I found this wikipedia alternative possibly containing his (admittedly unverified) early life. Here it is as follows.

International Socialist Upbringing

Thaddeus Russell was born and raised in Berkeley, California; he lived about three blocks away from the Black Panthers' national headquarters. His parents were part of the International Socialists (IS). By joining this Trotskyist organization, they left their middle-class lives to work in the heavy industry to organize the proletariat to join for revolution. Thaddeus Russell's father heavily influenced his childhood from an ideological perspective. While working as a computer programmer, he organized a union at the Northern California headquarters of the National Forest Service. He met Russell's mother at a Young People's Socialist League meeting. Thaddeus was conceived a year later while on their tour of Europe visiting comrades in London and Paris. His mother became a clerical worker at UC Berkeley to organize the secretaries and bring about a communist revolution. His stepfather left his world to become a steelworker and a truck driver for Safeway. The couple would host meetings at their house where they would discuss Marxist theory and the union shops they should infiltrate.

According to Russell's mother, he wanted to be in the IS when he was 10 years old. As a result, he ended up going to college wanting to learn more about socialism so that he could perfect it in his adult life.

Source. He may or may not be a Jew, but he is %100 a commie.