Inside 50501: From Reddit Uprising to Political Revolution

When five million Americans coordinated protests across 2,000 cities on October 18, 2025, many believed they were participating in a spontaneous grassroots uprising. The story of digital organizing, anonymous leadership, and decentralized coordination fit a compelling narrative about authentic resistance. But the 50501 Movement that organized those October protests was not the same movement that began on Reddit in January 2025. Between the grassroots origins and the massive mobilization, control shifted from an anonymous Reddit founder to two established political organizations: Political Revolution—a PAC created from Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign that fundraises through ActBlue and Voices of Florida, a reproductive rights nonprofit led by activist Sarah Parker. The transition was not smooth. According to archived posts from the movement's founder, it involved forced removal from leadership, trademark applications filed without consent, undisclosed fundraising, doxxing, and ultimately, a hostile takeover that transformed a volunteer movement into something institutionally controlled. Understanding what 50501 became requires examining how it started and what happened in between.