Progressive Protest Industrial Complex Fueled by Professional Activist Class [WATCH]

Jason Rantz said activist groups operating in Seattle remain organized and strategically coordinated but are no longer attracting the same level of public participation seen during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, arguing that public rejection of radical anti-enforcement positions has limited their growth.

During an exchange with Andrew Kolvet, Rantz was asked to explain the current state of activism in Seattle and how organized and militarized those groups have become.

“So explain to us what is going on in Seattle. Then, related to Minnesota, you have been around these communist front groups longer than just about anybody in the country. You see it up close and personal in the Pacific Northwest. How big is this movement? How militarized are they? How organized are they? Explain it for our audience, please. Jason Rantz,” Kolvet said.

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Rantz responded that while the movement remains structured, its size has declined significantly compared to its peak years.

“So, it is very organized, but it’s not nearly as large as it once was,” Rantz said.

He pointed to the protests and riots of 2020, which he said occurred at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and were driven by misinformation.

“There were millions of people nationwide who actually did, in fact, take to the streets, and that was all based on a lie.”

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Rantz said that despite what he described as increasingly favorable media coverage for recent protests, the number of people participating has not matched previous levels.

“There’s still a lot of misinformation and just flat out lies happening. And yet, we’re not seeing the same number of people out on the ground,” he said.

“It’s the same folks, over and over and over again who are showing up.”

He said the movement has grown slightly but remains dominated by repeat participants and organized activist networks rather than broad public support.

“It’s grown a little bit, there’s no doubt about that. And not everyone who shows up to these protests are sort of that professional activist class, but the same level of organizing, the same level of strategy is at play,” Rantz said.

Rantz described what he called a “progressive protest industrial complex,” involving activists and far-left Democratic lawmakers encouraging confrontations with federal immigration enforcement.

“You’ve got a bunch of folks, in this case, either activists within the community who are part of the organization, or it’s Democrat lawmakers, far left lawmakers, who are encouraging you, in this case, to interfere with ICE operations,” he said.

“Go out there, get in their faces, put your bodies on the line.”

Rantz said those actions have contributed to violent outcomes, citing the death of Alex Freddy, which he said was later used to generate further outrage and mobilization.

“They end up creating a situation in which someone like Alex Freddy ends up getting killed, then they use that death to create more outrage that then just creates that vicious circle,” Rantz said.

He added that the cycle benefits organizers through increased attention, funding, and media exposure.

“It just makes folks a whole bunch of money. It gets people more follows on social media, and it gets them more favorable press coverage,” he said.

Rantz said the movement is unlikely to disappear entirely but argued its stalled growth reflects public resistance to eliminating immigration enforcement.

“They are against on the radical left, all enforcement of immigration laws,” he said.

“That is a radical position that is not shared by the vast majority of this country.”

Rantz said the decline in participation compared to 2020 indicates that many voters now favor immigration enforcement and are no longer responding to calls for mass protest.

“And I think that explains why we’re not seeing this movement grow at the same level as we saw during the BLM Movement,” he said.

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