Adam Swart runs Crowds on Demand, a business that supplies crowds for events, and he sees right through the game being played in America’s streets. He turned down a chance to get involved in the upcoming “No Kings” protest set for October 18, dismissing it as “a dud in the making.” This nationwide rally, aimed at slamming political elites and what organizers call government overreach, fits a pattern Swart knows too well: demonstrations that look grassroots but often serve as cash cows for hidden players.
Swart points to a whole “protest industry” where consultants, operatives, and influencers cash in on manufactured outrage.
“I’ve taken a pay cut to turn this into a company that advances common-sense causes,” he said. “I could make 10 times more if I said yes to everything. But I don’t want to be part of the noise.” His firm now skips jobs that stir up division, focusing instead on events that build something real rather than tear things apart.
Look at the surge in requests for paid protesters in Washington, D.C., which jumped 400 percent since President Trump took federal control of the city’s police force. Swart even rejected a $20 million offer earlier this year to round up anti-Trump demonstrators, saying it smelled like trouble from the start. These aren’t isolated cases. Reports show far-left groups behind many of these rallies get propped up by billionaires like George Soros and dark-money networks that funnel cash into chaos. The “No Kings” events, including big turnouts in Austin and D.C. back in June, claim to fight authoritarianism but end up as stages for the same recycled slogans.
Foreign hands might be stirring the pot too, with intelligence reports warning that Russia, China, and Iran push disinformation to spark unrest around key moments. Swart warns of networks mimicking real advocacy groups to hide their tracks.
“I know how you’d structure a web of advocacy groups legally — and how someone could mirror that illegally,” he said. “I want to help the government figure out who’s funding the division and shut it down.”
It’s no stretch to suspect these operations aim to weaken the country from within, turning public spaces into battlegrounds for profit or worse. Big tech plays its part in the scam, raking in dollars from the endless scroll of anger.
“They only make money when you’re doom-scrolling,” Swart noted. “If people liked each other, Facebook and X would be a tenth of their size.” Outfits like these thrive when Americans stay divided, pointing fingers instead of pulling together.
This year alone, leftist protests have ramped up—from May Day anti-Trump marches to Labor Day crowds targeting the president and billionaires. The “Hands Off” demonstrations in April drew massive numbers, billed as resistance but laced with the same paid elements that Swart exposes. Even “Good Trouble Lives On” events got offers for hired help, which Swart’s company passed on.
Swart boils it down to a simple truth: “This is one of the greatest national security threats that we face — America coming apart. The sources of it are not right or left. The sources are far more sinister than that.”
Liberalism is a mental disorder. Like, Duh. There are no royal or kings in America because we have elections. Notice how we have multiple POTUS during the same ruler or country leader in other countries? America is unique in world history because it broke the long standing tradition of royalty and family rule to ‘We the People.’ These ‘No Kings’ rally are bogus. The Constitution gives executive privileges to POTUS who is the Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Armed Forces and Chief Executive of the Executive Branch. Trump is following the text and will of the Constitution during his term. Liberals are just pissed he is unraveling all the unconstitutional progressive edicts inserted into the bureaucracy since the Wilson era.