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Provisional Party of Communists

The Provisional Party of Communists was a group that was founded on Long Island, New York, in 1972 by Gerald William Doeden. The original agenda of the group was armed revolution, but this idealism spiraled downward, eventually leading to the arrest of several of its surviving members in 1996 when it was referred to as a group of “political Moonies”. Former members of the group claim that at one time it had a military wing trained in guerrilla tactics. The group recruited young followers by offering what it claimed was progressive volunteer opportunities and then used cult brainwashing techniques to “turn them into soldiers for a revolution aimed at overthrowing the United States government”.

Doeden claimed his name was Gino Parente-Ramos and said that he was Mexican, hoping that his false identity would attract support from certain groups and individuals. He was actually of Norwegian descent and a native of Minnesota. The group headquarters was raided in 1984 after the FBI received a tip that it was about to launch an armed revolution against the government. However, only a few guns were found, and no charges resulted from the raid.

This was not the first raid on a Parente-Ramos enterprise. Before locating in New York, he ran The Little Red Bookstore in San Francisco from which he sent threatening letters to local officials. Using the name the Liberation Army Organization (LARGO), he claimed that armed guerrilla groups were about to launch attacks on public buildings. No charges were brought following the raid on the bookstore and the investigation of LARGO.

The Provisional Party of Communists used a number of front names and organizations including the Women’s Press Collective. Recruiting literature claimed the Collective offered an opportunity to write “progressive things for our newsletters”. Irene Davidson and her 18-year-old daughter signed up after visiting a table set up at a festival in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Unfortunately, she did not become suspicious when the recruiters provided vague answers to most of her questions. The daughter moved into the cult’s headquarters where she was subjected to long lectures on everything from American politics to the Russian revolution and slogans such as “Just Do As You’re Told.” The daughter became depressed and quit the group after she had been shipped to a small field office in upstate New York.

A Catholic church official became associated with another of the front groups, the Eastern Farm Workers, in the early 1980s believing that he would be helping collect clothing and other donated items and money for farm workers. However, when he arrived at the Eastern Farm Workers office, he was handed a manifesto that said the group's objective was to overthrow the U.S. government.

The Provisional Party of Communists came to the attention of authorities again in 1996, the year after Parente-Ramos died. Police raided their Brooklyn headquarters and found 17 handguns, five shotguns, one airgun, blackjacks, and knives. They also found dummy grenades, five pounds of black powder, three bulletproof vests, handcuffs, holsters, false identity documents, and $42,000 in cash. Three people were charged with criminal weapons possession, and another 35 members were subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury as a result of the raid.