ACORN: The LA Story, Part I

by Andrew Breitbart

Today I received a phone call from my friend, Gary H., who said that ACORN was staging a protest outside the Fox News studios in West Los Angeles. I called someone at the Fox News bureau to find out that there were no protesters there, but quickly realized ACORN had gotten that wrong too. They were protesting in front of FOX Television Center, the home of local affiliate KTTV.

Since I woke up to the news that ACORN had sued the U.S. government to get its federal funding back, it struck me as obvious that ACORN is in the process of trying to get its mojo back absent any real investigations by the Holder Justice Department, the Democratic-controlled Congress, and the Jerry Brown sham investigation in California – not to mention the  so-called “internal investigation” whose chief investigator was picked by number one ACORN defender, John Podesta, and SEIU head Andy Stern, whose union is deeply aligned with the troubled “community organizing” group.

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Despite all the evidence we have published that exposes ACORN as both corrupt and criminal, no other mainstream media organization has shown any signs of investigating ACORN despite countless angles and document trails.  So I knew I had to go down to the protest on Bundy Drive to ask ACORN protesters a few questions.

With very little time I got in the car with Big Government Associate Editor Alex Marlow to meet Gary H. down at the protest. When we arrived, the protesters were fifty or so strong, monitored by a few police units standing to the side. Given that the police made me feel safe, I walked straight toward the chanting protesters while accepting an ACORN full-color single page handout entitled, “ACORN MEMBERS — MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN  THEIR COMMUNITIES,” which sung the praises of the organization.

As I walked toward the group I noticed a news camera was filming them, so I stood next to the camera, not only to memorialize what I was saying, but also as a further attempt to grant myself security, given that I was greatly  outnumbered.

I told the group that my website, BigGovernment.com, was the website that had launched the ACORN story and that I was here to answer any questions they had about our investigation.  Instead of engaging me, they backed away, pointed at their ACORN buttons, screamed and chanted. One ACORN leader, a towering African American gentleman, told the group: “‘We don’t want to hear what he has to say.” And began leading them in a group chant:

“Everywhere we go, people want to know, who we are, so we tell them:  We are ACORN, mighty, might ACORN!

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They also chanted, multiple times, words from the old Unidad Popular Marxist song that accompanied Salvador Allende’s successful 1970 presidential campaign in Chile:  “The people united, will never be defeated” – a rallying cry for radical leftists all over the world.

I tried to draw their attention and talk as loud as I could, and asked a series of questions, “What do you think about Dale Rathke embezzling  millions from your organization?” “How much are you getting paid?”  “Are you aware that ACORN has been caught paying less than the minimum wage for protesters fighting for a minimum wage increase?”

And I also told them many times, “You are being used.”

One thing was certain from this confrontation. They were not prepared for it. The group quickly dispersed into two units, one on the east side of Bundy and the other on the west. I chose to cross the street and confront the group leaving the core of the protest. Those left from the core and a cameraman followed me across the street. I was looking to start some discussions.

As the protest now started to resemble a disorganized walking procession toward the OSH Hardware and Garden center parking lot, one Latino male in his forties started asking me why I’m not covering Blackwater instead.  I told him my website Breitbart.com has carried many newswire stories on Blackwater. A few others backed up their ally and one commented, “…because we don’t kill people.”

One younger ACORN protester handed me a button that said, “‘I Am ACORN. Ask Me Why!’” He said it was a “peace offering.”

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My question exactly.  But when confronted with a person who wanted an answer, none of the ACORNites wanted to offer any answers.

The protest in ten short minutes had gone from strong and boisterous to a series of packs talking to one another in the OSH parking lot. They started taking off their ACORN red t-shirts and walking to their cars.  I found Alex again, and we walked toward Gary H, who had originally tipped us off.  We headed for our cars, which were parked next to the ACORN protesters.

It was weird. Once out of uniform their anger started to pour forth. One group of mixed gender twenty-something Hispanics walked by glaring at us. One said, “maricón,” which is an anti-gay slur. A car drove by and the driver shouted, “Hey sweetheart, you need to get a bra.” The group walking next to us laughed, pointed and taunted. (This group consisted of at least four people, three of whom were noticeably overweight, but I digress.)  I continued to try to have a conversation but got a final, “No one wants to hear the shit you have to say.”

It was only then that I began to feel the slightest bit fearful.  When they were wearing their red shirts – how appropriate – and with cops around, everything was cool.  But when the shirts came off, I could see them for what they really were:  common street thugs, the dregs of society.  I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

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And to cap the ACORN protest day, one stated, “Go back to your mansion!” It was at that moment that I wished I had a mansion, with gates.  Just like the typical L.A. liberals who live in Bel-Air, support ACORN and would call the cops if they ever saw them in their neighborhoods.

As we headed back to our cars, Gary H. was shaking. I asked if he was OK. He said he had to play me the audio of one of the protesters that he recorded before we got there. We decided to go to a restaurant to have lunch to listen to the interview.

We did.  And it’s amazing.  The woman on the tape proudly confesses to things that are unethical, illegal or both.  You’ll hear it tomorrow.

In short, the ACORN story is far from over.  There are more videos to come next week.  You’ve seen the Baltimore story, the Philadelphia story, the New York story.

Now you will know about the LA story.


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Posted Nov 12th 2009 at 7:17 pm in ACORN, Featured Story | 185 Comments