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2025-01-20 Home Front: Politix
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I snuck inside ''The People's March” to see what the anti-Trump folks are up to and I took pictures of all their signs
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[NotTheBee] I don't know if it's on purpose, or that Washington journalists are so deep in the bubble that they don't realize how much their preconceived notions have infected their reporting (probably a mix of both), but I have never seen the media report on a demonstration that I have personally attended that was absent of obvious cherry picking and bias.
This year's "People's March" was no exception.
Here is the photo the Washington Post used to kick off their article on the march, "Thousands rally at People's March in D.C. to protest Trump."
See lots of illustrative photos at the link. Looks packed!
I've mentioned before the media trick of framing a tight shot in order to create the illusion of a massive rally.
Here's that same crowd (a little later, but the density of that one spot obviously changed little). I'm back further than The Post shot so you can see some media folks scrupulously filming the most concentrated part of the gathering.
Now, let's pan over a little, towards the direction of the stage that was erected on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in line with the Washington Monument in the background.
When you're looking through a crowd, it always looks dense, but upon closer examination you can see it's pretty sparse over there save for people jammed in the narrow space between the stage and the reflecting pool.
The Post said "thousands rally" and I'll give them that. Three thousand? Maybe four, given the people I saw leaving as I was walking in about halfway through. I'll give them some credit for the crowd given the dreary day and the impending snow storm the next day, but a lot of effort was put in to put up a stage, video screens, and a sound system for a relatively small crowd.
They must be disappointed.
I have never been to a lefty protest or rally that did not have the socialists out in full force.
I have also never heard this reported, or at least highlighted in any way.
(Like all these protests, it was a mishmash of special interests and identity politics, and it looked like groups were leaving once their narrow concerns had been addressed.)
So who organized the thing? The professional protest machine behind today’s ‘People’s March’
[FoxNews] Media outlets are calling it ‘grassroots’ anti-Trump sentiment, but confidential documents reveal it’s more AstroTurf
As anti-Trump protesters swarmed the steps below the Lincoln Memorial Saturday, media outlets painted a feel-good portrait. NBC4 Washington declared on social media: "Grassroots groups are descending on the capital for the People’s March before President-elect Trump’s inauguration." The Associated Press reported that anti-Trump "demonstrators" "converge" on Washington, D.C., for protests led by the Women’s March, a "grassroots movement."
While this positive media coverage may have captured the energy of ordinary protesters, they omitted one critical detail: the name of for-profit professional machine behind the protest.
Far from a spontaneous outpouring of civic action, the event was coordinated by Movement Catalyst LLC, a for-profit company based in Silver Spring, Md., and the official permit holder for the protests, according to a copy of the permit, which I obtained from the U.S. National Park Service. In the 1990s, covering international trade for the Wall Street Journal, I was among the first reporters to put the term "AstroTurf" into the paper’s pages, describing a coalition against tariffs on minivans that the auto industry called "grassroots" but was actually manufactured by an industry lobbying group. Protest organizing isn’t much different nowadays, and today’s "People’s March" is more AstroTurf than "grassroots." So too is the march planned for Monday, when we can expect more aggressive rabble-rousers to show up, as I reported earlier this week.
A plan, marked "Confidential Document - Not for Distribution"
Whoops! So much for that plan… and submitted as part of the permit application, reveals that Movement Catalyst and its team of professional protest organizers coordinated everything from security to dumpster pickups, "port-a-potties" and a meticulously detailed "run of show,"
So, what is Movement Catalyst LLC? According to Washington, D.C., government records, it is a limited liability corporation established in February 2021. On its website, Movement Catalysts promotes its for-profit services, writing it’s an "experienced and interdisciplinary team of strategists, organizers, campaigners, and researchers" who launch "strategic projects to meet the moment," partnering with organizations to "expand their ability to have an impact, and anchor movement infrastructure." Its officials didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The People’s March is one of those "strategic projects," and the company’s services include "strategy & campaign development" and "creative protests & events." A look at its funding reveals the scale of its operations. In 2021, Movement Catalyst LLC received $592,050 from the New York-based Sustainable Markets Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit for "web campaign development," according to its IRS Form 990 filing. Then, in 2023, Philadelphia-based Workers United, working on "organizing the unorganized collective bargaining," paid Movement Catalyst LLC a total of $319,600, according to its tax filing. The services provided? "CONSULTANT." This is far from a "grassroots," mom-and-pop operation run over a kitchen table.
The confidential document lists four top officials at Movement Catalyst, as "protest leads":
- Abby Henderson, a partner at Movement Catalyst and the organization’s registered agent, is the protest’s "Production and Vendor Lead."
- Bill Ragen, a partner at Movement Catalyst, is the "Production and Vendor Lead."
- Liz Butler, another partner at Movement Catalyst," is also "Production and Vendor Lead."
- Samantha "Sam" Miller, a "collaborator" at Movement Catalyst, is in charge of "Overall Coordination." On the National Park Service application, she is the "person in charge." Miller was the director at a previous professional protest company, DC Action Lab, that the Women’s March and others hired to mount protests during the first Trump administration.
The "PRODUCTION SCHEDULE" and "RUN OF SHOW/RALLY PROGRAM" was scripted with leaders and performers from many big-money organizations, including the Women’s March, Popular Democracy in Action, Standing Up for Racial Justice, Harriet’s Wildest Dreams and Dream Defenders. Movement Catalyst promised to provide at least 750 "identifiable marshals," each wearing "hi-visibility vests and volunteer credentials."
As the “People’s March” was free from violence, the next one up is the ANSWER Coalition, which occurs on Monday.
ANSWER is potentially the most unruly and unpredictable group. The leaders say they expecte to draw about 15,000 people. They most likely will celebrate Hamas’ ceasefire with Israel.
The last time ANSWER was in Washington, they were protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before a Joint Session of Congress. After the rally, some protesters rioted, police were assaulted, American flags burned and there was the desecration of monuments -- with one that was spray painted with a warning: “Hamas Is Coming.”
Ryan Mauro, who investigates extremist groups for the nonprofit Capital Research Center has exposed ANSWER as supporting Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen along with the mullahs of Iran.
Ryan reported in a January 8 column that “ANSWER signed a statement declaring its endorsement of the Iran-led “Axis of Resistance” coalition of terrorist groups like Hamas and siding with Russia over Ukraine.
Expect unpredictability with the ANSWER Coalition.
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