Prankster’s Craigslist Ad Cited as Proof that LA Protesters Were Paid
By Nicole Dirks
What happened: Conservative social media users are citing a June 2025 listing on classified ad site Craigslist to falsely claim that the anti-Trump protesters in Los Angeles were well paid to take to the streets.
A closer look: Amid the protests, pro-Trump accounts shared a June 5 Craigslist advertisement titled “Looking for the toughest badasses in the city (los angeles)” that stated, in part:
“SEEKING EXTREMELY TOUGH, BRAVE MEN FOR NEW CREW … We are forming a select team of THE TOUGHEST dudes in the area. This unit will be activated only when the situation demands it — BUT YOU GET PAID EVERY WEEK NO MATTER WHAT. high-pressure, high-risk, no room for hesitation. We need individuals who do not break, panic, or fold under stress and are basically all around kickass dudes.” The ad offered compensation of $6,500 to $12,500 per week.
The users claimed the ad proves that anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles were offered compensation. Some alleged that demonstrators who were supposedly hired through Craigslist would be paid by nonprofit organizations that receive federal funding.
A June 9 X post from conservative user @TheIntelSCIF stated: “CALIFORNIA RIOT IS A FUNDED OPERATION. Adds [sic] on Craigslist paying people $6,500-$12,500/wk for being a ‘tough badass in LA.’” The user added, “Taxpayer money is also being funneled through these NGOs to fund these operations directly against the U.S. and its own citizens.” The post received 1 million views and 20,000 likes in less than a day.
Conservative X user Liz Churchill posted a screenshot of the ad and said: “Insane. Who’s paying people $12,500 A WEEK to riot in California?” The post garnered 5 million views and 46,000 likes in two days.
Actually: The person who posted the Craigslist ad said it was a prank and that he did not expect it to be interpreted as related to the L.A. demonstrations.
In a June 10 interview with the The Associated Press (Trust Score: 100/100), YouTuber Joey LaFleur said he posted the ad to create material for a prank show he hosts on YouTube called “Goofcon1.” LaFleur, who also hosts an L.A.-based podcast called “Hate Watch,” told the AP: “I literally had no idea [the ad] was ever going to be connected to the riots. It was a weird coincidence.”
LaFleur interviewed six people who responded to the ad in a June 6 “Goofcon1” livestream, during which he acknowledged that he was “prank calling” people who responded to the ad.
NewsGuard reviewed credible news coverage of the L.A. protests and found no reports that any participants were hired to protest.
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