Jamie Metzl, a longtime Democrat who previously served in the White House National Security Council, State Department and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is escalating his criticism of the Democratic Socialists of America and the party’s nominee in New York’s 13th Congressional District.
Metzl said Monday that he now considers the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA, “ultimately an anti-American hate group,” pointing to the public record of DSA-backed congressional nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier.
His statement represents one of the sharper attacks on the socialist organization to come not from Republicans, but from a Democrat with previous service in Democratic administrations and on Capitol Hill.
Metzl wrote:
“I have been a Democrat all my life.”
He said healthy political parties should “believe in America” and seek to live up to the country’s democratic ideals.
He then added:
“That is why it gives me no pleasure to say that I believe the DSA is ultimately an anti-American hate group.”
Metzl’s original post:
Jamie Metzl on X
It is important to distinguish the allegation from an official designation: “anti-American hate group” is Metzl’s political characterization of DSA, not a government classification.
DSA describes itself as a democratic socialist, member-run organization seeking greater working-class control of the economy and government.
Who Is Darializa Avila Chevalier?
Avila Chevalier is the Democratic nominee for New York’s 13th Congressional District after defeating longtime incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the June 23 Democratic primary.
The district includes large portions of Upper Manhattan — including Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood — as well as sections of the Bronx.
She received support from NYC-DSA, Justice Democrats and Mayor Zohran Mamdani during the primary.
DSA itself described Avila Chevalier as “NYC-DSA’s candidate for Congress in NY-13” before the election.
In its own interview with the candidate, Avila Chevalier praised DSA’s organizational model and said the organization creates a bridge between grassroots organizing and electoral power.
She also said she had spent nearly a year leading field canvasses for Mamdani before running for Congress.
Reuters described her primary victory as part of Mamdani’s broader effort to expand democratic socialist influence within the Democratic Party.
Metzl’s Petition Targets Her Past Record
Metzl has also created a Change.org petition titled:
“Stand Up for American Values: Oppose Darializa Avila Chevalier for Congress”
The petition calls on Democratic Party leaders and elected officials to condemn a series of past statements attributed to Avila Chevalier and actively oppose her election.
The petition:
Stand Up for American Values — Change.org
Among the statements and actions catalogued by Metzl’s petition are social-media posts from 2019 through 2022 concerning socialism, policing, national borders, Israel and American institutions.
The petition says Avila Chevalier posted “Seize the means of production” in 2019.
It also cites a 2020 post in which she advocated completely ending policing, rather than merely reducing police budgets.
Other entries cited by the petition include:
- a repost calling for nationalization of utilities, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies;
- support for suspending rents and mortgages during the COVID crisis;
- a repost advocating seizure of property from landlords;
- statements calling for abolition of police and national borders;
- a repost saying that Israel did not exist;
- social-media commentary sympathetic to communist and revolutionary political figures;
- participation in a pro-Palestinian demonstration on October 8, 2023, one day after the Hamas attacks on Israel;
- her involvement with Columbia University Apartheid Divest, or CUAD.
The petition argues that the totality of this record demonstrates hostility toward American institutions and democratic values.
That conclusion is Metzl’s interpretation of the material.
Some of the Controversial Posts Have Been Independently Reported
The existence of controversial previous posts is not based solely on Metzl’s petition.
Reuters reported during the congressional primary that Avila Chevalier had previously promoted positions including abolishing police and border controls and had posted comments raising questions about Israel’s right to exist.
Reuters also reported that she had since deleted past social-media posts and apologized for some of her language.
The controversy became significant during her primary campaign against Espaillat.
Espaillat called her previous positions extreme and argued that she could not simply dismiss them as old statements.
At the same time, Avila Chevalier has indicated that some of those earlier comments no longer reflect how she expresses her political views today.
Avila Chevalier Has Pushed Back Against Some Accusations
Avila Chevalier’s critics have also focused heavily on her pro-Palestinian activism.
One particularly contentious issue involved her attendance at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Times Square on October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Critics accused her of participating in a demonstration that appeared insensitive to the Israeli victims of the attack.
Avila Chevalier rejected the suggestion that she celebrated Israeli deaths.
She told The Guardian that she “would never celebrate the death of any human being” and said she attended because she expected Israel’s response to cause large numbers of Palestinian casualties.
She has also said that she regrets some earlier social-media language and has matured politically since those posts were written.
That response is important because the political dispute involves not simply whether old statements existed, but how voters should interpret them today.
DSA Openly Supports Her
There is little ambiguity about Avila Chevalier’s relationship with DSA.
The organization openly backed her congressional campaign.
DSA’s own publication identified her as its NY-13 candidate and presented her as part of its broader 2026 electoral strategy.
In that interview, Avila Chevalier described DSA in strongly positive terms and argued that it helps build both grassroots and electoral political power.
She has campaigned on policies including Medicare for All, stronger tenant protections, abolition of ICE, restrictions on large political action committees and a larger government role in housing and social programs.
Her primary victory demonstrated that these ideas have a significant constituency in parts of New York City.
A Deeper Democratic Party Fight
Metzl’s intervention is important because it illustrates a growing conflict inside the Democratic coalition.
Avila Chevalier did not merely run as a protest candidate.
She defeated five-term Congressman Adriano Espaillat, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Her victory was one of several major primary wins by candidates aligned with Mamdani and the democratic socialist movement.
