Ferguson protests bankrolled by $33 million of George Soros money

Billionaire George Soros donated $33 million to social justice organizations which helped organize protests and rallies in Ferguson, all of which made the national headlines.

New tax filings from Soros’s private foundation link donations and funding for groups in Washington, D.C., and New York which were bussed into the Missouri town to co-ordinate messaging and lobby to news media to cover events using the billionaire’s funding.

Washington Times noted that the donations were uncovered in an analysis of the latest tax return by Soros’s Open Society Foundations as cash was reportedly funneled into keeping up numbers of protesters in the community over a period of months by bringing in outside activists.

George Soros – Festival of Economics 2012 – Trento photo Niccolò Caranti via wikimedia commons

“Soros gave at least $33 million in one year to support already-established groups that emboldened the grass-roots, on-the-ground activists in Ferguson, according to the most recent tax filings of his nonprofit…” the article noted.

“The financial tether from Mr. Soros to the activist groups gave rise to a combustible protest movement that transformed a one-day criminal event in Missouri into a 24-hour-a-day national cause celebre.”

“Our DNA includes a belief that having people participate in government is indispensable to living in a more just, inclusive, democratic society,” said Kenneth Zimmerman, director of Mr. Soros‘ Open Society Foundations’ U.S. programs, in an interview with The Washington Times. “Helping groups combine policy, research [and] data collection with community organizing feels very much the way our society becomes more accountable.”

photo 401(K) 2012 via Flickr