Something else that supports this claim: Buzzfeed's screenshot of the Operation Gridlock Los Angeles FB page shows that it had only 2 members at the time, so it was not significant at all and it seems that that article is what's been hyping it. It's also funny how "members" is highlighted in that screenshot, as if they're betraying themselves. That being said, it could simply be that the author discovered the group early as a result of researching for their article.

However, I don't see the point of astroturfing. Assuming that the economic crisis is engineered (i.e. that Covid is either a hoax, or a mild disease which is deliberately being blown out of proportion by the media), isn't it in the shadow government's interest to suppress dissent as much as possible rather than fabricate it? Of course they want there to be conflict between people, but surely they won't do that by throwing the truth movement a bone? They'd be afraid of people sympathizing with the protesters.