Idaho Second Amendment Alliance (I2AA)

As reporters Lisa Hagen of WABE in Atlanta, Ga. and Chris Haxel of KCUR in Kansas City, Mo. have chronicled, Greg Pruett is the head of the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, part of a network of gun rights groups that push a no-compromise message in statehouses across the country. And it turns out Pruett operates more than one Facebook page; he has several. And, according to Ellis, he has fashioned himself into a one-man propaganda band for a whole set of anti-government subcultures in Idaho. The philosophy Pruett and his pro-gun partners follow is modeled after a book called Confrontational Politics. Its lessons offer a blueprint for political insurgency that activists across the no-compromise movement use.

Greg Pruett, president of the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, represents himself as a champion of gun rights. His history, record, and far-right connections tell a different story. Greg Pruett’s true talents lie not in his understanding of the Constitution or gun rights, but in his ability to manipulate social media. Taking lessons from a group of now-infamous anti-conservative grifters, he practices the art of creating the false appearance that he is merely one prominent member of a large group of grassroots activists. But the grass is fake, and Greg Pruett is Idaho’s king of astroturfing. Contrary to Greg Pruett’s often used line of when they are attacking me, they are really attacking you, the gun owners… this isn’t to attack those who’ve been drawn in by Pruett’s astroturfing campaign. He learned from some of the best social media grifters in the midwest who like Pruett have betrayed the interests of gun owners to build an empire of astroturfed front organizations. Idaho gun owners are not the problem, they are the victims of Greg Pruett’s deceptions.

After a campaign finance complaint was referred to the Idaho attorney general for investigation, Greg Pruett of the Idaho 2nd Amendment Alliance belatedly filed a campaign finance report on his TV ad campaign in favor of Rep. Christy Zito, R-Hammett, who is running for the state Senate. Pruett’s report, filed Monday evening, shows his group has raised $15,869, with $1,600 of that coming from Idaho Falls attorney Bryan Smith and the rest in small, unitemized donations of less than $50; and spent $4,430 on TV and Facebook advertising in multiple legislative races. Pruett acknowledged that under Idaho’s Sunshine Law, he was required to file a report and disclose his donors of $50 or more when he distributed an “electioneering communication” that “unambiguously refers to any candidate,” and was sent out within 30 days before a primary election.