Elections

Anti-Trump Protests Funded By Left-Wing ‘Charity’

REUTERS/Noah Berger

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A left-wing charity organization with unknown sources of money is providing the funding for protests around the country — some of which have turned into violent riots — that have threatened a divided nation’s ability to unify after a contentious presidential election.

The Progress Unity Fund is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization — the same classification as the Red Cross. The group’s mission is to “provide a progressive alternative to mainstream charities,” according to its IRS filings.

The fund provides the financial backing for Act Now To Stop War & End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition, a left-wing activist group that began organizing “emergency protests” immediately after Trump’s election.

Cities where ANSWER held protests included: Chicago, New York, DC and San Francisco, among others. (RELATED: Media That Warned Of Trump Riots Now Covers Hillary ‘Protests’)

“In a shock result, Donald Trump has been elected president – but the people can rise up and defeat his bigoted, extreme right wing agenda!” ANSWER said in a post-election statement. “The ANSWER Coalition is mobilizing across the country to organize and take part in emergency actions.”

Progress Unity Fund’s website says the group “creates and funds educational and material aid programs, to challenge the barriers and find solutions to the issues creating division.”

But ANSWER describes Progress Unity Fund as its “fiscal sponsor.” And the group is asking its supporters to financially support the next round of anti-Trump protests — Trump’s January 20 inauguration — by donating to the Progress Unity Fund.

The fund’s 2015 IRS filings list just one payment to ANSWER: $9,700 for “educational programs.”

It’s unclear where Progress Unity Fund gets its money — the fund doesn’t publicly list its donors and didn’t respond to a list of questions submitted by The Daily Caller.

ANSWER will hold at least one more protest in Chicago on Saturday, according to posts on the Chicago chapter’s Facebook page. ANSWER did not respond to requests for comment. (RELATED: Leaked Emails Show Clinton Campaign Coordinating With Soros Organization)

Alex Pfeiffer contributed to this report

Follow Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson