Meet the $300-a-day professional protester Lisa Fithian, 63, slammed by Eric Adams who helped stir up Columbia University protests - then left before arrests began

A 63-year-old woman seen instructing student demonstrators at Columbia University is a professional protester who charges as much as $300 for her services.

Lisa Fithian, a constant figure at leftist protests for nearly five decades, was one of the Palestine supporters who 'occupied' Hamilton Hall on Tuesday.

As a counter-protester tried to prevent the protesters from barricading the building, Fithian was filmed telling them: 'This is ridiculous... We’re trying to end a genocide in Gaza.'

Additional footage shows her instructing students to 'Tie it right to the lock' as they held zip ties.

While the presence of a middle-aged woman at the demonstration may have struck some as odd, the Columbia encampment is exactly the kind of movement Fithian has made a career out of.

Lisa Fithian, a constant figure at leftist protests for nearly five decades, was one of the Palestine supporters who 'occupied' Hamilton Hall on Tuesday

Footage shows her instructing students to 'Tie it right to the lock' as they held zip ties

While the presence of an elderly woman at the demonstration may have struck some as odd, the Columbia encampment is exactly the kind of movement Fithian has made a career out of

When asked about her presence at the protest, Fithian denied being an organizer, telling the Boston Globe that she was being smeared by the right. 

'They love to hate me,' the activist said, adding that she was on campus on Monday conducting a 'training session on safety and logistics of a protest.'

The Austin, Texas, resident claimed she was invited 'informally' by someone whose name 'she did not catch.'

Despite Fithian's claim that reports about her are coming from the right, it was Democratic New York City mayor Eric Adams who this week referred to her as a 'professional outside agitator.'

Adams called Fithian 'the nation's best-known protest consultant', noting she gets paid as much as $300 a day to run demonstrations and teach how to take over streets during protests. 

'They are not here to promote peace or unity or allow a peaceful displaying of one’s voice,' Adams said. 'They are here to create discord and divisiveness.'

Despite Fithian's claim that reports about her are coming from the right, it was Democratic New York City mayor Eric Adams who this week referred to her as a 'professional outside agitator.' She is seen outside Donald Trump's hush-money trial

Fithian has a long history of participating in the major anti-establishment protests of the generation, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement 

Fithian has a long history of participating in the major anti-establishment protests of the generation, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011 and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

She published a book in 2019 titled, Shut It Down: Stories From a Fierce, Loving Resistance, where she described herself as an 'anti-racist organizer' and bragged about 'shutting down the CIA and disrupting the World Trade Organization’s first major meeting.'

In a 2021 profile, the progressive magazine in Mother Jones described her as 'the streetwise radical who’s teaching kids who want to be badass to be smart.'

The publication also called her 'the nation's best-known protest consultant' as it explained how she was paid by unions and activist groups to teach protest tactics, including how to avoid being detained by police.

Fithian, from Hawthorne, New York,  said she has been starting trouble since a young age

'Does someone want to be a cop and come get me?' she was quoted as saying to students before adding, 'Of the two choices, running away or going limp, what does running away communicate?'

The students then replied, 'guilt,' to her satisfaction. 

Mother Jones claims in the profile that there is a 'right and wrong way' to break the law, and one of Fithian's jobs is 'to teach the right way.'

'Call her Professor Occupy,' the magazine adds before mentioning Fithian's 80 to 100 arrests to the time as a badge of honor.

Fithian, originally from Hawthorne, New York, said she has been starting trouble since a young age, when 'police might knock on her door to inquire about, say, a suspicious fire in a neighbor’s front yard.'

She also recalled getting in trouble in middle school for bringing a knife to class. 

On the money she makes as an activist, Fithian told the Boston Globe: 'Of course, if I can get paid for it, I want to. If it’s an organization bringing me in to train staff, of course I want to get paid.

'But if you’re talking about young people in the street who are throwing down, I don’t even want to take donations.'

