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The FBI vs. Occupy: Secret Docs Reveal “Counterterrorism” Monitoring of OWS from Its Earliest Days
Once-secret documents reveal the FBI monitored Occupy Wall Street from its earliest days and treated the nonviolent movement as a potential terrorist threat. Internal government records show Occupy was treated as a potential threat when organizing first began in August of 2011. Counterterrorism agents were used to track Occupy activities, despite the internal acknowledgment that the movement opposed violent tactics. The monitoring expanded across the country as Occupy grew into a national movement, with FBI agents sharing information with businesses, local police agencies and universities. We're joined by Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which obtained the FBI documents through the Freedom of Information Act. "We can see, decade after decade, with each social justice movement, that the FBI conducts itself in the same role over and over again, which is to act really as the secret police of the establishment against the people," Verheyden-Hilliard says. [includes rush transcript]
Security Culture for Activists: The Ruckus Society, Actions Speak Louder Than Words
This guide mostly focuses on the actions of law enforcement, such as intelligence offers and police, as it usually has the greatest authority to target activists. Guide >
After Sandy, Occupy Movement Re-Emerges as Relief Hub for Residents in Need
In addition to the National Guard and FEMA, one of the more active relief efforts in New York City has been a volunteer effort organized by alumni of Occupy Wall Street called Occupy Sandy Relief. Along with groups like 350.org and Recovers.org, Occupy activists quickly mobilized hundreds, and then thousands, of people to help affected areas of New York City. Democracy Now! senior producer Mike Burke speaks with Occupy organizer Catherine Yeager in the Rockaways about Occupy Wall Street's transformation into Occupy Sandy Relief. [includes rush transcript]
UC Pepper-Spray Settlement About $1 Million
The University of California regents have agreed to pay out roughly $1 million to end a lawsuit over last November's pepper spraying of UC-Davis students, part of a deal that also calls for a personal written apology from Chancellor Linda Katehi to each person hit with the spray. More >
Roundtable: After 1 Year, OWS Gives Voice to Resistance of Crippling Debt and Widening Inequality
The Occupy Wall Street movement is largely credited for reframing the national dialogue on economic inequality and popularizing the phrase, "We are the 99 percent." We host a roundtable with Frances Fox Piven, an author and professor at City University of New York who has studied social movements for decades; Nathan Schneider, editor of the blog Waging Nonviolence, which has extensively covered the Occupy movement; and Suzanne Collado, an organizer with Occupy Wall Street since its inception and member of the group Strike Debt, an effort to organize a mass upsurge of debt resistance. [includes rush transcript]
Occupy Wall Street Protesters Swarm NYC Financial District to Mark 1st Anniversary of 99% Struggle
Occupy Wall Street protesters are converging in the Financial District in Manhattan to mark the first anniversary of the movement's beginning. Similar protests are taking place in dozens of cities today. On Sept. 17, 2011, thousands of people answered the call originally put out by the Canadian-based magazine "Adbusters" to occupy Wall Street. Protesters slept in Zuccotti Park for nearly two months before the New York City police raided the encampment. We look back at some of Democracy Now!'s earliest coverage of the movement. We interview Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello at Sunday's anniversary concert in New York City's Foley Square, and get a live update on the action unfolding today in the streets with Citizen Radio's Allison Kilkenny. [includes rush transcript]
Exhaustive Study Finds Global Elite Hiding Up to $32 Trillion in Offshore Accounts
A new report reveals how wealthy individuals and their families have between $21 and $32 trillion of hidden financial assets around the world in what are known as offshore accounts or tax havens. The actual sums could be higher because the study only deals with financial wealth deposited in bank and investment accounts, and not other assets such as property and yachts. The inquiry was commissioned by the Tax Justice Network and is being touted as the most comprehensive report ever on the "offshore economy." It also finds that private banks are deeply involved in running offshore havens, with UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs handling the most assets. We’re joined by the report’s author, James Henry, a lawyer and former chief economist at McKinsey & Company. [includes rush transcript]
Captain Lombardo Targets 56 Year Old Woman for Knitting in Park
During Wednesday evening's arrests at Zuccotti Park, NYPD Captain Lombardo isolated one person in group gathered to greet the Guitarmy to make an example of and the person he chose was a 56-year old woman. Her crime? Sitting in a chair and knitting. ...
Over 70 Injured as Protesters Clash with Police in Madrid
Blood flows down the face of an injured protester who was injured during clashes between supporters of Spanish coal miners and riot police as they ended a "Marcha Negra" (Black March) near the Industry Ministry in Madrid July 11, 2012 (Reuters/Paul Ha...
Amazonian Indigenous Peoples Occupy Belo Monte Dam Site
Friday, June 22, 2012 Altamira, Brazil – Indigenous peoples affected by the controversial Belo Monte Dam in the Brazilian Amazon have occupied a coffer dam that cuts across channels of the river since June 21. Read more about Amazonian Indigenous Peo...
