Laura Loomer, both of whom have admonished Palestinian protesters while maintaining consistent support for Israel's efforts in the region.

"The United States government bears the greatest responsibility for aiding and enabling the actions of the genocidal Zionist entity," the event description states. "Without the aid of the US government, the Zionist occupation would easily collapse.

"But while claiming to represent the will of the American people, the government is occupied by an international monopoly cartel which in fact acts against the best interests of America itself. As Americans, before we can free Palestine, we must free America first!"

Newsweek reached out to Hinkle via email for comment.

Al-Din told Newsweek via phone that the event is a response not only to the ongoing conflict in Gaza but to the reactions of lawmakers who are further involving the U.S. in the war.

"We are all in solidarity with what's going on in Palestine. ... This is not being translated internally in America in a real way," Al-Din said. "We believe this demands a political solution internally as well. The U.S. is single-handedly the most culpable environment in enabling this Zionist society."

While he supports protests at places like Columbia, Al-Din said that broader issues are not being articulated politically—including understanding why the U.S. supports Israel. Al-Din and others of his ilk do not even recognize Israel by name, instead labeling it a "Zionist entity" that he said has committed unacceptable atrocities worthy of condemnation.

He also said that it's unclear if Trump would do anything differently than President Joe Biden if elected, saying there's no reason to feel optimistic that a different regime would enact actual change.

That has led to his alignment with Hinkle—as the two have become friendly over the years—in putting on the show next month.

"It's a show first and foremost," Al-Din said. "It's educating people and [discussing] serious matters, but we also want to lift people's spirits. Many of us are struggling to be able to cope with the news and see what's going on in Gaza. We want to provide a different outlet for dealing with the cognitive dissonance and this kind of inner turmoil because [people are] just baffled that the government not only turns a blind eye but directly enables [this behavior]."

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud has been vocal about saving Palestinian lives and tossing blame toward the Biden administration for aiding Israel's wartime policies.

The city, of which nearly half its 110,000-member population claims Arab ancestry, drew headlines during the Democratic Party primary when more of its voters supported an "uncommitted" ballot option instead of Biden.

The same strategy was employed in another swing state, Wisconsin, where thousands more didn't vote for Biden to voice support for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Who Is Jackson Hinkle?

Hinkle, who hosts the online show The Dive with Jackson Hinkle, has amassed a large following despite being booted off multiple major social media channels due to rhetoric that has broken rules. He has over 2.6 million X followers.

The supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been kicked off YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, PayPal and Venmo, according to The New York Times, due to publishing false or misleading content, promoting manipulated images and making antisemitic comments.

His frequent criticism of Israel that has been coined by watchdog groups as pushing extremism against Jews has actually bolstered his social profile, however.

Since the militant group Hamas attacked and killed over 1,100 Israelis on October 7, Hinkle's social media presence has drastically increased—something he described to the Times as a "godsend" due to the lax rules on X and owner Elon Musk not enforcing strict guidelines on what can and cannot be posted on the platform.

His daily X posts routinely mention "Zionism" and endear himself to Palestine, Hamas and Putin. His website sells "Zionist tears" coffee mugs.

Hinkle's views have dramatically shifted since he was in high school just six years ago, when he was a Bernie Sanders supporter and identified by some at the time as a "left-wing ideologue" interested in combatting climate change through associations with the Sierra Club.

His political ideology later adjusted, describing environmentalism as "anti-human" while supporting Trump.

Hinkle called himself an "American PATRIOT, GOD fearing, Pro-FAMILY, Marxist Leninist, Pro-PALESTINE, RUSSIA & CHINA, Anti-DEEP STATE, Anti-IMPERIALIST, Anti-WOKE, Pro-GROWTH, ANTI-MONOPOLY, Pro-GUN, Pro-FOSSIL FUEL" in an X post last year.

On Tuesday, Trump—who has called for Israel to bomb Gaza and swiftly conclude the conflict due to "losing the PR campaign"—said there was a larger police presence at his hush money criminal trial, also in Manhattan, when compared to law enforcement officials at schools like Columbia.

Update 04/23/24, 7:39 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Haz Al-Din.