Agitator behind ‘Death to America’ chants in Chicago contributes to Iran state TV, Hezbollah-linked channel

Earlier this month, Anti-War Committee Chicago organizer Shabbir Rizvi was filmed teaching a group of 80 activists in Chicago to chant "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" in Farsi. Rivzi has a troubling background when it comes to his documented support for Iran and anti-Israel views.

The Free Press first broke the story about Rizvi’s chants that occurred during a breakout session of an event in which 300 activists countrywide gathered to plan protests to disrupt the Democratic National Convention in August. The crowd reportedly burst into applause hours later when another activist shared the news that the Islamic Republic of Iran had attacked Israel, launching more than 300 bomb-bearing Shahed drones and ballistic missiles into its airspace.

In the video shown by the Free Press, Rivzi said that "marg barg" could either mean "death to, or down with," while previously stating to laughter "depending on who's asking."

Before videos of Rizvi’s "Death to America" chant made their way around the internet, the self-professed anti-war activist was a regular contributor to Iran's Press TV and an outlet called Al Mayadeen. David Daoud, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, spoke to Fox News Digital about these outlets’ links to Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

"Press TV is a known Iranian mouthpiece," Daoud said, noting that its U.S. website was seized in June 2021 alongside 32 other sites by the U.S. Justice Department. He said it "targeted the United States with disinformation campaigns and malign influence operations."

Rizvi propelled this anti-Israel, anti-U.S. ideology while writing for Al Mayadeen on Jan. 19, explaining that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Hamas’