This Iowa family is behind the 'Reopen' protests popping up across the country

[SharonClark]

Evidently they are well-known in the "conservative" movement as a family that has started gun-rights groups in several states. They seem to spread like COVID-19.

Here's the link: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2020/04/22/iowa-family-behind-reopen-covid-19-protests-popping-up-across-country/3005696001/

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

1. Saw a lot of 1984 reference

Have they even read the book?

[SharonAnn]

7. "known among conservatives for their profitable anti-establishment Facebook grou

Key word is “profitable”

“ Dorr "does things in a fashion to create calamity and to help him to raise money."

[dalton99a]

2. The Dorr brothers:

[UTUSN]

3. Some excerpts:

******QUOTE******

.... Aaron Dorr, executive director of Iowa Gun Owners, and several of his brothers created Facebook groups to organize the protests in those states and elsewhere. The Dorr brothers — Chris, Ben, Aaron and Matthew — have made themselves known among conservatives for their profitable anti-establishment Facebook groups that are pro-gun and anti-abortion. Their anti-quarantine pages were developed with the same private registrar, according to an NBC analysis, and the brothers are reportedly listed as administrators on those state-specific anti-quarantine pages.

The Dorrs' Facebook groups have functioned as a digital hub that has elevated misinformation, such as alleging that health officials are intentionally inflating COVID-19 death tallies and comparing the new virus to the flu, ABC and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported. ....

Some Iowa Republicans have been critical of Dorr for years, arguing that his aggressive tactics alienate even those whose views align with his. Current House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, called Dorr "a charlatan" in 2015 during a fight over a gun rights bill, saying Dorr "does things in a fashion to create calamity and to help him to raise money."

His brothers, Ben and Chris, run the groups Minnesota Gun Rights and Ohio Gun Owners. ....

********UNQUOTE*********

[Alex4Martinez]

4. They are hankerin' for an armed uprising, Alex Jones is, too.

Showing up with guns and in camo, I'm waiting for the first shots to be fired.

Strange times.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. CBS News is promoting the protests as significant and grass roots.

Turned on the tv late last night and flipped to a channel running CBS Overnight News. Didn't even make it past their opening teaser for the show -- it was Nora O'Donnell breathlessly talking about reopen protests around the country, as if there are significant numbers of participants. The video was zoomed in so only the torsos of 2 people were in the frame, but the background was still empty space.

Looks like the network that loved trump into office is still willing to warp reality in order to drive ratings.

Do not forget.

Les Moonves, CBS CEO, 2016-02:
"It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS," he said of the presidential race.

"I've never seen anything like this, and this going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It's a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going," said Moonves.

"Donald's place in this election is a good thing," he said Monday at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco.

[mathematic]

6. How is this not grassroots?

These guys seem to be actual conservative activists, effectively organizing rallies around the country.

[ancianita]

8. Grassroots is not paid or affiliated with dark money. Dorrs make money and And how do

create chaos. If you know it is they who "organize" rallies around the country, and get no ad buy on FB or other platforms, do you have a link that shows how un-corporate they are.

Because from what I read, Dorr orgs are 501(c)4 which makes them political affiliates that can get dark money.

So no, it's not grassroots.

[mathematic]

9. Tax status of organizing groups is hardly a good indicator of grassroots

What tax status should a non-profit political advocacy organization use? Even Our Revolution, a 501(c)(4) that uses a serving politician as a mascot, says it's grassroots.

The Dorrs make money off organizing. So what. That's their job, of course they make money off it. "Grassroots" doesn't mean the organizers are volunteers.

How about you provide everybody here with evidence that the Dorrs are paid off by a corporation and that they're not just a couple of right wing cranks that are effective at organizing? Show us the payments. Are there even any statements of support from any corporations?

All I've seen are allegations of astroturfing. It's taken for granted that surely there's a right wing billionaire paying off these people but no actual evidence. Why? Are you under the impression that 30% of this country aren't trump loving lunatics? They're perfectly capable of genuine protesting.

[panader0]

10. To me, grassroots is when people don't need or use big money backers.

Grassroots protests are spontaneous, not paid for.

