I'm extremely confident that was the plan. The dude openly talked about all of those values and wasn't in it for the money. His image was crafted so he would be heard by a specific audience. He was raised by multiple panther leaders (high ranking leaders too) from the good panther era.

Preaching values without labeling them as communist seems like it could be a good strategy tbh, especially if they are concerned about being targeted. Someone can still be actively pursuing ideological goals without saying "communism". I imagine throwing an audience into the deep end isn't as effective as moving gradually.

The video of him where he mentions owning and reading a book by Stalin just screams someone playing down how committed they are. It felt like he was pretending to forget Stalin's name and letting someone else say it for him. I find it very sus that someone who owns and reads theory wouldn't be able to remember the name "Stalin" lol