re: NYPD: 'There's somebody behind this movement'

I'm a big 1A guy, but people being paid to protest has gotten out of hand. There is so much big money involved, those funding these groups can gaslight the media and the public by making people believe there's a groundswell of grassroot support behind something no one supports. That's a Goebbels' level of manipulation I do not believe the First Amendment was never meant to protect.

Paid protestors should be considered to be lobbyists and therefore have to register and wear some form of prominent identification. Any paid protestor found not wearing such easily visible ID and/or not being registered as a lobbyist would face a minimum of 1 yr in jail and a $10k fine. The company/person paying them would face a $250k fine per protestor violation per day.