San Francisco-based Demand Protest posted ads on Backpage.com, seeking applicants who would like to "Get paid fighting against Trump!" Along with the monthly $2,500 retainer, the company offers a "standard per-event pay of $50/hr, as long as you participate in at least 6 events a year," and full-time operatives are eligible for vision, dental and health insurance.
Demand Protest describes itself as the "largest private grassroots support organization in the United States, and the ads entice potential applicants to “Get paid fighting against Trump!"
It explains, "We pay people already politically motivated to fight for the things they believe. You were going to take action anyways, why not do so with us!…We are currently seeking operatives to help send a strong message at upcoming inauguration protests." according to the Washington Times.
The ads appear as over 100 organizations have mobilized nationwide to demonstrate during the upcoming inauguration. Targeted cities include New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, Detroit and Denver.
In November 2016 a story circulated about a man claiming to have been paid $3,500 to protest a Trump rally in Fountain Hills, Arizona, after answering an ad on Craigslist.
Countering claims from the Trump camp that the Bernie Sanders campaign was paying protesters, 37-year-old Paul Horner said, "As for who these people were affiliated with that interviewed me, my guess would be Hillary Clinton’s campaign…The actual check I received after I was done with the job was from a group called ‘Women Are The Future.’ After I was hired, they told me if anyone asked any questions about who I was with or communicated with me in any way, I should start talking about how great Bernie Sanders is."
Fact-checking website PolitiFact debunked Horner’s claims, pointing out that he has posted numerous fabricated news stories, making them seem legitimate by creating news sites that appear to be trustworthy sources.
Some of these stories go viral, generating thousands in ad sales. Horner later admitted he concocted the story, telling the Washington Post that, "(Trump’s) followers don’t fact-check anything — they’ll post everything, believe anything," adding that then-Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, "posted my story about a protester getting paid $3,500 as fact. Like, I made that up. I posted a fake ad on Craigslist."
Demand Protest appears to offer anonymous resistance for parties who want to engage in political opposition without having to deal with the fallout.
"With absolute discretion a top priority, our operatives create convincing scenes that become the building blocks of massive movements. When you need the appearance of outrage, we are able to deliver it at scale while keeping your reputation intact." the site reads.
There are some who believe that the rhetoric on the Demand Protest site indicates that the entire operation is a hoax, but they claim to have provided nearly 2,000 operatives in 48 cities, without offering further detail, also featuring vaguely-worded testimonies from unnamed satisfied clients.
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| 0 | Edit | Delete Free speech does not mean free actions. Reply 
| 3 | Edit | Delete Well mercenaries then.. Reply 
| 2 | Edit | Delete Interesting how Horner considers it a noble act to lie and blames others for not checking facts. Reply 
| 1 | Edit | Delete The organizers are trying to incite violence and should be arrested. Reply 
| 3 | Edit | Delete "Spend, Soros. SPEND!"
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| 0 | Edit | Delete Those at maidan got 100 Hyrina ..... today that is $3 dollars ... LOL ! Reply 
| 2 | Edit | Delete After so many years of inhuman capitalism, new generation of people have lost any dignity, and honestity to think fairly and defend those ideas of human solidarity. Nowadays few dollars is enough to commit crimes or to obtain easy coming money. We are now a generation of people with no scrupulos. Reply 
| 3 | Edit | Delete The Donald is so popular you have to pay people to demonstrate. Says it all really. Reply 
| 0 | Edit | Delete I wonder if the positions are open to us expats or those others in various countries? Reply 
| 1 | Edit | Delete I guess they practiced in the Middle East and the Ukraine and now they are experts, poised to make millions. Reply 
| 0 | Edit | Delete Another Soros funded outfit? Reply 
| 0 | Edit | Delete Alice never saw, nor did Orwell ever imagine, anything like this. Reply 
| 0 | Edit | Delete The same low lives that would sell their soul for 5 bucks. 2,500 is a gold mine to them.
Show new comments (0)copius
Talk as much as you want but don't raise a finger.
If you do something will break. Get it ?
Burning or stomping the flag is not speech, its action and that's bad.
Pushing someone is not speech, neither is spitting.
Be very careful. Tread with caution.
Jet fuel can't melt steel beams
jas
copius
If Martin Luther King is alive, he will spit on John Lewis for inciting hatred.
John Lewis has turned out to be a huge disappointment.
Many great men have made that mistake and reduced to nothing.
marcanhalt
Kind of like "Run' Forrest. Run!"
ViTran
landauroj
seanrkearney
michael
goldcamshaft
edover3
Donny
wconell
Pathetic to watch humans act like the lowest animal on the food chain.
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