The dirty little secret is, all movements want to be perceived as homegrown, wholly organic examples of grassroots activism — that the good, patriotic citizens of our community looked around, had enough, and finally decided to do something about it. PR-wise, that’s the best possible positioning for capturing hearts and minds.
But very few movements actually are. Most are bankrolled, controlled, and directed by wealthy benefactors.
So, to make-believe otherwise and perpetuate the grassroots myth, here are three common PR tactics:
- Never mention who funds, supports, and organizes the movement. EVER! Disclose as little as possible, including who’s getting paid.
- Maximize the perceptual distance between the benefactors and the movement. No comingling, no cobranding; the movement must be perceived as a 100% independent entity.
- Reinforce the grassroots myth with human props and brand-appropriate signage: Homemade signs are better than preprinted signs; appoint inoffensive, local leaders to speak to the media.
But on the other hand, Minnesota in January is frickin’ cold. So sometimes, you’ve gotta cut corners:
Watch the clip.
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 28, 2026
Protesters walking up to a pickup truck and grabbing pre-printed signs like they're picking up supplies for a company picnic.
None of this is spontaneous.pic.twitter.com/yNhy2VoHwt https://t.co/ap9plBYw2F
Aside from the PR objectives, this strategy also serves a vital legal purpose: Funding illegal activities exposes you to judicial blowback — i.e., RICO violations and criminal prosecution — as well as compensatory penalties.
And given the loss of life and/or property damage in Minnesota alone, we’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars. Maybe even billions!
But very clearly, someone has been bankrolling Minnesota’s anti-ICE riots. And now, at long last, his cloak of anonymity has been removed.
From Fox News:
The skirmish that led to Saturday's fatal shooting of an agitator by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis and the response that followed were driven by a complex network of far-left organizations with a wide range of causes, a Fox News Digital investigation found.
A coordinated web of encrypted chats, street alerts and tracking of ICE "Abductors" in a sophisticated database reviewed by Fox News Digital shows that agitators were already mobilized at the scene where 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed minutes before any shots were fired.
[…]
Over the following hours, a national network of socialist, communist and Marxist-Leninist cells in the United States leveraged the tragic fatality into a nationwide protest operation. While grief and outrage over Pretti's death is genuine, the network's real-time rapid response, using short sensational video clips and emojis as weapons of propaganda, offers a window into the disciplined logistics, messaging and coordination of far-left warriors fomenting insurgency-like confrontation with authorities. [emphasis added]
“Socialist, communist, and Marxist-Leninist cells,” eh?
That’s probably not gonna be Cuba, because Cuba is broke. It’s probably not gonna be Venezuela because, well, at this point, Maduro has bigger concerns. And it’s probably not gonna be Russia, because they have their hands full with Ukraine (and besides, the Russians are mostly social media trolls).
Which leaves the Chinese Communist Party.
So pay extra-close attention to this story that broke on Fox News at 6 a.m. this morning (credit to FNC reporter Preston Mizell): CCP-Connected Millionaire Allegedly Bankrolls Minneapolis Agitator Groups Through Dark Money Network
As agitators and federal law enforcement continue to clash in Minneapolis, the funding behind the groups fueling the anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unrest is beginning to come to light.
One of the alleged financial backers of these agitators is a Chinese Communist Party advocate traced to a multitude of dark money organizations known to fuel far-left, CCP-influenced extremism in the U.S. and across the globe.
Earlier this week, a Fox News Digital investigation found several organizations are acting as lead voices in physically mobilizing agitators in Minneapolis, as well as communicating through multiple channels to encourage agitators to take to the streets in Minnesota and other cities. The Party for Socialism and Liberation and The People’s Forum are two of the core groups who allegedly have been behind facilitating and pushing agitators to organize on multiple occasions.
Both organizations are largely subsidized by American former tech mogul Neville Roy Singham, according to reports and congressional probes. Despite Singham facing federal investigations stretching back decades, a former federal prosecutor tells Fox News Digital that the multi-millionaire's move to China essentially shields him from being subpoenaed by U.S. authorities.
Singham, therefore, remains virtually untouchable as his dark money networks continue to wreak havoc on U.S. soil, the former prosecutor added. [emphasis added]
Don’t dismiss this as Fox News being a right-wing outlier trying to muddy the journalistic waters: None other than the New York Times reported in 2023 that Singham had funneled more than $250 million in dark money to pro-communist, anti-western organizations:
On the surface, No Cold War is a loose collective run mostly by American and British activists who say the West’s rhetoric against China has distracted from issues like climate change and racial injustice.
In fact, a New York Times investigation found, it is part of a lavishly funded influence campaign that defends China and pushes its propaganda. At the center is a charismatic American millionaire, Neville Roy Singham, who is known as a socialist benefactor of far-left causes.
