Progressive Group Funded Bail for Activists in ‘Free Palestine’ Bridge Protest

Community Justice Exchange, part of the Soros-funded Tides Center, solicits legal defense donations for arrested protesters

Scores of “Free Palestine” protesters across the United States took to the streets Monday to block major airports, highways, and bridges. Those who are arrested will receive bail money and legal support from a left-wing dark money behemoth funded by George Soros, an online fundraising page shows.

The protests, which took place in dozens of U.S. cities including San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia, were organized by A15 Action, a newly formed group that worked to “coordinate a multi-city economic blockade on April 15 in solidarity with Palestine.” The group’s website directs users to a “bail and legal defense fund” hosted through ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s online fundraising juggernaut.

Those who donate to the fund, the ActBlue page says, are sending money to the Community Justice Exchange, which provides “money bail, court fees and fines” and other legal services to “community-based organizations … that contest the current operation and function of the criminal legal and immigration detention systems.” The exchange is a project of the Tides Center, a left-wing dark money network funded by Soros and other liberal billionaires.

The protesters, who organized the global event under the title A15, targeted economic “choke points” with the express purpose of causing as much financial disruption as possible, according to their website.

Southbound 880 at 7th blocked #A15 day if econ shutdown, another shutdown on 880 elsewhere northbound pic.twitter.com/wcBU49wcTV

— Jaime Omar Yassin (@hyphy_republic) April 15, 2024

Ahead of the protests, A15 said it identified “major choke points in the economy” that it would “blockade” to “cause pain.” The group listed more than 50 participating cities, including Chicago, where dozens of protesters shut down access to the O’Hare International Airport for nearly an hour, forcing some travelers to walk with their luggage to the airport.

Similar protests occurred in San Francisco—where protesters held up traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge—and in Oakland, Calif., where protesters blocked all lanes on Interstate 880. Philadelphia and New York City also experienced disruptions.

At the A15 protest on Wall Street, protesters were photographed wearing Hamas bandanas and flying Hezbollah flags. Banks located near the protest were vandalized with red spray paint and graffiti that read “Funder of Genocide” and “Free Gaza.” Those protesters later blocked the Brooklyn Bridge.

Outside the New York Stock Exchange for an anti-Israel rally, a person waves the Hezbollah flag.@FrontlinesTPUSA @TPUSA pic.twitter.com/CXEvltfWiC

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) April 15, 2024

Police across the country made dozens of arrests in connection with the protests, with defendants set to receive support from Community Justice Exchange.

“On April 15th, people from over 30 cities around the world will take action to demand a free Palestine,” A15’s fundraising page reads. “Donate here to support community members who are criminalized in the U.S. for their solidarity with Palestine.”

“Should the actions of the state result in the need for it, these funds will be used for bail, legal defense, and support for defendants.”

The Tides Center houses a variety of left-wing groups, including the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. It funnels millions of dollars from wealthy donors to those groups.

The center acts as a “fiscal sponsor” to a number of liberal nonprofits, allowing the groups under its umbrella to avoid registering with the IRS. Some of those groups are known for their anti-Israel activism.

The Tides Center, for example, fiscally sponsors the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, which last year organized a “direct action” protest that attempted to block a U.S. military ship bound for Israel from leaving a port in Washington. It also sponsors the Adalah Justice Project, one of America’s most vocal Hamas apologists.

Soros and fellow liberal billionaire Pierre Omidyar are among the Tides Center’s major donors.

“The Tides Center is as liberal and politically active as they come; its entire purpose is to create new activist groups,” Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center, previously told the Washington Free Beacon.

The Tides Center, ActBlue, Community Justice Exchange, and A15 did not respond to requests for comment.

ActBlue’s website says its fundraising platform is only open to groups whose “work is not at odds with values including, but not limited to, social equality; women’s rights; LGBTQIA2S+ rights; racial justice; diversity; freedom of speech; disability rights; and respect for scientific inquiry, discovery, and data.”

A15’s “mutual solidarity agreement” outlines ways in which protesters are expected to “act in solidarity with each other in the face of attacks from the media, politicians and the police and the Zionist project.” Activists are encouraged to avoid talking to police and are not to “discourage or denounce each others [sic] plans because solidarity means affinity, not ownership.”

“If one city faces police repression, other cities will extend or expand their blockades or initiate other actions in response if able to the best of their abilities and capacity,” the agreement says.

“We will not attack each other or each other’s actions on social media or to the press. We will hold a post-action debrief so that we can raise principled critiques among ourselves in a constructive manner rather than publicly.”