The Power of Confronting Members of the Political Class

It’s time to revive the time-honored tradition of confronting members of the political and intellectual class.

On Friday, October 27, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee at a rally for her campaign for mayor of Houston. As an estimated 250 Houstonians cheered at the sight of Clinton and Jackson Lee standing side by side on stage, Alex Rosen, a controversial Houston activist, interrupted the proceedings by attempting to ask the question, “Hillary, why did your husband go to Epstein Island 26 times?”

The moment Rosen shouted his question, he was immediately confronted by angry members of Jackson Lee’s campaign staff, and eventually,  security guards. It is unlikely that Clinton, Jackson Lee, or most of the audience heard his question because of how quickly the crowd and staff began shouting him down. Security ended up ripping Rosen’s shirt in half as they literally dragged him out of the room and into the hallway.

I captured the entire viral incident on camera because I was also present with the hopes of asking Clinton a question or two.

Video of Rosen’s confrontation and dragging has been seen more than four million times on his X account alone. This doesn’t count the numerous reuploads on accounts with larger followings than his.

Rosen’s regular activism is focused on catching child predators using fake social media accounts. He calls himself the Predator Poacher and has built a following for tricking alleged child predators into meeting in person and then turning over evidence to law enforcement. He claims to have assisted in the arrests of hundreds of potential child abusers.

In October 2022, Rosen went viral by questioning Dr. Peter Hotez at a Vaccine Symposium in Houston. “So Pfizer had the biggest criminal fine in history. So how is it anti-science to not trust them?” Rosen interrupted the event to ask. As Rosen stood asking questions, an older man can be heard saying “Shut up, son of a bitch” and then attempting to choke Rosen before being shoved aside. On June 18 of this year, Rosen generated headlines once again by showing up outside Hotez’s home and asking him why he would not debate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

To Confront or Not?

To be sure, Alex Rosen’s tactics are divisive. While I was in attendance at the Sheila Jackson Lee event to question Hillary Clinton, my approach was a more typical journalistic one, i.e., patiently waiting to see if there would be time for questions. When it became clear there would be no photo ops or press time—perhaps a response to Rosen’s interruption—I hurried out of the building and ran around back to see if I might catch Hillary as she entered her motorcade. No such luck.

In the end, Rosen’s tactics generated controversy but failed to get an answer to his question. Rosen himself says he does not expect an answer when he does such confrontations. Nonetheless, the viral video created dialogue around not only his actions but also his question regarding Bill Clinton’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. (Note: Bill Clinton reportedly made 26 trips on Epstein’s planes, but we do not have a record of trips to the island previously owned by Epstein.)

I have employed a similar confrontational style when attempting to interview political leaders or intellectuals after it becomes clear that a sit-down interview is out of the question.

For example, last month I had the chance to ask Dr. Hotez questions in two different scenarios. In the first situation, Hotez was kind enough to grant me a traditional interview. Unfortunately, when I asked a challenging question, Hotez said he had to go. Thus, when I attempted to ask him more questions the following week, I took a more confrontational style because I knew Hotez was not going to be receptive to my questions a second time.

(While some may argue that Hotez is a doctor and should not be confronted in the same manner as the political class, I would counter that Hotez has made himself fair game by constantly making corporate media appearances and calling for political policies aimed at silencing “anti-vaxxers”.)

I took a similar approach in November 2022 when I confronted former CIA Director John Brennan. As I wrote after the confrontation:

“I contemplated interrupting the event and loudly calling out John Brennan for his crimes. I opted against this tactic because the 250 people in attendance — including high school students — were largely, if not completely, in Brennan’s fan club. Instead, I waited until the event was over and walked right up to Brennan as he walked toward the elevators.”

In the end, I was able to confront Brennan when he was all by himself. I asked him question after question while he ignored me. Only then—once I realized he wasn’t going to answer—did I resort to loudly calling him a war criminal.