[mathematic]

11. There doesn't seem to be any big money here and they were organized in a week

Seems to meet your criteria. The Dorr brothers are not big money. Their job is conservative activism.

I haven't seen any evidence that they're being funded. In fact, I've seen the opposite claim, that they make money off of their activism and their organizations. No doubt they'll push the ethics of that beyond the limit (what do you expect from conservative activists?) but that doesn't mean that they're not genuine activists and that these weren't grassroots protests.

[ancianita]

12. "There doesn't seem" isn't an argument. An argument provides links, whether it proves its claim or

not.

Some arguments against the Dorrs by elected officials in states of Dorr activity:

Sixteen state representatives -- five Democrats and 11 Republicans, including then-House Speaker Kurt Daudt -- wrote a 2015 letter to constituents and gun owners warning them that Minnesota Gun Rights was a “fake” group. The organization “relies on constant postal mailings, warning you of terrible gun control if you don’t send them money,” the lawmakers wrote.

Iowa Gun Owners brought in $298,000 and spent $371,000 in 2016, according to that group’s 990 form filed with the IRS. The biggest spending was on direct mail, advertising, management fees and postage.

Aaron Dorr, the group’s executive director, is listed as working 70 hours a week and earning a $0 salary – not only for 2016, but for 2015 and 2014, too.

In 2017, a Republican Iowa state representative questioned the group’s operations.

“Folks, you’ve been lied to. Please don’t be lied to anymore. It is time for his scam to end,” state Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, said on the House floor.

Minnesota Gun Rights’ website says the group is a nonprofit and a 501(c)(4). But the IRS revoked the group’s tax-exempt status in 2016, the agency’s website indicates.

The group does not appear on the IRS master list of nonprofits. Guidestar, a website that allows users to see nonprofits’ financial information, says Minnesota Gun Rights is not registered with the IRS.

Minnesota Gun Rights has brought in $220,000 a year, according to promotional materials about the group obtained by FOX 9. But, there is no evidence that the group has filed 990s, the annual form that nonprofits use to show how much money they’ve accepted and how they’re spending it.

Dorr refused to say how much money he or Chris Dorr have been paid from the group.

https://www.fox9.com/news/minnesota-gun-group-says-its-a-nonprofit-but-was-revoked

Like corporations, the Dorrs' Facebook pages make money from ad buy.

https://www.newsweek.com/facebook-quarantine-protest-groups-dorr-brothers-coronavirus-covid19-social-media-campaign-1499154

As noted by The Washington Post, the groups have become hotbeds of pro-Trump rhetoric and misinformation.

"We do classify that as harmful misinformation and we take that down," he said. "At the same time, it's important that people can debate policies, can basically give their opinions on different things, so there's a line on this, but you know, more than normal political discourse, I think a lot of the stuff that people are saying that is false around a health emergency like this can be classified as harmful misinformation that has a risk of leading to imminent physical danger. We will be take that kind of content down."

Facebook has been contacted for additional comment.

Even Buckeye Firearms calls them a business.

https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/report-ohio-fundraising-scam-aimed-gun-owners

The formula appears to be identical across all of these organizations: use Facebook videos to attack pro-gun lawmakers and gun rights organizations, then ask for money.

They also oppose pro-gun legislation, then take credit for other people's work when the legislation passes.

Iowa seems to be ground zero for the Dorr “franchise.”

If they ever were grassroots, they aren't now. That's what I'm saying. Along with a LOT of others who don't even know each other.

[mathematic]

17. You're quoting me out of context. Don't do that.

I wasn't expressing some vague skepticism, which your partial quote suggests. I said this doesn't seem to be funded by big money. That's an observation of all the evidence available. Nobody has show them to be funded by big money and, in fact, people have provided evidence that they're not funded at all and use their activism to make money (including you, right here in this post that I'm replying to).

Yes, I know that they run some large facebook groups and monetize them. That doesn't mean they're not grassroots. They run some forums non-anonymously. They used those forums to leverage group members in states across the nation to protest lockdowns. That's textbook grassroots.

