The Washington Times, posted an article Monday with the headline “Some anti-Kavanaugh protesters were paid, journalist reveals.” Facebook users flagged the article as potentially containing misinformation.
The journalist mentioned in the piece is Vice News D.C. bureau chief Shawna Thomas and the “reveal” was part of an exchange she had on ABC’s This Week.
On @ABC's #ThisWeek, @ViceNews DC bureau chief @Shawna Thomas admits there were "paid" anti-Kavanaugh protesters "steering" people to create "viral" moments #TTT pic.twitter.com/OvGD6fjxl9
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) October 7, 2018
When asked about the protesters during the weeks (or years?) of Kavanaugh’s confirmation process, and whether or not they were paid, Thomas replied:
There were people who were paid by organizations like Ultraviolet to try to harness that energy in a way that would make the viral moments that we ended up seeing.
UltraViolet (not to be confused with the 2006 vampiric action flick that touts an impressive 9 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes) is a progressive organization that, among other things, organizes and mobilizes protests.
Thomas clarified on Twitter:
clarification: I said there were some official organizations in the mix who have staff & consultants that were part of these protests. And some of them were helping individuals with tactics. That is not the same as ppl being paid to protest who don’t care about this issue. https://t.co/SZykSAj8Vt
— Shawna Thomas (@Shawna) October 7, 2018
The article from the Washington Times is correct that some of the anti-Kavanaugh protesters were paid to be there; it was their job to organize and “help steer [protesters] in the right way” as Thomas noted on This Week.
One of the people who pleaded with Senator Jeff Flake in the now viral-video was Ana María Archila, the co-executive Director of the Center for Popular Democracy, an organization focused in part on arranging protests. (The CPD used the video footage to ask for donations “to support this vital work in this important moment.”)
So yes, it is certainly true that some of those protesting are paid to be there. In fact, it’s part of their job. (TWS Fact Check point of clarity: This is not to say, however, that there is evidence of organizers soliciting random individuals to come protest Kavanaugh in exchange for money.)
"Reveal," however, is a perhaps too strong a word. All in all, this is nothing new. Organizations focused on ginning up protests have been part and parcel to political activism for many, many years.
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