Funding the Rioting Left

The Business Behind the Left’s Pay-to-Protest Scheme
Big-money groups are helping to organize and fuel 'AstroTurf' progressive uprisings

When left-wing organizers were recruiting people to travel to Washington, D.C., to try to “shut down the inauguration of Donald Trump” and “paralyze the city itself,” they offered a number of incentives — free housing, food, and also legal assistance in case of arrest. They also organized training camps, workshops and media-encounter events in the run-up to the main event: the big riot.

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The housing, the food, the organized activities and the defense attorneys at the ready made the riots possible. But why did news reports never mention that the riots were being funded?

It's because the liberal media "sees protests as a tactic," says Tim Graham of the Media Research Center, adding that while the media often label Tea Party gatherings as "AstroTurf events" — and therefore not true grassroots events — it never does the same with the Left.

"They're not going to allow the idea that there's liberal AstroTurf. To suggest such a thing is a conspiracy theory," Graham told LifeZette.

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A year ago, Breitbart reported that hacked Open Society Foundation documents showed that the George Soros-funded group gave Black Lives Matter groups $650,000. The Ford Foundation subsequently announced that it was launching a fundraising campaign to raise $100 million to support Black Lives Matter.

It's unclear how often individual protesters are paid a fee to protest, but regardless, the organizational side of the unrest is becoming big business. The movement first attracted attention with violence in the streets during the Ferguson riots. A raised fist brings notoriety, and notoriety brings in big money. It's a clear exchange.

One hundred million dollars to BLM!? It's profitable to promote violent racism, because you can extort big cash from corporations who want to be left alone...