For a long time now, it’s been one of Washington’s worst-kept secrets that many of the “protesters” tearing up cities like Minneapolis and Portland aren’t exactly unpaid volunteers driven by pure civic passion. Somehow, professionally printed signs with oddly specific slogans appear overnight, cash seems to flow effortlessly, and the same faces pop up from one “spontaneous” riot to the next. Funny how that works.
Now, there is a legitimate protests-for-hire operator who actually does this openly. His name is Adam Swart, and he runs a company called Crowds on Demand. Unlike the street mobs currently blocking roads and harassing federal agents, Swart insists on something almost quaint these days: legality.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Swart made it crystal clear that his firm “would not touch the Minneapolis protests with a 10-foot pole.” Why? Because blocking roadways, obstructing ICE agents, and threatening authorities are crimes—and his company doesn’t participate in “any form of illegal protest.” Imagine that: even a paid-crowd organizer has standards.
Swart also offered a dose of reality that protesters—and their enablers—never seem to grasp. He warned that the chaos unfolding in Minneapolis will have the opposite effect of what demonstrators claim to want. Instead of reducing ICE activity, it will likely increase it. Shocking revelation: attacking law enforcement doesn’t make law enforcement go away.
This isn’t a new position for Swart. He’s been consistent about where he draws the line, and credit where it’s due—he’s sticking to it now, even as the streets descend into predictable left-wing disorder.
The uncomfortable truth, however, goes deeper. These protests aren’t about persuasion, solutions, or even coherent demands. They’re about spectacle. Rage. Venting. Watch the faces of the people screaming obscenities at ICE agents, jumping in front of vehicles, and screeching into megaphones. This isn’t reasoned dissent; it’s raw, unfiltered hysteria.
They don’t care about winning arguments or convincing voters. They care about making a scene. And above all, they care about their white-hot hatred for anything associated with President Donald Trump—a hatred that overrides logic, common sense, and basic self-control.
Swart deserves credit for refusing to be part of the mess, regardless of his own political views. But it’s not clear he fully grasps why these people behave the way they do. Many Americans don’t, and frankly, that’s because rational people struggle to understand irrational behavior.
One thing is clear, though: you can’t reason with people who aren’t interested in reason. Talking won’t stop them. Appeasing them won’t stop them. But cutting off the money that fuels these theatrics? That just might.
And that, at least, is a hopeful note.
