InnerSelf

Police Fire Tear Gas, Flash Grenades as Protesters Try to Retake Occupy Oakland After Predawn Raid

Oakland police repeatedly fired tear gas and flash grenades Tuesday night as protesters attempted to retake the Occupy Oakland encampment outside City Hall—only 12 hours after police tore apart the camp and arrested more than 90 people in a pre-dawn raid. Observers said that at times the downtown resembled a war zone last night. Some protesters are being held on $10,000 bail. We speak to Rachel Jackson of the Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Brutality and State Repression about how the police are handling Occupy Oakland. We also are joined by John Avalos, San Francisco city supervisor and a candidate for mayor of San Francisco. On Tuesday, Avalos introduced a resolution supporting the right of the Occupy San Francisco protest to continue its peaceful assembly in public spaces.

Glenn Greenwald on Two-Tiered U.S. Justice System, Obama’s Assassination Program & the Arab Spring

Glenn Greenwald’s new book, "With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful," offers a scathing critique of what he calls the two-tiered system of justice that ensures the political and financial class is virtually immune from prosecution in the United States. Greenwald explores how the media, both political parties, and the courts have abetted a process that has produced torture, war crimes, domestic spying, financial fraud, and even the assassination of U.S citizens.

Glenn Greenwald on Occupy Wall Street, Banks Too Big To Jail and the Attack on WikiLeaks

The prominent political and legal blogger Glenn Greenwald comments on the growing Occupy Wall Street movement. “This movement is about is more important than specific legislative demands … it is expressing dissent to the system itself,” says Greenwald. “It is not a Democratic Party organ, it is not about demanding President Obama’s single [jobs] bill pass or anything along those lines. It is saying that we believe the system itself is radically corrupted and we no longer are willing to tolerate it and that’s infinitely more important than specific legislative or political demands." Greenwald also discusses the possible shutdown of the online whistleblower website WikiLeaks due to a “financial blockade” led by MasterCard, Visa and PayPal. “The reason why all these companies cut off funds is because the government pressured and demanded that they do so,” Greenwald says. “So no due process, no accusation of criminal activity. You could never charge WikiLeaks with a crime — they’re engaged in First Amendment activity — and the government has destroyed them through their pressure and influence over the private sector. WikiLeaks has shed more light on the world’s most powerful factions than all media outlets combined easily over the last year and that’s the reason why they’re so hated."