What is less known, and is hidden amid a tangle of nonprofit groups and shell companies, is that Mr. Singham works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide.
And in the process, according to The Times, he’s built China an international propaganda PR network — chock-full of “useful idiots” who’ll dutifully echo all the Chi-Com’s talking points:
From a think tank in Massachusetts to an event space in Manhattan, from a political party in South Africa to news organizations in India and Brazil, The Times tracked hundreds of millions of dollars to groups linked to Mr. Singham that mix progressive advocacy with Chinese government talking points.
Some, like No Cold War, popped up in recent years. Others, like the American antiwar group Code Pink, have morphed over time. Code Pink once criticized China’s rights record but now defends its internment of the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs, which human rights experts have labeled a crime against humanity.
These groups are funded through American nonprofits flush with at least $275 million in donations.
But Mr. Singham, 69, himself sits in Shanghai, where one outlet in his network is co-producing a YouTube show financed in part by the city’s propaganda department. Two others are working with a Chinese university to “spread China’s voice to the world.” And last month, Mr. Singham joined a Communist Party workshop about promoting the party internationally. [emphasis added]
Last summer, well before the Minn. riots, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) led an investigation into Singham’s involvement in the 2025 anti-ICE Los Angeles riots:
"Mr. Singham, who resides in the People’s Republic of China, has a long track-record of assisting far-left entities, such as Code Pink, that oppose U.S. interests and support U.S. adversaries," committee lawmakers wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The Oversight Committee noted that the Party for Socialism and Liberation, one of the organizations behind the current riots in Minneapolis, "has organized and is affiliated with a series of destructive protests and civil unrest," and pointed to Singham’s involvement with the group.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. [emphasis added]
And Rep. Comer isn’t the only one on Capitol Hill who’s side-eyeing Singham:
Last April, the House Ways and Means Committee, led by Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., sent a letter to then-IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, inquiring about "specific tax-exempt organizations that promote CCP propaganda and related initiatives," including The People’s Forum, another organization that has allegedly been organizing agitators in Minneapolis.
"Mr. Singham is actively fueling CCP propaganda and financing indoctrination efforts abroad by providing hundreds of millions of dollars to groups that mix progressive advocacy with CCP talking points," the letter read. "Despite this foreign activity and engagement with CCP-tied organizations across the world, Mr. Singham’s American-based nonprofit organizations continue to do business as usual, supporting political activity and pro-CCP propaganda." [emphasis added]
The New York Times reported that Singham’s nonprofit network was likely in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act:
The Times untangled the web of charities and shell companies using nonprofit and corporate filings, internal documents and interviews with over two dozen former employees of groups linked to Mr. Singham. Some groups, including No Cold War, do not seem to exist as legal entities but are tied to the network through domain registration records and shared organizers.
None of Mr. Singham’s nonprofits have registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, as is required of groups that seek to influence public opinion on behalf of foreign powers. That usually applies to groups taking money or orders from foreign governments. Legal experts said Mr. Singham’s network was an unusual case. [emphasis added]
And if you want your outrage meter to hit overdrive, consider this gem from The Times:
Because the network is built on the back of American nonprofit groups, tax experts said, Mr. Singham may have been eligible for tax deductions for his donations.
However, as The Times noted, Singham’s strategy is bearing fruit:
Mr. Singham’s groups have produced YouTube videos that, together, racked up millions of views. They also seek to influence real-world politics by meeting with congressional aides, training politicians in Africa, running candidates in South African elections and organizing protests like the one in London that erupted into violence.
The result is a seemingly organic bloom of far-left groups that echo Chinese government talking points, echo one another, and are echoed in turn by the Chinese state media. [emphasis added]
Sound familiar?
Presumably, if there’s a financial network that’s bankrolling anti-ICE protests, then there are legal remedies to recoup the hefty cost to U.S. taxpayers: If not Singham personally, then his shadow organizations could absolutely be sued into oblivion.
And if Singham’s shenanigans are in violation of RICO, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or any other federal law, then Pam Bondi needs to step up to the plate and charge him — along with his puppets — ASAP.
Because Minn.’s anti-ICE riots aren’t an authentic, homegrown grassroots movement led by like-minded patriots. Instead, this is an aggressively Astroturf-ed imitation of grassroots activism — and underwriting all this bedlam wasn’t cheap.
Kill the funding and cripple the movement.
And that starts at the top.
Related: Should Pro-Life Protesters in Minnesota Copy the Tactics of the ICE Protesters?
One Last Thing: 2026 is a critical year for America First: It began with Mayor Mamdani declaring war on “rugged individualism” and will reach a crescendo with the midterm elections. Nothing less than the fate of the America First movement teeters in the balance.
Never before have the political battlelines been so clearly defined. Win or lose, 2026 will transform our country.
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