Wait…Why Are Our Tax Dollars Funding Protests?

Why Are Our Tax Dollars Funding Protests?

This is a fundamental question that should concern every taxpayer, no matter your politics: Why is our money being used to fund protests!?

This isn’t just a hypothetical question. It’s a question tied directly to this cultural, political moment. In Los Angeles, real taxpayer dollars—millions of them—have been funneled to organizations that organized and supported the anti-ICE protests we have seen video clips of.

One of the key players, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA), received over $34 million in government grants, including state and federal funds. On top of that, they pulled in $45 million from state and local taxpayers just last year.

Let that sink in: over $79 million in public money went to a group that helped organize protests around the country, some of which turned violent.

Now, let’s be clear—I’m not saying that the protesters themselves were handed envelopes of cash with taxpayer dollars inside. There’s no direct evidence of that and it’s not what I’m saying took place. But what is confirmed is that public money helped to pay for the infrastructure and logistics behind these events. This means that taxpayer-funded groups were actively supporting protests against a federal law enforcement agency. That should never happen, no matter the cause.

It’s Not About Left or Right—It’s About Right and Wrong

This isn’t a left vs. right issue. If a conservative organization received government money and used it to help organize pro-life protests or Second Amendment rallies, many people would (rightfully) raise hell about it. And they should!

The principle is simple: public money should never be used to fund political protests—no matter the cause. It’s unethical, it’s unfair, and it’s fundamentally undemocratic. There may be no greater threat to democracy than staging a political revolution to create a “crisis.”

We’re all entitled to our own opinions. In this country, we are also all given the right to peaceful protest. But we are not entitled to make our neighbors pay for our politics through their taxes. That should never happen and is completely absurd.

The Government Shouldn’t Pick Political Winners and Losers

This situation raises a bigger issue. When government officials direct public funds toward politically active nonprofits, they’re not being neutral—they’re choosing sides. That’s not just bad policy—it’s a betrayal of public trust in service of “We the people” that politicians are supposed to represent.

Taxpayer money is supposed to go toward services that serve everyone: improving schools, roads, public safety, basically all infrastructure. Not political mobilization. Not organizing marches. Not creating chaos in the streets under the banner of “activism.” This stuff should freak us out more than anything else. It’s Orwell’s 1984 playing out right in front of us.

When a government funds political protests—especially ones that spiral into violence—it stops being a neutral public servant and starts acting more like a regime that manufactures chaos in order to justify its own power.

The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power… Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.”

— George Orwell, 1984

This is how control of the masses works: create the problem, stir division, and then present yourself as the only one who can fix it. Whether it’s funding protests that target federal agencies or enabling unrest that justifies more surveillance, the pattern is the same. The government plays both arsonist and firefighter—and we, the taxpayers, foot the bill. How sickening is that!? We should all be protesting this together!

We should demand better. Demand transparency. Demand accountability. Demand that our money go toward building up our communities, not tearing them down under the banner of “activism.”

And let’s not forget—some of these protests didn’t stay peaceful. More news articles are reporting the chaos. Some turned ugly. Property was damaged. Law enforcement was targeted. And it was all enabled, at least in part, by money taken from people who never asked to be part of it in the first place!

We Deserve Accountability

Right now, congressional and federal investigations are looking into just how far this goes. That’s good—but it shouldn’t have taken this long and who knows if anything will actually come from it. I have a feeling we won’t learn our lesson and the corruption will continue.

The fact that public funds were even allowed to be used this way is a failure of leadership and oversight, and fundamentally a misuse of hard earned money from “We the people.”

It’s time for real guardrails. If a nonprofit accepts public funds, those funds should be off-limits for any political organizing. Period. Full stop.

Final Thought

You have the right to protest peacefully. So do I. I do not, you do not, and we do not have the right to make taxpayers pay for it. I shouldn’t have to make you pay for my protesting, either.

Can we keep our tax dollars focused on the things we all rely on and that don’t further the divide between us? I’d love for California’s roads to not have so many potholes. That would be a welcome Way to spend millions. NOT on pushing political agendas that divide us.

If a movement can’t stand on its own two feet without government funding, maybe it’s not as “grassroots” as it claims to be. Just a thought. It’s a good thing to think about, at least while we still can…

Sources used to check the money trail:

Fox News | NY Post | Reform California | Yahoo News | KFI AM 640