Mark Meckler
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Mark Jay Meckler (born March 10, 1962) is an American
political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...
, attorney, and business executive. He currently serves as President of
Citizens for Self-Governance Citizens for Self-Governance (CSG) is a conservative American nonprofit political organization. In 2015, it launched a nationwide initiative calling for a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution to reduce federal spendin ...
and Convention of States Action, and is an active proponent of a
convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution A convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, also referred to as an Article V Convention or amendatory convention; is one of two methods authorized by Article Five of the United States Constitution whereby amendments to ...
. Meckler was a co-founder of the
Tea Party Patriots The Tea Party Patriots is an American conservative political organization founded in 2009 as part of the Tea Party movement. It is known for organizing citizen opposition to the Affordable Care Act during the presidency of Barack Obama, and more ...
before resigning from the organization in 2012. From February through May 2021, Meckler served as the interim CEO of social media platform
Parler Parler () is an American alt-tech social networking service associated with conservatives. Journalists have described Parler as an alt-tech alternative to Twitter, and users include those banned from mainstream social networks or who oppose ...
.


Early life, education, and early career

Meckler was born in Southern California and grew up in Northridge, in the San Fernando Valley. He obtained a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree from
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
, and in 1988 he received a J.D. degree from the University of the Pacific
McGeorge School of Law University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is a private, American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California. It is part of the University of the Pacific and is located on t ...
. In the early 1990s, he moved to
Nevada County, California Nevada County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the Sierra Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 102,241. The county seat is Nevada City. Nevada County comprises the Truckee-Grass Valley, CA Micropolitan ...
, where he and his wife opened a coffeehouse in Nevada City. After selling the cafe in 1997, he started a company that made equipment for the snow-skiing industry. For several years Meckler and his wife also worked together as distributors for
Herbalife Herbalife Nutrition Ltd., also called Herbalife International, Inc. (with a U.S. subsidiary called Herbalife International of America) or simply Herbalife, is a global multi-level marketing (MLM) corporation that develops and sells dietary sup ...
, where they qualified for the "president's team" of top sellers. Meckler next established a law practice focused on business law. He eventually specialized in
Internet advertising Online advertising, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, digital advertising or web advertising, is a form of marketing and advertising which uses the Internet to promote products and services to audiences and platform users. ...
law and worked as counsel for Unique Leads and Unique Lists, two closely related online marketing operations. In 2007, he worked with Opt-In Movement to create a list-generation firm that catered to political campaigns.


Political activism


Tea Party movement

Following a call for protests from
CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
Business News editor
Rick Santelli Rick John Santelli (born July 6, 1956) is an editor for the CNBC Business News network. He joined CNBC as an on-air editor on June 14, 1999, reporting primarily from the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade. He was formerly the vice president for ...
and others, Meckler and his family began promoting the idea of a
Tea Party protest The Tea Party protests were a series of protests throughout the United States that began in early 2009. The protests were part of the larger political Tea Party movement. Most Tea Party activities have since been focused on opposing efforts o ...
in
Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
, on February 27, 2009. They arrived at the planned protest location with homemade signs, but without an event permit, which they had to apply for on the spot. Approximately 150 people participated, and Meckler began planning further protests, which led him to make contact with other activists in the burgeoning
Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...
. Meckler co-founded the Tea Party Patriots organization in March 2009, along with Rob Neppell,
Jenny Beth Martin Jenny Beth Martin (born July 2, 1970) is the co-founder and national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, and a columnist for ''The Washington Times''. In February 2010, ''Time'' magazine named her as one of its 100 Most Influential Leaders. S ...
and
Amy Kremer Amy Kremer (born 1970 or 1971) is an American political activist known for her roles in the Tea Party movement and as a supporter of Donald Trump. She became involved in the Tea Party movement in 2009 and campaigned as part of the Tea Party Expre ...
. The organization became one of the largest in the Tea Party movement. As a spokesperson for the
Tea Party Patriots The Tea Party Patriots is an American conservative political organization founded in 2009 as part of the Tea Party movement. It is known for organizing citizen opposition to the Affordable Care Act during the presidency of Barack Obama, and more ...
, Meckler was often quoted by journalists in articles about the Tea Party movement. Meckler was outspoken about the Tea Party being a
grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
movement and independent from traditional political parties. He said the movement was "neither left nor right", but consisted of "people of common sense who coalesce around the principles of fiscal responsibility,
constitutionally limited government A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
and free markets." He criticized the
Tea Party Express The Tea Party Express is a California-based group founded in the summer of 2009 to support the Tea Party movement. Founded as a national bus tour to rally Tea Party activists, the group's leadership also endorses and promotes conservative candida ...
organization for being too closely aligned with the Republican Party. Meckler condemned radio personality Mark Williams, then chairman of the Tea Party Express, as "vile" and "racist" after Williams made blog posts about the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
that were criticized as racially insensitive. Meckler and Martin co-authored a book, ''Tea Party Patriots: The Second American Revolution'', which was published in February 2012. Shortly after the book was published, Meckler resigned from the Tea Party Patriots, citing differences with Martin and other board members over how the organization was being managed. On ''
The Dylan Ratigan Show ''The Dylan Ratigan Show'' is an American television program on MSNBC hosted by Dylan Ratigan, formerly of sister CNBC's '' Fast Money''. It aired weekdays from 4pm to 5pm Eastern Time. The show was previously known as ''Morning Meeting with Dylan ...
'', Meckler said, "The organization had been doing things that associated it with the Republican party. I'm not a Republican, and a large number of people in the Tea Party movement—40%—aren't Republicans. So when they sponsored the
Southern Republican Leadership Conference The Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC) is a political event held in the Southern United States before each United States presidential election, presidential election. The event is attended by Republican Party (United States), Republic ...
to the tune of $250,000, really it was kind of the final blow for me." In September 2015, Meckler wrote an article for '' The Hill'' noting his satisfaction with Republican
John Boehner John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...
's resignation from his position as
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U. ...
. Meckler wrote that "Boehner had a long history of selling out the American people" and "America deserves better."