Whether you agree with the confrontational style of questioning politicians or not, the fundamental action of going to political and academic events to confront members of the political and intellectual class is absolutely vital to a free society. While yelling at the person might not always be necessary, persistence is a must if you want to calmly confront a politician.

In April, I questioned former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard about her relationship with the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders program. I did not yell in her face or interrupt an event, but I did continue to ask her questions and follow her to her vehicle despite her attempts to ignore me. In the end, she answered my questions, and I caught the whole exchange on video.

Highlighting Truth and War Crimes by Confrontation

Confronting a politician or a doctor can certainly make waves on social media and contribute to important conversations on matters of war, surveillance, child abuse, etc. But it also sends the message to the political class that the people are not going to sit by silently while they continue to wreak havoc on the planet.

When I first began my activist journey in late 2009, left-wing activists were anti-war and wanted nothing more than to hold George W. Bush accountable for his post-9/11 war crimes. Anywhere and everywhere Bush went, there was likely to be a protest presence. Over the years, as former President Obama’s constitutionalist peacenik mask was ripped off to reveal Bush 2.0, activists began confronting him at public speeches. In fact, mostly defunct websites like War Criminals Watch used to regularly detail upcoming public events held by members of the Bush and Obama administrations.

One of the first citizen journalists/activists to popularize confrontations in the age of YouTube was Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change. In the years following the 9/11 attacks, Rudkowski and other NYC activists began confronting various government officials involved in the recovery effort, including former Mayors Rudy Giuliani and  Michael Bloomberg. Over the last 16 years, Rudkowski and various chapters of We Are Change have confronted politicians around the world, including members of the infamous Rothschild family. The confrontations surely inspired countless young activists and citizen journalists to do the same in their local area. I count myself among those inspired to action.

Unfortunately, activists in the 2020s seem more focused on fighting each other over perceived political differences or their favorite political puppet rather than redirecting their anger and frustration toward the criminals at the top. My hope is that with activists like myself, Alex Rosen, and others who still see the need to confront influential politicians, academics, and intellectuals, there will be a revival of this type of activism/guerilla journalism.

Thankfully, there does seem to be renewed interest in confrontations, or, at the very least, polite but adversarial interviews. Only days before Alex Rosen interrupted Hillary Clinton’s appearance at the Sheila Jackson Lee rally, anti-war activists confronted Clinton at a Columbia University event titled, “Making Human Rights Come Alive.” Video of the incident shows Robert Castle and Simon E. Miller confronting Clinton with questions about her support of funding for the wars in Ukraine and Israel. The interaction has been seen more than 100,000 times on X and led to critical questioning of the war narrative. On top of all that, on Wednesday, hundreds of Columbia University students walked out of a two-hour lecture delivered by Clinton.

Clearly, the confrontations, questions, and protests can have an impact not only on the news cycle but also on the world around us. This may seem obvious, but it bears repeating: Your actions can influence the world around you in a positive way. We are not doomed to more war, more surveillance, invasions of civil liberties, and economic enslavement.

I encourage those interested in confronting the Clintons, Trumps, and Obamas of the world to sign up for email lists of universities, non-profits, and NGOs, which organize lectures, presentations, and galas where criminals are present. This is typically how I learn of upcoming events featuring the likes of Henry Kissinger or Peter Hotez.

If we choose to step up and be active participants in the world around us, we can—and will—plant seeds in the minds and hearts of our friends and family. If we refuse to stand idly by while individuals in positions of influence spread lies, promote war and death, and actively work to strip us of our liberties, we can call them out directly. Most importantly, when we confront and challenge these wannabe tyrants to their faces, it shatters the illusion that they are all-powerful. It destroys the assumption that we are destined to live our lives as pawns in the games liars and thieves play. No—when humanity rises, when we choose to claim our power and loudly shout, “I will not go in silence. I will not allow your crimes to persist without taking a stand,” we are keeping the spirit of “liberty and justice for all people” alive.