In response to the video information released by Project Veritas Action regarding collusion between democrat operatives, the DNC and Clinton campaign paying protesters to incite violence at GOP and Trump events, Minnesota GOP Chairman, Keith Downey released a statement:
“”It is extremely disturbing to learn that the Clinton campaign actually coordinated with Democrat operatives to instigate conflict and physical violence at Republican events for political purposes. The fact that they have trained agitators in Minneapolis raises the question again whether Minnesota Clinton team members Mayor Betsy Hodges and Democrat Chairman Ken Martin were aware of these tactics and also whether these groups were behind the violence at the Trump fundraising event at the Minneapolis Convention Center. As an insider on the Clinton campaign, Ken Martin must denounce these underhanded and dangerous political tactics and assure Minnesotans that he will not be bringing these Democrat groups and their violence to Minnesota. And Betsy Hodges needs to share with the public the results of the internal review promised in the City’s response to the incident at the Trump event.”
Prior to the article published by Alpha News about the first Project Veritas Action video, Alpha News contacted DFL Chairman Ken Martin and other DFL leaders asking similar questions as Downey, but received no response from the party.
According to Facebook posts by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action committee and the Minnesota Latino Student Movement, the groups actively planned to protest at the August Minneapolis Trump/MN GOP fundraiser.
Alpha News reported the violence inflicted on the August Trump Rally attendees by protesters, with victims noting that police officers did not assist in protecting the Trump supporters from the violent mob:
Matt Erickson, a former CD2 Congressional Candidate, was physically attacked at the event. In an interview with Alpha News, Erickson said that he was physically assaulted by a group of anti-Trump protesters while he tried to defend a female Trump supporter.
Erickson states that “his phone was stolen from him and another protester sucker punched Matt in the back of the head.” He was later trapped against a building as he was attacked by four protesters.
Overall, Erickson says that he has “bruised ribs, lumps on the head, and a gash on the forehead.” Erickson states that the lack of police presence and their willingness to do nothing was the main factor.
He said that he saw “a group of cops on bikes about a block away from all activity […] and only saw 2 cops on site with maybe 4 squads total.” ~ Preya Samsundar, Alpha News, August 21, 2016
Alpha News is uncovering connections between the groups taking credit for the attack on Trump supporters during the Minneapolis event and some of the Democrat operatives named in both PVA videos.
In the first Project Veritas Action video released on Monday, October 17, 2016, democrat operatives (Scott Foval and Bob Creamer) working with Americans United for Change and Democracy Partners brag about how they helped shut down Trump’s Chicago rally. Operative Zulema Rodriguez, who has been found to be on Hillary Clinton’s payroll by The Daily Caller, also talks about the Tucson rally where protesters not only got violent, but also obstructed traffic on a major highway to the event.
A report by FightBackNews.org (the news subsidiary of the group Freedom Road Socialist Organization) shows that one of the groups behind the protests at the August Trump fundraiser in Minneapolis, “MIRAc” (Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action committee), was also at the Tucson Trump protest in March.
MIRc also had members protesting in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention in July.
Furthermore, In February 2016, the Minnesota Latino Student Movement group posted the following on their Facebook page advertising Dream Action Coalition co-Founder, Cesar Vargas – another Democrat operative interviewed in the PVA videos – as speaking at an event in Minneapolis:
At the time of the event, Cesar Vargas was working for the Bernie Sanders campaign as the National Latino Outreach Strategist. As O’Keefe explains in the second PVA video, Vargas is the first undocumented person to be admitted to the New York State Bar after receiving his J.D. from CUNY Law School.
One of the Minnesota connections to the groups may be an activist named Brad Sigal. Brad Sigal is a writer for FightBackNews.org, an AFSCME member, an activist with the group Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee and is associated with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, as well as an UMN employee. AFSCME also happens to be one of Democracy Partners’ clients.
Brad Sigal has a long history with social justice activism: He and two other students won a lawsuit against City College – New York (CCNY, part of CUNY) in 2008 that accused the CUNY administration of engaging in suppression of student activists, particularly the group Students Liberation Action Movement. While the incidents occurred in 1998, the ruling did not come down until 2008, during which time Cesar Vargas would have been a student at CUNY Law (graduated in 2011). Given Vargas’s passion for activism, it would be hard to believe that he wouldn’t have heard or known about the lawsuit filed by former students of the university and the ruling.
In August, Sigal reported on the Trump Fundraiser protest for FightBackNews.org. In the article (co-written by Meredith Aby-Keirstead), Sigal described the fundraiser and protest:
“…small group of attendees paid a minimum of $1000 to meet the candidate and represent rich right-wing extremists of the Republican Party.” Sigal goes on: “MIRAC’s No More Deportations campaign was explained, which is building a “Pledge of Resistance to Trump & Attacks on Immigrants.” This campaign is building the movement against Trump’s anti-immigrant politics, while making preparations to resist increased attacks on immigrant communities after the election.
Several other organizations and movements also had a presence outside of Trump’s fundraiser. Members of the Black Coalition and AR14 for Justice (a youth organization founded out of the fight for justice for Philando Castile) rallied at rear entrances, aiming to block Trump’s entry. At the front, protesters confronted Trump supporters as they climbed out of their limousines and made their way through the hostile crowd….After MIRAC’s rally, many protesters stayed and continued to confront the Trump and his supporters. Near the end of the event a group of loud protesters got in the doors of the Convention Center with a megaphone to denounce Trump and banged on the glass outside the event space. Others spray painted anti-Trump graffiti. Some Trump campaign signs and t-shirts were set on fire.
At the end of the event, around 100 protesters surrounded Trump’s motorcade. Facing off with police and heavily armed security, they chanted, “No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA!” Protesters delayed the candidate from leaving until police violently intervened to help Trump escape.”
As a result of the videos released by Project Veritas Action, two of the consultants have either been fired or have stepped down from positions with political organizations or campaigns:
It was revealed that Robert Creamer, the founder and president of the progressive consulting group, Democracy Partners was a frequent visitor to the White House. According to Breitbart, White House visitor logs show that Creamer made 340 visits to the White House, with 45 of those meetings including President Obama.
After the release of the Project Veritas Action videotapes exposing the antics of Creamer and American’s United for Change’s Scott Foval, Creamer announced that he was “stepping back” from the Clinton campaign. Creamer was helping the Democratic National Committee with Clinton’s campaign while working for Democracy Partners. Foval is said to have been dismissed from Americans United for Change over the damaging remarks he made in the video.
Democracy Partners claims to be a leader in political messaging, campaign planning, general consulting and campaign management. Some of their clients include Minnesota’s Rep. Keith Ellison and Rep. Tim Walz and the Minnesota Democrat Party. ~ Alpha News, October 19, 2016
Andrea Mayer-Bruestle
Andrea Mayer-Bruestle is a former writer for Alpha News.
