News/Commentary

CEO of company that deploys paid protesters to events urges Congress to crack down

November 13, 2025 | | Print Article

The CEO of a company that deploys paid protesters to events is urging Congress to crack down on the people abusing his service.

Adam Swart, the CEO of Crowds on Demand, wrote a letter to Congress earlier this month encouraging them to pass the “Transparency in Political Demonstration Act,” according to NewsNation.

The proposed bill, which in fact is Swart’s own proposal, would “protect free speech while ensuring accountability and safety” by allowing Americans to know exactly who is funding and facilitating mass protests and riots, especially those centered on being anti-Trump.

Swart’s been an especially fierce critic of billionaires funding left-wing protests and riots:

“The right to peacefully assemble is one of America’s most sacred constitutional protections,” his letter to Congress begins. “Protests have long advanced justice and reform — but in recent years, we’ve seen the line between authentic civic expression and paid political manipulation blur beyond recognition.”

“Across the country, peaceful activism has too often been replaced by coordinated influence campaigns. Most concerningly, many of these campaigns result either intentionally or unintentionally in violence, property destruction, and the mass disruption of American cities through unpermitted road closures,” the letter continues.

ADVERTISEMENT

“While these demonstrations are branded as ‘grassroots,’ evidence increasingly shows large-scale organization and financing behind them, often routed through opaque nonprofit networks designed to conceal true funders—some of whom may be foreign entities with nefarious intentions,” the letter concludes.

Swart told NewsNation that his bill would “establish ground rules for activism to preserve our basic freedoms while putting a stop to the idea that malign actors can attack our system using opaque funding networks” — particularly networks that “hide support for violent activities.”

He added that he proposed the bill “because peaceful protest is supposed to be protected speech — not a business model for dark-money networks or foreign actors trying to destabilize our democracy.”

“This isn’t about stopping protest; it’s about protecting it,” he continued. “The First Amendment only works when Americans know who’s paying.”

Swart added that he gets requests from right-wing and left-wing clients, though he prefers to work with those whose “causes … align with common-sense values.”

ADVERTISEMENT

He previously told Fox News that his and similar services have become a target for exploitation by paid agitators, profit-driven interest groups, and foreign actors.

“My concern is that there are forces — some domestic, some maybe foreign — that actually want to pull America apart,” he told the network. “These aren’t left or right actors. They’re people making money off chaos.”

He also revealed that he’d refused to provide his services for the notorious “No Kings” protests in October, calling them a “dud.”

“It’s the same people saying the same things they’ve said every time — and getting the same results,” he rightly noted.

ADVERTISEMENT

Swart further admitted that he could make a lot more money by catering to radicals, though he stressed that he’s happy with his decision.

“I’ve taken a pay cut to turn this into a company that advances common-sense causes,” he said. “I could make 10 times more if I said yes to everything. But I don’t want to be part of the noise. I want to elevate productive expression — not mob theatrics.”

He previously told NewsNation that he’d turned down $20 million to provide protesters for the so-called “Good Trouble Lives On” protests that occurred in July.

Despite refusing to provide services for two major left-wing protests,  he himself appears to be mostly apolitical in his mission.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Every time there’s an incident, both sides start finger-pointing,” he said to Fox News. “The real winners are the ones trying to divide us. They want Democrats and Republicans blaming each other instead of asking who’s profiting from it.”

Vivek Saxena
Latest posts by Vivek Saxena (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles