What is the meaning of Professional-agitator?

Answer 1

A professional agitator is a person who is well versed in, and may have actually received training in, organized protest. The term professional implies that they are paid. There are groups of people who believe professional agitators are often paid to attend protests to swell the numbers of regular protesters in modern politics. Though there is a rich history of this in US politics before WWII, it is less blatant, if not less common, today.

This is not the same thing as a normal protester/counter-protester, who is motivated by the issue alone, however a professional agitator may act as a protester/counter-protester regularly and the skill set is approximately the same.

Historical paid/professional agitators can be researched by searching for 'Union Busting', 'Pinkerton' or turn of the century (1900s) urban politics (especially New York; Chicago; Cincinatti; Phillidelphia).