A military parade planned in Washington, DC to celebrate Donald Trump’s birthday has become the center of a strange controversy. Someone posted an ad on Craigslist asking people to come and pretend to be part of the crowd. The ad said they were looking for seat fillers and extras to make it look like a large number of people had come out to support Trump at the parade.
The ad, which appeared online on Tuesday, claimed to be from an event company called “T-Mellon Events.” It invited people to show up on June 14th at 9 a.m., wearing red, white, and blue clothes. It also said that participants would be given a red hat and allowed to wear gold accessories. These extras would then be guided on where to sit or stand to make the event look more crowded, especially from the VIP viewing platform where cameras would be filming.
The ad promised to pay a flat fee and give lunch, which would include fast food and soda. It also stated that people of color and those from diverse ethnic backgrounds were especially encouraged to join, so that they could be placed prominently in the televised sections of the event, giving the appearance of a more diverse and enthusiastic crowd.
Another strange part of the ad was that it mentioned a company called “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT LLC” would pay each person $1,000 in cryptocurrency for showing up. This raised even more suspicions.
Fact-checking website Snopes investigated the ad and couldn’t confirm if it was a prank or something actually arranged by Trump’s team. They said it was unclear who posted it, but the ad included several things that made it seem like it was possibly a joke. For instance, there is no real record of a company named “T-Mellon Events,” and the header image used in the post turned out to be a photo of Russian soldiers from a completely different event.
At the same time, a protest group named “50501” launched their own campaign. They asked people to reserve tickets for Trump’s parade—but not actually attend. The idea was to leave the seats empty and make the event look like it had a poor turnout. They posted on Instagram using sarcastic language to hint at their real plan, while pretending not to reveal it directly. They also encouraged people to participate in a protest on the same day, calling it a “NO KINGS” movement meant to push back against billionaires and demand more investment in regular citizens.
All this confusion and online back-and-forth has created a strange atmosphere around what was supposed to be a celebratory military event. It’s unclear how many people will actually attend the parade or if it will look as grand as planned, but the mix of hoaxes and protests has already drawn widespread attention.