NYPD officials have said Fithian is just one of the outsiders believed to be training protesters in tactics of occupation.

CNN has reported that at least half of demonstrators at Columbia are not affiliated with the university. 

Fithian has been called 'the nation's best-known protest consultant', as she is paid by unions and activist groups to teach protest tactics

The People's Forum, a tax-exempt advocacy group who often hosts propaganda events for the regimes of countries like Venezuela and Cuba, has been accused of being behind the Columbia protests.

The Washington Free Beacon reports the group, which has received $12million from Goldman Sachs, may have provided materials for the so-called occupation of Hamilton Hall.

She published a book in 2019, where she described herself as an 'anti-racist organizer'

Over 100 masked activists met at the group's Manhattan headquarters, a base for all kinds of leftist activism, to plan their moves on Monday, participating in breakout sessions that taught 'resistance' methods.

There, People’s Forum executive director Manolo De Los Santos told the group to 'give Joe Biden a hot summer' and 'make it untenable for the politics of usual to take place in this country.'

He then claimed 'Zionist' Columbia administrators 'want to be more like their masters in Israel.'

Daniel DiMartino, a PhD student at Columbia and a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told DailyMail.com The People's Forum is a group that aims to lobby for enemies of the US.

The People's Forum, a tax-exempt advocacy group who often hosts propaganda events for the regimes of countries like Venezuela and Cuba, has been accused of being behind the Columbia protests.

The Washington Free Beacon reports the group, which has received $12million from Goldman Sachs, may have provided materials for the so-called occupation of Hamilton Hall.

On Tuesday night, NYPD officers carrying zip ties and riot shields stormed Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall which was being 'occupied' by pro-Palestinian protesters

People’s Forum executive director Manolo De Los Santos told the group to 'give Joe Biden a hot summer' and 'make it untenable for the politics of usual to take place in this country

Over 100 masked activists met at the group's Manhattan headquarters, a base for all kinds of leftist activism, to plan their moves on Monday, participating in breakout sessions that taught 'resistance' methods.

There, People’s Forum executive director Manolo De Los Santos told the group to 'give Joe Biden a hot summer' and 'make it untenable for the politics of usual to take place in this country.'

He then claimed 'Zionist' Columbia administrators 'want to be more like their masters in Israel.'

Daniel DiMartino, a PhD student at Columbia and a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told DailyMail.com The People's Forum is a group that aims to lobby for enemies of the US.

Most of the protests across the US campuses have been partly organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a campus group with more than 250 chapters across the country.

SJP was founded by UC Berkeley lecturer Hatem Bazian, who has repeatedly justified terror attacks against Israel and Intifada (uprising) in the US.

The group has received millions from several charities with alleged links to Hamas, per a report by the think tank Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP). 

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is one of the main organizers of a protest that brought Columbia University to a standstill

A new report reveals the group got millions from several charities with alleged links to Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. Students are pictured receiving checks from AMP 

The ISGAP report asserts that SJP has become an effective and well-funded network for organizing protests around the country, but that its failure to register as a charity or formal organization left its funding sources and operations murky and unregulated.

Hints of financial backing could be seen at the Columbia 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment', including students erecting several identical high-end tents costing hundreds of dollars each, and handing out free Dunkin' Donuts coffee, $12.50 sandwiches from Pret-a-Manger and $10 rotisserie chickens to participants.

The nonprofits funding SJP include the Westchester People's Action Coalition (WESPAC), Tides, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), its parent organization Americans for Justice in Palestine (AJP), and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

The ISGAP report said SJP had the closest financial links with WESPAC, which acts as a 'financial sponsor' for the organization, routing tax-free donations through its accounts to SJP chapters.

The report said SJP also gets extensive organizational aid from American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), a nonprofit under investigation by the Virginia attorney general and accused of being a reincarnation of a charity found liable for funding Hamas.