I had no idea there were pro-Hamas groups on UNC’s campus  – so when protests erupted in Chapel Hill I wondered: Students? Or outside agitators?

I read articles about the protests at Columbia, UCLA – the New York Times interviewed a dozen protestors: Every one was a student. A second article was different. As protestors stormed into Hamilton Hall at Columbia two students, standing in a doorway, blocked their way. A gray-haired lady berated the two students, saying, This is ridiculous. We’re trying to stop genocide in Gaza.

The Times reported the lady was a professional ‘protest consultant’ – who trains protestors. She told the Times, “Of course, if I can I get paid for it…I want to get paid.” I wondered, who paid her?

Years ago, Gary and I helped doctors battling executives out to turn Blue Cross from a non-profit into a for profit corporation. Blue Cross sued both of us and the doctors. Sitting in my office Gary asked:

“Didn’t Palmer Sugg used to work for you?”

“Before he went to law school.”

Gary asked Palmer to be our lawyer. And he turned out to be brilliant. One night, after deposing a witness, he met with Gary and me, laughed.

“I can’t tell you what she said but I can tell you this: Blue Cross doesn’t want her to testify in court. They’ll drop the lawsuit.” Twenty years later, I still don’t know what the witness told Palmer in her deposition – but Blue Cross dropped the lawsuit.

After I finished reading the second article about protestors, Palmer unexpectedly walked into my office, sat down. I pointed to the article.

“I’ve been trying to figure out whether these protestors are students or outside agitators.”

Rocking back, he laughed. “Look at the tents.”

The protestors had set up rows of tents to sleep in at night on the lawn of Columbia University. Other protesters had set up the same tents at UCLA. Palmer asked:

“How many students do you know who own a tent?”

Someone had given them the tents – and whoever it was wasn’t a student.