Did the GOP pay protesters at Duckworth event?

Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) was greeted by a few dozen African-American protesters outside a Monday gathering in Chicago. They held up handwritten signs accusing the Senate candidate of ignoring their community and chanted that it was time for her to go.


But when they started talking to the press, something was off.


One demonstrator asked a Chicago Tribune reporter “whether Duckworth is a Democrat or a Republican” and said he was being paid “by the man who sponsored” the protest. Before he could say more, other demonstrators nearby told him to stop talking. The group then refused to answer questions about why they were there or if they were supporters of Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), whom Duckworth is trying to unseat in November.

Blue Nation Review, a progressive blog, reported that an attendee at Duckworth’s event recognized some of the protesters as residents of a local homeless shelter. Demonstrators were also fine with accepting food from Duckworth’s campaign. The Chicago Sun-Times observed that staffers brought out bacon and eggs after the event ended, and protesters munched away.

So who was leading these protesters, and were they being paid?

Sean Savett, a spokesman for the Illinois Democratic Party, passed along a video of the Kirk campaign’s field director, Matthew Custardo, offering coffee and donuts to those demonstrating against Duckworth. Savett said a Democratic colleague who was at the event witnessed Custardo “organizing and encouraging the protesters.”


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tammy-duckworth-mark-kirk-senate-race_us_56faacace4b014d3fe24344a?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link