Paid protesting is big business these days — and astroturfing powerhouse Crowds on Demand is on the receiving end of serious blowback in the form of a lawsuit filed by Zdeněk Bakala.
He’s a Czech investor who alleges the company engaged in an extortion campaign against him, as the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.
On its website, Crowds on Demand says its nationwide services include “protests, rallies, advocacy, audiences, PR stunts and political events” — and the company refers to itself as “the ultimate guerrilla lobbying and government relations firm.”
The outfit proudly claims it can “execute operations” with just a few days’ notice anywhere in the United States.
In the extortion case, Bakala says investment manager Pavol Krúpa hired the company to engage a band of protesters to march near his Hilton Head, South Carolina, home — and to lobby organizations for his removal from the advisory boards on which he sits, such as the Aspen Institute and Dartmouth College, The Sacramento Bee reported.
Bakala alleges Krúpa wants $23 million — or he will carry out his threat to intensify the campaign, according to the Times.
Though wealthy investors’ problems with Crowds on Demand may do little to pique the curiosity of most Americans on this issue, paid protesters’ alleged involvement in other matters may hit a bit closer to home.
During the Justice Brett Kavanaugh hearings, for example, a protester whose video showed a cornered Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) in an elevator went viral — and she was found to have be in the employ of an outfit funded by George Soros, called the Center for Popular Democracy.
Meanwhile, a many thousands-strong migrant caravan is marching its way through Central America and Mexico, apparently preparing to storm the United States’ southern border.
It seems reasonable to predict that any vigorous border protection actions made by the federal government — a military intervention, for example — will be met with equally vigorous protests against it by open borders advocates.
President Donald Trump said on Monday he had alerted the Border Patrol and the military of the national emergency, warning that “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners” were among those traveling with the group.
Earlier, he promised to send the military to the seal the border if it becomes necessary.
Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy. Must change laws!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2018
With the commercialization of protesting now having gone mainstream, it may be challenging to sort out true public sentiment on the matter if the caravan does, indeed, storm the southern border of the United States.
For a small sum, I will be publicly indignant about this
https://t.co/xG0Vr5i0mw— geoffrey mohan (@LATgeoffmohan) October 21, 2018
Fascinating. Good to be skeptical of protests, rallies, smear campaigns, and crying women in elevators. This is pretty unsettling – IRL bots, trolls and “fake news.”
— Tiffany Fite (@TiffanyFite) October 22, 2018
A new low for America!
— Fuzzy Rohde (@WuffyTheDog) October 22, 2018
Be sure to check out this video:
Michele Blood is a Flemington, New Jersey-based freelance writer and a regular contributor to LifeZette.
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