A group within the Central Indiana chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is moving to censure Indianapolis City-County Councilor Jesse Brown and revoke the organization’s endorsement of him, according to a resolution set for a vote at the chapter’s monthly meeting Sunday.
Brown, who represents District 13, won his seat in 2023 with DSA’s backing, unseating a sitting council vice president. The resolution — authored by one chapter member and co-signed by roughly 18 others — accuses him of a pattern of conduct it says has damaged the organization. Several of its claims are supported by chapter records and by Brown’s own posts and messages reviewed by Indy Politics.
The dispute traces to a chapter split early this year. According to meeting minutes, the chapter’s then-leadership shut down its internal Slack workspace in January; Brown aligned with members who treated that move as illegitimate and voted to recall the leaders, who subsequently resigned. National DSA representatives were brought in.
In a January text exchange, Brown told a fellow member that if he did not speak out against the Slack shutdown, Brown would push for the member’s expulsion from Bread & Roses, the national DSA caucus to which both belong. The member called it blackmail; Brown replied that he “just didn’t want you to be surprised.” In a January Slack post, Brown backed a chapter member’s comments and urged fellow members to “Save the chapter. Defeat the old guard.”
Two months later, the chapter’s reconstituted steering committee issued Brown a cease-and-desist letter. The March 25 letter told him to stop public statements it characterized as disinformation, stated that he was “not a member in good standing” and “not authorized to speak on behalf” of the chapter, and instructed him to stop insinuating that the chapter had endorsed the Socialist Party of Indiana. It followed a March 18 post in which Brown described the party’s plan as carrying local endorsements.
If adopted, the resolution would censure Brown, warn that continued conduct could lead to suspension or expulsion, revoke the endorsement, and publish the matter on DSA’s national forums. The resolution contains additional allegations that Indy Politics has not independently verified.
Brown confirmed the resolution in a public Facebook post, calling the effort painful while saying he remains proud to be a DSA member. He described the claims as “a combination of lies and misunderstandings,” attributed them to internal conflict the chapter had not directly addressed, and said he would respect its decision.
The meeting is set for Sunday at noon.
This story will be updated.
