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A re-branded ACORN branch in California is raising money to help fund an upcoming "Occupy" protest in Sacramento, FoxNews.com has learned.
The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment sent out letters this month pleading for contributions of up to $20,000 for buses, food, printing, sound and other supplies for an upcoming event dubbed "Occupy the Capitol."
“Thousands of us are arriving in Sacramento on March 5 to Occupy the Capitol with our demand that the 1 percent pay for jobs, education, essential services, and a better future,” reads a copy of the letter obtained by FoxNews.com. “We need your activists and staff to join us. …We also urgently need funding.”
The letter, which was posted on the California Federation of Teachers' website, lists a tiered system for donors. To be a “Working Class Hero,” donors must give $20,000, or enough to "rent 20 buses" for the protests. A gift of $5,000 earns an "Occupy Ally” designation.
Critics said the fundraising is yet more evidence linking the remnants of ACORN, a national organization that disbanded after a series of scandals, to the national "Occupy" movement. Like ACORN, the new group, a 501(c)3 non-profit, could be using federal funds for political ends, said Dan Epstein, executive director for Cause of Action, a Washington-based watchdog group.
“We have seen that ACCE has lobbied for federal funding, thus raising a serious concern: If they are acting as a fiscal sponsor for the 'Occupy' movement, are they using federal dollars for the same political ends,” Epstein said....
