Ferguson Protests: Billionaire Bankrolled $33M For Civil Unrest In Missouri

Months after the Ferguson protests have died down, news emerges that a lot of the chaos Americans witnessed unfolding had an agenda behind it. Thousands demonstrated after 18-year-old, African-American Michael Brown was shot by former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. Those demonstrations turned into full-on riots that kept the public’s attention. Ferguson protestors managed to keep the civil unrest first and foremost in national news.

In a report published by the Washington Post, liberal billionaire George Soros funded $33 million into the protests so it would having staying power in the headlines. He reportedly had organizers and professional groups sent to Missouri from Washington, D.C., Chicago, and New York to cover the unrest. Money was also used to keep a steady stream of outside protestors on the streets. An “echo chamber” was used for social media, which consisted of people re-tweeting and commenting on articles after the Michael Brown shooting. The Washington Times reviewed Soros’ financial tax records and spoke with “key players” who received Soros’ funding.

Kenneth Zimmerman is director of Open Society Foundations’ U.S. programs. He says OSF has been giving money to these types of groups since it began in the early 90s. He says that “helping groups combine policy, research [and] data collection with community organizing feels very much the way our society becomes more accountable.”

Zimmerman asserts that although participating groups received Soros’ grants, “they were in no way directed to protest at the behest of Open Society.”

The OSF director says they can’t control what protestors do or say.

“The incidents, whether in Staten Island, Cleveland or Ferguson, were spontaneous protests — we don’t have the ability to control or dictate what others say or choose to say. But these circumstances focused people’s attention — and it became increasingly evident to the social justice groups involved that what a particular incident like Ferguson represents is a lack of accountability and a lack of democratic participation.”

Activists were bussed into Missouri from Chicago, New York, and Washington as part of the protests. According to the Times, those activists were from Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference in Chicago; the Drug Policy Alliance, Make the Road New York and Equal Justice USA from New York; Sojourners, the Advancement Project and Center for Community Change in Washington; and networks from the Gamaliel Foundation.

The Organization for Black Struggle is one of the groups that Soros granted money to for the Ferguson protests. It was they that made another group called the Hands Up Coalition and branded it with the “hands up, don’t shoot” slogan. The Drug Policy Alliance came up with the trending phrase, “black lives matter.”

Larry Fellows, III, is co-founder of Millennial Activists United, which is another group supported by George Soros. He says that in the beginning protestors showed up to help demonstrate and clean up streets. It turned into more of a production after that, he shares.

“… A lot of organizers from across the country started to come in to help us do the planning and do the strategizing. That helped us start doing it on our own and planning out actions and what our narratives were going to be.”

The Ferguson protests were a success in maintaining a stronghold on headlines, thanks in part to Soros.

According to Forbes, George Soros is worth $24 billion. The 80-year-old is No. 17 on Forbes’ 400 list of richest Americans. He’s best described as a supporter for progressive-liberal causes. He’s also a notorious political donor to President Obama’s campaigns.

[Photo Credit: Tuscon Sentinel]