Citizens for Self-Governance

Meckler founded the organization
Citizens for Self-Governance Citizens for Self-Governance (CSG) is a conservative American nonprofit political organization. In 2015, it launched a nationwide initiative calling for a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution to reduce federal spendin ...
(CSG) to "focus on broadening the philosophical reach of the idea of 'self-governance' outside of the Tea Party movement". In April 2012, Meckler became an adviser to the
Campaign for Primary Accountability The Campaign for Primary Accountability is a nonpartisan Super PAC created in 2011. Founded by Leo Linbeck III and Eric O'Keefe, the group's goal is to defeat longtime and unpopular incumbents of both the Republican Party and Democratic Party. ...
, a SuperPAC. Through his work with CSG, Meckler has helped to file a class action lawsuit against the
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...
, alleging violations under the Privacy Act as well as violations of constitutional rights guaranteeing free expression and equal protection under the law. The lawsuit stemmed from IRS targeting of conservative groups for more scrutiny as they applied for tax-exempt status. In March 2016, a three-judge panel of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of ...
made a unanimous ruling rebuking the IRS and giving the agency two weeks to produce the names of organizations it targeted based on their political leanings. Meckler has also been an active proponent of a
convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution A convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, also referred to as an Article V Convention or amendatory convention; is one of two methods authorized by Article Five of the United States Constitution whereby amendments to ...
. After
Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...
endorsed CSG's plans for a convention of states to propose amendments, Meckler said he was glad to see the Convention of States Project "enter the mainstream of presidential politics." In September 2016, CSG held a simulated
convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution A convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, also referred to as an Article V Convention or amendatory convention; is one of two methods authorized by Article Five of the United States Constitution whereby amendments to ...
in
Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula ...
. Of the simulation, Meckler said: "People from all states gathered, proposed six amendments and ran a simulated convention. It has never been done before in American history. The point was proof of concept." Meckler said an Article V convention would have three focuses, including imposing financial restraints on the federal government, limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and imposing term limits on officials and members of Congress.


Parler

Meckler sits on the executive committee of
Parler Parler () is an American alt-tech social networking service associated with conservatives. Journalists have described Parler as an alt-tech alternative to Twitter, and users include those banned from mainstream social networks or who oppose ...
, an American
alt-tech Alt-tech are social media platforms and Internet service providers that have become popular among the alt-right, far-right, and others who espouse extreme or fringe opinions, in the belief that these alternatives moderate content less stringe ...
microblogging Microblogging is a form of social network that permits only short posts. They "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links",. Retrieved June 5, 2014 which may be the major reason for ...
and
social networking A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...
service popular with supporters of former President Donald Trump. On February 15, 2021, Parler announced that Meckler was interim CEO of the company, after the board fired the previous CEO and Parler founder John Matze. George Farmer took over Parler from Meckler in May 2021.


Personal life

Meckler is married and has two children. In December 2011, Meckler attempted to check in a hand gun prior to a flight departing from New York's
LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...
. He was arrested and charged with second degree criminal possession of a weapon. Meckler had a permit to carry the gun in California, but it was not valid under the
gun laws in New York Gun laws in New York regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the U.S. state of New York, outside of New York City which has separate licensing regulations. These regulations are very strict in comparison to the re ...
. Meckler was released following
arraignment Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisd ...
. A spokesman for the Port Authority Police said Meckler "had a misunderstanding of the law. He had a permit to carry in California." An attorney for Meckler said Meckler was "in temporary transit" through New York and the gun was "lawful" and in a safe approved by the
Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...
. After the incident, Meckler said he believed his constitutional rights had been violated. Meckler paid a $250 fine and his gun was destroyed.


See also

*
Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...
*
Citizens for Self-Governance Citizens for Self-Governance (CSG) is a conservative American nonprofit political organization. In 2015, it launched a nationwide initiative calling for a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution to reduce federal spendin ...
*
Convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution A convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, also referred to as an Article V Convention or amendatory convention; is one of two methods authorized by Article Five of the United States Constitution whereby amendments to ...


References


External links


Mark Meckler at Citizens for Self-Governance
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meckler, Mark California lawyers Living people McGeorge School of Law alumni People from Greater Los Angeles People from Nevada County, California San Diego State University alumni Tea Party movement activists 1962 births Activists from California