In the world of politics, there’s a term known as “astroturf.” It’s used to describe protests or political efforts that appear to be “grassroots” but in fact are artificially generated.

That’s what Ferguson mayor James Knowles III is saying about the violent protests that rocked his city last summer. But he told a radio audience that the mainstream media has largely ignored this important fact.

The Hill reports that Knowles said:

“Only a handful were even from Ferguson. And so we started asking the question: Where are these people coming from, and who’s supporting this?”

“And as the months have played out, we’ve seen that MoveOn.org, Organization of Black Struggle – national groups have openly and surreptitiously funded a lot of what’s been going on.”

In fact, a list of payments made to out-of-town protesters was discovered last month:
This list was reportedly compiled in response to complaints from many protesters about not getting their promised paychecks from Missourians Organizing For Reform and Empowerment (MORE), an offshoot of ACORN.
Of the 52 Ferguson protesters arrested during a two-day period in August, 48 were from out of town.

This article was contributed by WRTC member, W. Fox, as a follow-up to an earlier WRTC opinion. Dennis Galvin put it best, “Police reform is something that is and always will be needed. It is an on-going process. However, fundamental to that effort is knowing, who the good guys and the bad guys really are. The anti police movement, spawned in Ferguson, wants us to believe that the police are the problem. Its deceitful rhetoric only confuses the issue and distracts us from the real problem.   The police must have public support to do their job.”