http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE8zcJnncV8

The Orangeburg massacre took place on February 8, 1968, when a group of about 150 protestors from South Carolina State University had gathered to protest racial segregation at the local bowling alley. South Carolina Highway Patrol Officers responded to the scene and opened fire on protestors, killing three and wounding another twenty-eight. The three protestors who passed were Samuel Hammond, Henry Smith and Delano Middleton. The nine officers brought up on charges following the shooting were all acquitted. In this video, survivors of the Orangeburg Massacre describe the incident.

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Survivors Recall The Orangeburg Massacre appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu8MCLuU2Vc

On February 4, 1999, four plain-clothed New York City police officers shot and killed 23-year old Amadou Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea. Diallo was standing outside of his apartment in The Bronx when the officers fired a total of 41 shots, striking Diallo 19 times. Diallo was unarmed at the time of the shooting, and protests and demonstrations erupted in outrage. In this video, both Amadou Diallo’s father and the Revered Al Sharpton speak at one of these demonstrations. The officers were charged with second-degree murder and acquitted following a trial in Albany, New York.

The post Demonstrations In The Amadou Diallo Shooting appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jILYiuISsQ

Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, political commentator and author of over 100 books. In this video, Chomsky responds to a question about the situation in Ferguson, Missouri, where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson. Chomsky says: “What’s happening in Ferguson is a reenactment of 500 years of American history… Militarization was one of the techniques of crushing the slave movement and everything has followed from it. Now it’s incarceration and militarization of police.”

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Noam Chomsky On Ferguson appeared first on Witnify.

“The drug culture, the hippie elements, the SDS, Black Panthers, etc do not consider me as their enemy or as they call it, the establishment. I call it America and I love it. Sir, I can and will be of any service that I can to help the country out. I have no concerns or motives other than helping the country out…”

In a letter to U.S. President Richard Nixon, Elvis Presley offers his services as a federal agent for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. After flying to the White House to personally deliver the letter, Elvis met with the president and was presented with the police badge he coveted. The duo also posed for photos that have become the most frequently requested in the national archive. Who would have guessed the risqué King of Rock completed an “in-depth study of drug abuse and communist brainwashing techniques?”

“Dear Mr President,

First, I would like to introduce myself. I am Elvis Presley and admire you and have great respect for your office. I talked to vice-president Agnew in Palm Springs three weeks ago and expressed my concerns for our country. The drug culture, the hippie elements, the SDS, Black Panthers, etc do not consider me as their enemy or as they call it, the establishment. I call it America and I love it. Sir, I can and will be of any service that I can to help the country out. I have no concerns or motives other than helping the country out. 

So, I wish not to be given a title or an appointed position. I can and will do more good if I were made a federal agent at large and I will help out by doing it my way through communications with people of all ages. First and foremost, I am an entertainer, but all I need is the federal credentials. I am on the plane with Senator George Murphy and we have been discussing the problems that our country is faced with.

Popular image Nixon and Presley’s meeting on January 27, 1972. Source: U.S. National Archives.

Sir, I am staying at the Washington hotel, Room 505-506-507. I have two men who work with me by the name of Jerry Schilling and Sonny West. I am registered under the name of Jon Burrows. I will be here for as long as it takes to get the credentials of a federal agent. I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and communist brainwashing techniques and I am right in the middle of the whole thing, where I can and will do the most good.

I am glad to help just so long as it is kept very private. You can have your staff or whomever call me anytime today, tonight or tomorrow. I was nominated this coming year one of America’s 10 most outstanding young men. That will be in January 18 in my home town of Memphis, Tennessee. I am sending you a short autobiography about myself so you can better understand this approach. I would love to meet you just to say hello if you’re not too busy.

Respectfully, Elvis Presley

PS
I believe that you, sir, were one of the top 10 outstanding men of America also. I have a personal gift for you which I would like to present to you and you can accept it or I will keep it for you until you can take it.”

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[Text] Elvis’s Hand-Delivered Letter to Nixon appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLoJyO2P6JI

Kevin Marshall reenacts how the cops treated him on June 18, 1984 during the Battle for Orgreave. Lesley Boulton, a member of the Women Against Pit Closures, recalls trying to help an injured person by waving down a mounted police officer, who tried to then hit her in the head with his baton. The bloody clash between the South Yorkshire police and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) over pit closures at a British Steel coking plant in Orgreave, South Yorkshire led to 93 arrests and 51 picketers and 72 policemen injured. Cops with riot shields and attack dogs beat miners with batons as miners stoned the police; it is remembered as one of the bloodiest confrontations of the 1984-1985 Miners’ Strike in the United Kingdom.

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Survivors from the Orgrave Strike appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKPWtA_YzfA

David Michael Wilson, one of 95 charged with rioting and unlawful assembly, during the Battle of Orgreave strike describe the police brutality he experienced during that infamous day on June 18, 1984. The bloody clash between the South Yorkshire police and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) over pit closures at a British Steel coking plant in Orgreave, South Yorkshire led to 93 arrests and 51 picketers and 72 policemen injured. Cops with riot shields and attack dogs beat miners with batons as miners stoned the police; it is remembered as one of the bloodiest confrontations of the 1984-1985 Miners’ Strike in the United Kingdom.

The post Battle of Orgreave
Courts ‘Don’t Even Say Sorry’ over Bloody Clash appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmwpTVnqpxU

Cameraman Brent Stafford, who witnessed the 1994 Stanley Cup Riots in Canada, gives his report on the chaotic violence occurring on the streets of Vancouver after the Canadian hockey team, the Vancouver Canucks, suffered a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers. Stafford describes the rising tensions among the people and the police, as well as the events that led up to the destruction. He also talks about the tear gas that flooded the streets as riot police tried to get the situation under control. During the riot, up to 200 people were injured.

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Eyewitness to the Chaos After the 1994 Stanley Cup appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8mn1YHjg_A

Congressman Dennis Eckart reflects on where he was when the Kent State University Shootings occurred in 1970 and remembers asking himself how the government could do this and get away with it. Eckart discusses how close to home the shootings hit for him and his peers around him.

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Kent State Shootings: ‘How Could Our Government Do This to Our People?’ appeared first on Witnify.

The City of Kent, Ohio
LeRoy M Satrom, Mayor
May 2, 1970

Commander of Troops
Ohio National Guard
Kent, Ohio

I, LeRoy M. Satrom, Mayor of the City of Kent, Ohio, pursuant to the power invested in me as the chief magisterial officer of this City do hereby request the assistance of the Ohio National Guard to assist the Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies in restoring law and order in the City of Kent and particularly in the are of Kent State University and its environs.

Local law enforcement agencies can no longer cope with the situation and I instruct you to provide the necessary assistance to restore peace and order to our community.

In accordance with Section 5923.23 of the Revised Code of Ohio, I leave the mode and means of execution to your direction.

Sincerely yours,
LeRoy M. Satrom
Mayor

Source: U.S. National Archives

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[Text] Mayor Asks For Ohio National Guard’s Aid During Kent State Protests appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUd_dN2t4Oc

Attica prisoner Alfred Mancuso describes the Attica Correctional Facility where the riot occurred, the conditions that made it a powder keg and explains how he believes the riot began. The Attica Prison riot is one of the most significant riots during the Prisoner Rights Movement in the United States and took place in Attica, New York, beginning on September 9, 1971. About 2,200 inmates seized control of the prison–rebelling against the abuses and mistreatment they faced from the prison’s superintendents that are detailed by Mancuso.

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Attica Prisoner: ‘I Saw My Friend Beating an Officer’ appeared first on Witnify.