"They told me that they'd have their people there watching us" - This will be a thread about how the Mueller-indicted Russian Internet Research Agency organized a Buffalo, NY protest under the guise of "Blacktivist"
Last week the Daily Beast reported that some of the Internet Research Agency's (IRA) files had been put up for sale on a dark web auction site. The listing gives us an inside look as to how the group organized protests like the one in Buffalo.
The auction had a list of volunteers that helped with the Justice for India Cummins protest - a woman who died in police custody. One of these unwitting volunteers was Sarah Jayne Poczciwinski who was kind enough to speak with me and share messages she received from Blacktivist. 
Poczciwinski told me that Blacktivist AKA the IRA told her that they would have their people watching the protest but needed to remain anonymous.
Blacktivist had Poczciwinski gather emails from people that participated in the protest and then scan those emails addresses to share with the Blacktivist organizers. They were diligent and detailed in their requests from volunteers:
They were persistent, borderline obsessive in getting these email addresses from the protesters. Poczciwinski got multiple messages urging her to upload the contact information.
It is unclear what the IRA did with this contact info. The Russians main goal in this instance seems to be amassing a list of community organizers in the African American community.
This story is just a small anecdote into how the Russians were largely successful. There is no telling how many Americans there are like Poczciwinski - unknowing vehicles for the Russian government to sow chaos and change minds in our electoral process.