Consider if DU organized a protest on the white house. Would that not be grassroots despite DU being an LLC? (I think it would be grassroots but your argument would say they would not be). If you don't think it would be, that's fine, and I suppose we'll just have to disagree on that.

[ancianita]

18. You mean this context?

There doesn't seem to be any big money here and they were organized in a week.....

I said this doesn't seem to be funded by big money. That's an observation of all the evidence available. Nobody has show them to be funded by big money and, in fact, people have provided evidence that they're not funded at all and use their activism to make money (including you, right here in this post that I'm replying to).

No, they didn't organize in a week. They've been at this so-called grassroots work for at least a few years. Again, from Buckeye Firearms.

The 2018 tax filing for Minnesota Gun Rights says Ben Dorr worked 70 hours a week for the group, while Chris Dorr worked 15 hours a week. The 2016 filing for Iowa Gun owners says Aaron Dorr worked 70 hours a week. The 2016 filing for Ohio Gun Owners says Chris Dorr worked 40 hours a week.

But none were paid, according to their tax filings.

When questioned by critics in the past about their compensation, Ben Dorr on social media has pointed to management fees reported elsewhere in their filings and a company called Midwest Freedom Enterprises. Tax filings for Iowa Gun Owners say the firm performs all its management functions. They also say from 2015 to 2017, IGO spent $205,362 on management.

There is scant mention of Midwest Freedom Enterprises on the Internet, but the company appears to be connected to the Dorrs. The firm previously was registered to a West Des Moines address also used by Iowa Gun Owners.

A review published for Labrinth Inc., a company that helps people with paperwork for nonprofit organizations, identifies Aaron Dorr as Midwest Freedom Enterprise’s director of marketing. Iowa campaign finance filings show the company has performed paid political work like advertising and direct mail.

Cleveland.com asked Scott Hubay, an Ohio attorney who specializes in campaign finance law, to review the filings for the Minnesota, Iowa and Ohio chapters.

He said the combination of the Minnesota chapter’s high fundraising expenses, the management fees paid by the Iowa and Minnesota chapters to a Dorr-tied political firm and the lack of disclosure about employee compensation raises questions about how the Dorr groups spend their money in general.

We can't agree to disagree because you want to believe they're grassroots, no matter what you're shown.You actually haven't observed "all the evidence available." Belief isn't rational disagreement. Your point about grassroots spontaneity doesn't hold here, either in spirit or in paperwork. These guys are not grassroots. Don't believe their hype.

[mathematic]

19. I didn't say agree to disagree. Read more closely next time.

Also, "they" refers to these protests, not the organizing group, which is clear if you read more than the title of the post I responded to.

All you, or anybody else, has shown is that they make money off their activism. You keep emphasizing it, in fact. As if that makes something not grassroots. It doesn't. And if you don't agree with that, then who cares?

[Hermit-The-Prog]

13. So promotion by Limbaugh, trump, Koch Industries, Fox, et. al. equals "grassroots" to you?

Looks a whole lot like they're astroturfing, to me.

[mathematic]

14. So actual right wing activists don't exist? Is that what you're arguing here?

Yes, a grassroots right wing movement would be covered favorably in right wing news sources. That doesn't make something not grassroots, OBVIOUSLY.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. You put the cart before the horse.

The propagandists came before. Their flying monkey brigade came after.

The Grotesque Orange Pustule relayed his orders to even more minions:

[lagomorph777]

16. Republican Death Squads.

[Strelnikov_]

20. Here's what Dad has been up to

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2019/08/06/book-burning-iowa-man-who-burned-lgbtq-books-trial-paul-dorr-david-levithan-orange-city-library/1936961001/

ORANGE CITY, Ia. — A religious activist accused of burning four LGBTQ children's books that he checked out of a library in Iowa has been convicted of criminal mischief and fined.

Sioux County Attorney Thomas Kunstle says 63-year-old Paul Robert Dorr, of Ocheyedan, was found guilty of the misdemeanor Tuesday and ordered to pay $125 in fines and court costs.

Dorr posted a video to Facebook in October in which he denounced the Orange City library for having the books and threw them into a burning barrel.