Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the Department of Justice and the FBI are investigating “who” is allegedly funding protesters opposing the federal immigration raids in Los Angeles.
Since the protests broke out, social media users have been spreading fake images and reviving old conspiracy theories as “evidence” that the protests gripping Los Angeles and spreading to other major cities are a planned provocation instead of an organic response to government policies, The New York Times reported.
One common claim is that the protests are being funded by Democratic lawmakers and donors, including financier George Soros, according to the Times. The same claim was leveled against the protests that erupted following George Floyd’s 2020 killing at the hands of Minneapolis police.
President Donald Trump called the immigration raid protesters “Paid Insurrectionists!” on social media and told reporters outside the Kennedy Center on Wednesday that “they’re probably paid, many of them—as you know, they’re professionals.”
According to Gabbard, the question apparently is not “if” the protesters are being paid but by whom.
“This is something that the Department of Justice and the FBI is looking into: Who is funding these protesters?” she told Fox News host Jesse Watters on Wednesday.
“We’ve seen the ads put up on Craigslist offering people thousands of dollars a week to go out and conduct these violent and dangerous riots in the streets of not only Los Angeles, but we saw earlier in Chicago and New York and other cities across the country,” Gabbard continued.
Over the past few days, social media users have pointed to a debunked Craigslist ad offering $6,500 to $12,500 per week as “proof” the protesters are being paid, the Associated Press reported.
“We are forming a select team of THE TOUGHEST dudes in the area,” said the ad, which is no longer live. “This unit will be activated only when the situation demands it — BUT YOU GET PAID EVERY WEEK NO MATTER WHAT. high-pressure, high-risk, no room for hesitation. We need individuals who do not break, panic, or fold under stress and are basically kickass dudes.”
The ad said military experience, law enforcement, and security backgrounds were an added bonus, and asked applicants to be prepared to provide examples of their “toughness” over the phone.
Its creator, however, told the AP the ad—which was posted on Thursday, before the protests started—was bait for an episode of prank show called GOOFCON1 that aired Friday on YouTube. During the episode, the show’s creators spoke to the ad respondents live on the air.
“I literally had no idea it was ever going to be connected to the riots. It was a really weird coincidence,” Joey LaFleur, who posted the ad on Craigslist, told the AP.
The AP published its story on Tuesday, a day before Gabbard’s remarks on Fox News.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Gabbard was referring to the GOOFCON1 ad or if there were different ads on Craigslist offering people thousands of dollars per week to riot. The Daily Beast has reached out to the Office of National Intelligence for comment.
Watters also asked Gabbard if California Gov. Gavin Newsom, “whether he knows it or not,” is “actually siding with the cartels here.”
“Whether he knows it or not, he is certainly,” Gabbard replied, without elaborating on which cartels or why that would be the case.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.
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