Leaked Audio Shows La. Town Hall Protest Staged by Shadowy Anti-Trump Group

Leaked audio from an anti-Trump protest group meeting reveals activists with anti-Trump group Indivisible plotting how to best manufacture a hostile environment at a town hall with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana on Friday.

The audio, obtained by local radio station KPEL, reveals a coordinated effort to create the public impression that Cassidy's support for Trump is unpopular with his constituents. The activists, who describe themselves as liberals in the audio, can be heard strategizing how to best turn a local town hall into a political victory.

The activists split up into an "inside team" — tasked with occupying "as many seats as we can" and an "outside team," whose job was to "give [the media] the coverage they want" before joining the others inside. Activists were instructed to dress like conservatives and leave at home "any signifier that you're a liberal" in order to blend in with constituents.

The leftist activists strategized how best to "dominate" the question-and-answer section of the town hall and keep anyone "sympathetic" to Cassidy from asking a question.

The audio also reveals the activists laughing about "the poor people of Breaux Bridge" — local constituents — who might get stuck behind them. Local news coverage of the town hall said that "many attendees were turned away" from the town hall due to "capacity restrictions."

"Game plan number one is to fill as many seats as we can, right? If it's all of us in there and the poor people of Breaux Bridge are sitting behind us, well then tough luck for them," said one organizer, identified by KPEL as James Proctor. His "poor people" comment drew laughs from the other activists.

"If we can arrange it so he doesn't hear one sympathetic question–great. That only magnifies our impact," Proctor said.

...Indivisible recently partnered up with Organizing for Action, the activist group aligned with former President Obama, NBC News reported earlier this month. Additionally, Indivisible announced the formation of a new non-profit, designed to help fund the group's efforts with tax-deductible donations.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the target of similar protest efforts while on a diplomatic visit to Mexico. Although on foreign soil, that protest was organized by Democrats Abroad Mexico — an official arm of the Democratic party.