A socialist activist running for the New York State Assembly was previously arrested at least twice at protests.
After embedding himself in New York City’s rowdy activist scene, Illapa Sairitupac is running in November for the Assembly’s 65th District, which covers Chinatown, Lower Manhattan, and other major areas. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed Sairitupac in May, and the candidate won the June 23 Democratic primary for his seat.
Police detained Sairitupac at a summer 2021 climate protest and in April at Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) office, according to past media interviews and posts from Sairitupac and the Democratic Socialists of America, of which he is a member.
Sairitupac’s campaign did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment. His cases do not appear in New York’s public court database.
“Last week, I was arrested while protesting Governor Hochul because she refuses to Tax the Rich and refuses to protect public services that working New Yorkers rely on — services that are being threatened by [President] Donald Trump’s cuts,” Sairitupac said in an April Bluesky post. “I won’t stop fighting.”
Nineteen people were arrested for occupying Hochul’s office during the protest, the DSA said.
Footage posted by the DSA showed Sairitupac in the building with a sign that read, “Governor Hochul: our lives or your donors?” as the crowd sang a protest song and chanted, “Billionaires, make them pay. We pay taxes. Why don’t they?”
“The time is now. The stakes are way too high to sit it out,” Sairitupac said to a camera while restrained by police outside the building. “We’ve got to be confronting this, fighting for immigrants, fighting for our queer members … Tax the rich!”
Sairitupac was one of several Mamdani-backed socialists to win June primaries amid an attempted party takeover by more radical Democrats. The trend prompted moderate Democrats to sign an open letter denouncing socialism in their party. Sairitupac also ran unsuccessfully for the same State Assembly seat in 2022.
“These leaders represent the very best of public service: a commitment to tackling challenges both large and small and a belief that government should work for everyone — not just the wealthy and well-connected,” Mamdani said in May while endorsing Sairitupac and other socialists.
Sairitupac’s DSA work took him to the People’s Forum building to speak at an event on socialism in 2023, the New York City DSA’s YouTube page shows. The People’s Forum has received funding from Chinese government-linked leftist donor Neville Singham, who is under a Department of Justice investigation over possible financial crimes.