How to Protest in America: Rights, Rules & Real Talk with Crowds on Demand CEO Adam Swart | Purple Political Breakdown

Purple Political Breakdown host Radell Lewis sits down with Adam Swart, founder and CEO of Crowds on Demand the country's largest protest and advocacy firm for an eye-opening conversation about the state of protesting in America. With ICE protests dominating headlines and tensions escalating between civilians and law enforcement, this episode delivers the insight you need right now.

Adam brings over a decade of experience organizing high-profile protests and advocacy campaigns across the political spectrum. Featured on Fox News, Fox Business, NewsNation, OAN, and Newsmax, his takes on modern activism have drawn millions of views and sparked national debate about transparency, funding, and ethics in protest movements.

After more than a decade inside the protest-organizing world, Adam is sounding the alarm. Modern demonstrations have shifted from grassroots expression to highly coordinated operations driven by money, messaging, and strategic optics. He reveals that requests to hire or coordinate demonstrators have surged over 400% in recent years, tied to flashpoint issues from immigration and energy policy to foreign conflicts. Adam breaks down how professional demonstrators, nonprofit pass-throughs, and activist contractors operate behind the scenes and why hidden funding, not paid protesting itself, is the real threat to public trust.

Adam and Radell dive into your First Amendment rights as a protester what you can do without a permit, how to navigate police interactions, and why violence, vandalism, and blocking streets will always hurt your cause. They tackle de-escalation from both sides, examining why ICE agents' approach has drawn widespread criticism and what law enforcement should be doing differently. The conversation also covers cancel culture hypocrisy from both the left and right, celebrity double standards on climate change, and why Venezuela's history of U.S. influence campaigns estimated near $1 billion between 2004 and 2009 provides critical context for understanding today's protest landscape.

Adam introduces two major proposals: the Protesters' Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, a framework holding both demonstrators and authorities accountable, and the Transparency in Political Demonstrations Act (TPDA), legislation he authored and submitted to Congress. The TPDA protects peaceful protest while requiring basic funding disclosure for large coordinated demonstrations of 500 or more participants targeting who funds and organizes protests, not what people say.

Whether you're planning to hit the streets, organizing your community, or just trying to understand your rights in today's political climate, this episode is essential listening.

Topics discussed: protest rights, ICE protests 2025, First Amendment protections, peaceful protest tips, de-escalation techniques, paid protests, paid activism, protest funding transparency, cancel culture, free speech, police accountability, defund the police, Protesters' Bill of Rights, Transparency in Political Demonstrations Act, TPDA, advocacy strategies, protest organizing, civil rights, Trump administration, BLM protests, Venezuela influence campaigns, climate change activism, Crowds on Demand, nonprofit pass-throughs, professional demonstrators

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Host: Radell LewisGuest: Adam Swart, Founder & CEO of Crowds on DemandFollow Adam: @ceoadamswart on X