Reuters reported that the results have raised concerns among some centrist Democrats that victories by democratic socialists in overwhelmingly Democratic New York districts could influence perceptions of the party nationally.
Former Democratic Congressman Steve Israel warned against assuming that the politics succeeding in strongly Democratic New York districts represent the political center of the Democratic electorate nationally.
Progressive strategists take the opposite lesson.
They argue that Democratic voters are dissatisfied with established politicians and increasingly support candidates prepared to confront corporations, wealthy donors and existing political institutions.
That disagreement is becoming one of the defining debates inside the Democratic Party.
Metzl Wants Democratic Leaders to Take a Side
Metzl’s petition goes beyond criticizing Avila Chevalier.
It specifically calls on Democratic leaders to condemn her past statements and oppose her election.
The petition identifies House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries among the political figures it seeks to pressure.
As of August 18, the Change.org page displayed more than 7,600 verified signatures.
Metzl argues that political disagreement alone is not the issue.
His case is that Avila Chevalier’s accumulated public record crosses a line between progressive policy differences and hostility toward fundamental American democratic values.
Supporters of Avila Chevalier reject that interpretation and instead portray her victory as evidence that voters want a more confrontational, economically populist and pro-Palestinian Democratic Party.
Is DSA a “Hate Group”?
That is ultimately a political judgment, not an established legal fact.
There is no basis in the sources reviewed by Midtown Tribune to describe the Democratic Socialists of America as a government-designated hate organization.
Metzl is making an argument, using Avila Chevalier’s record as evidence for his broader conclusion about DSA.
The underlying facts that can be examined separately include:
- DSA officially backed Avila Chevalier;
- she defeated Adriano Espaillat and is now the Democratic nominee in NY-13;
- multiple controversial historical social-media posts attributed to her have been publicly reported;
- Reuters reported that some included calls to abolish policing and borders and questions concerning Israel’s existence;
- she has deleted some old posts and apologized for some of her previous language;
- she continues to campaign on an explicitly democratic socialist and strongly progressive platform.
Whether that record justifies Metzl’s characterization of DSA is a conclusion voters and Democratic leaders will have to make for themselves.
Why This Matters Beyond NY-13
New York’s 13th District strongly favors Democrats, but the controversy surrounding Avila Chevalier has implications well beyond Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.
Mayor Mamdani’s allies have demonstrated that democratic socialist candidates can defeat powerful Democratic incumbents in New York.
The next question is whether this movement remains concentrated in deep-blue urban districts — or becomes a broader ideological force inside the national Democratic Party.
Metzl, despite his lifelong Democratic affiliation, is now publicly arguing that his own party should draw a line.
Avila Chevalier and her supporters are arguing almost exactly the opposite:
that Democratic voters are demanding fundamental political change and that the party establishment must adapt.
The fight over NY-13 is therefore no longer simply about one congressional seat.
It has become part of a larger argument over what the Democratic Party is becoming.
What Is Confirmed
- Darializa Avila Chevalier won the Democratic primary in NY-13 and is the party’s nominee.
- NYC-DSA officially backed her campaign.
- Zohran Mamdani backed her campaign.
- Jamie Metzl created a petition calling on Democratic leaders to oppose her election.
- Metzl publicly characterized DSA as an “anti-American hate group.”
- His petition lists numerous historical posts attributed to Avila Chevalier.
- Reuters independently reported controversies involving past posts advocating abolition of police and borders and questioning Israel’s existence.
- Reuters reported that Avila Chevalier deleted previous posts and apologized for some of her language.
- Avila Chevalier has rejected accusations that she celebrated the October 7 killings and has said she would never celebrate human deaths.
What Is Opinion or Political Interpretation
- That DSA is an “anti-American hate group.”
- That Avila Chevalier is hostile to America or American democracy.
- That her earlier social-media statements necessarily represent every position she holds today.
- That her election would harm or strengthen the Democratic Party nationally.
Those are political judgments rather than independently established facts.
Sources and Documents
Jamie Metzl — original statement on X
https://x.com/JamieMetzl/status/2089424133717127567
Jamie Metzl — Change.org petition
https://www.change.org/p/stand-up-for-american-values-oppose-darializa-avila-chevalier-for-congress
Democratic Socialists of America — interview with Darializa Avila Chevalier
https://democraticleft.dsausa.org/2026/06/18/darializa-avila-chevalier-is-building-people-power-in-harlem-for-congress/
DSA — official organization website
https://www.dsausa.org/
Reuters — Mamdani-backed candidates and Democratic Party divisions
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-york-mayor-mamdani-endorsements-test-democrats-appetite-far-left-candidates-2026-06-23/
The Guardian — profile and Avila Chevalier response to criticism
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/24/darializa-avila-chevalier-win-new-york
Justice Democrats — Darializa Avila Chevalier, NY-13
https://justicedemocrats.com/candidate/darializa-avila-chevalier/
Sources and Documents
- Jamie Metzl — Statement on DSA and Darializa Avila Chevalier
- Jamie Metzl — Stand Up for American Values Petition
- Democratic Socialists of America — Darializa Avila Chevalier Is Building People Power in Harlem
- Democratic Socialists of America — Official Website
- Reuters — Mamdani-Backed Democratic Socialist Victories and Democratic Party Divisions
- The Guardian — Darializa Avila Chevalier Profile and Responses to Criticism
- Justice Democrats — Darializa Avila Chevalier, NY-13
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