May 4th 2020

By Bill Berkowitz and Gale Bataille 

A rash of protests against local and state governments that are upholding policies aimed at stopping the spread of Covid-19 are grabbing broadcast and print news headlines.  Economic distress and increasing frustration with stay-at-home orders are clearly factors but are these protests really organic uprisings? Do they reflect a burgeoning popular movement or the results of astroturfing?  Astroturfing is the masking of the identity of the sponsors of a message, or organization, in order to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participants.

While many in these crowds are legitimately fearful of the consequences of economic collapse, the protests are being fueled by secretive conservative Republican Party wealthy individuals, aided and abetted by an Internet conspiracy subculture, and infiltrated by an assortment of militia groups and anti-government organizations. These attention-grabbing protests belie the fact that a vast majority of Americans support stay-at-home restrictions. And, it doesn’t take a wide-angled view of these protests to reveal that the vast majority of protesters are white and male.

“The people who are doing the demonstrating may really be frustrated and upset, but new research, and journalistic investigation, is revealing that there are powerful forces behind them, egging them on, who want their influence to remain secret,” Marc Ambinder wrote at The Conversation.

While the freedom to dissent is sacrosanct in this country, “it’s important to know when protests are sparked by special-interest groups seeking to manipulate officials’ perception of public sentiment,” Ambinder, an Executive Fellow in Digital Security, at the University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, pointed out. 

The website Krebs on Security – run by independent investigative reporter Brian Krebs -- took a deep dive into the protests and found “a fascinating Reddit thread on several ‘reopen’ sites that seemed to be engaged in astroturfing, which involves masking the sponsors of a message or organization to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participants.

“The Reddit discussion focused on a handful of new domains — including reopenmn.com, reopenpa.com, and reopenva.com — that appeared to be tied to various gun rights groups in those states. Their registrations have roughly coincided with contemporaneous demonstrations in Minnesota, California and Tennessee where people showed up to protest quarantine restrictions over the past few days.”

Less than two weeks ago I wrote that Trump’s tweets urging people to “Liberate Michigan,” and a number of other states, were eerily reminiscent of Trump’s infamous remarks after right-wing thugs invaded Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. Then, the best Trump had to offer was, "you … had people that were very fine people, on both sides." Now he is advising Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to “give a little” to the armed thugs that stormed the state’s capitol last week, because “These are very good people. But they are angry,” Trump said of the Michigan protesters. “They want their lives back again, safely! …”  Never one for subtleties, Trump’s tweet turns a blind eye to the 67+ thousand people that will never have their lives back!  

CNN’s Maeve Reston pointed out that Trump was gambling “that the smart  political play” is “back the fiery few rather than worrying about how he might alienate the many middle-of-the-road voters” in Michigan, a state that he won in 2016 by a slim margin. It was a “classic” Trump “play to the base … stirring the fealty of his most loyal supporters and stoking the controversy that he thrives on -- even if it meant ignoring his own administration's recommendations on social distancing to support a demonstration where few wore masks and even fewer stayed the recommended six feet from one another. In the past, his gambles have had few political consequences -- most memorably when he described a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville as having ‘very fine people on both sides.’"

Commenting about the protests, Michigan Governor Whitmer stated: "Swastikas and Confederate flags, nooses and automatic rifles, do not represent who we are as Michiganders. This state has a rich history of people coming together in times of crisis. Brave soldiers fought to keep the Union intact during the Civil War. We came together as the arsenal democracy to defeat the Nazis because we were united against a common enemy. Now we must channel that same energy against our common enemy, which is Covid-19."

Whitmer added; "I know that some people are angry and I know many are feeling restless. I know that people are itching to get back to work. I get it, and I respect it. And it's okay to feel that way. ... Unfortunately, the only way we can get through this and take the next steps forward, is if we all continue to do our part."

In California, on Friday, May 1, perhaps as many as three thousand demonstrators “swarmed Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles, on Friday to protest California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s closure of the Golden State’s sandy shores—an anti-lockdown display organized in part by the owner of a ‘health and wellness center,’” The Daily Beast reported. 

According to The Guardian, “Some protesters held signs questioning whether the coronavirus is real or promoting anti-vaccine conspiracies, while others protested the closure of businesses during the pandemic, arguing that all jobs are essential. Almost none of the protesters were wearing masks, according to reporters and photographers at the scene.”

“In Illinois, scores of protesters gathered outside of a state office building in Chicago to protest Gov. J.B. Pritzker's stay-at-home orders in a rally organized by Freedom Movement USA, a pro-Trump group,” NBC News reported.  “Many of the protesters carried Trump 2020 flags or wore Trump gear.”

“Most anti-quarantine demonstrations have been organized by fairly mainstream conservative activists, but extremist groups have helped to lead or advertise some of the rallies,” The Washing Post’s Marisa Iati pointed out. “Far-right activists have also participated in protests in which they have not been involved organizing, according to the Anti-Defamation League [ADL], a group that opposes anti-Semitism and other extremism.”

According to the ADL “On April 19, Matt Marshall, a leader of the Three Percenters, a wing of the anti-government militia movement, helped organize a rally in Olympia, Washington. The event was advertised by the Oath Keepers, another anti-government organization. Prior to the rally, Marshall encouraged participants to wear Hawaiian shirts, a nod to the extremist reference to the ‘Big Luau,’ which is another expression for the boogaloo, or a future civil war. Attendees included members of the Three Percenters and Joey Gibson, the founder of the far-right Patriot Prayer group.”

The ADL noted that “Protesters nationwide have held signs and flags bearing anti-government messages, likening state governments to Nazis and waving confederate flags. Signs in New Hampshire and Tennessee referenced the boogaloo, using the slogans, ‘Liberty or Boogaloo’ and ‘Join my boog squad.’ In multiple locations, people have held up Proud Boys signs and flags, as well as signs referencing the QAnon conspiracy theory.” 

For many people participating in the protests, the goal is simple; re-open the economy. But big-money Republicans and the organizations supporting and egging on the protests having bigger fish to fry; the re-election of Trump in November. The headline grabbing protests provide a distraction from the Trump administration’s utter failure to address the Covid-19 pandemic, and are for the most part focused on democratic governors and elected officials in states that will be contested during the 2020 election.