Yes, there were people paid to blockade and prevent the construction of a new state-of-the-art science telescope on Mauna Kea. They were successful in pressuring the state to renege on the contract and block construction.

I live in Seattle now, and I remember talking to a petition signature gatherer for the recently passed gun control measure (petitions get them on the ballot). He was paid per-signature by a non-profit funded by the Open Society foundation. He said he was doing it Arizona before Seattle, and will keep going around to areas they pay for.