The US conservative activist group Americans for Prosperity, funded by the infamous Koch brothers, held an anti-Occupy movement rally in downtown Manhattan Thursday.
The group, meeting at Rockefeller center, says the purpose of the rally was to "stand up to Occupy Wall Street extremists," as well as the Obama administration's handling of the economy -- two disparate targets.
"The Occupy Wall Street crowd is nothing but a fringe element of malcontents bent on mayhem and destruction," stated Steve Lonegan, Americans for Prosperity's New Jersey state director, adding that it was "time that someone stood up to the Occupy Wall Street mob."
The rally is part of an Americans for Prosperity "Obama's Failing Agenda" bus tour traveling across the US ahead of presidential elections on Nov. 6th.
Reportedly, roughly 30 people showed up to the 10 am rally in support of the group, which claims to be "more than two million activists strong" across the country.
Bill Dobbs, an Occupy Wall Street activist who attended the Occupy anniversary event on Monday, told the Guardian that the Americans for Prosperity rally was "an interesting development."
"But the rich want almost everything, they'd like to take just about everything in sight," he said. "The 1% must be getting desperate to put their supporters out on the street."