OccupyWallSt., Via Restore the Fourth NYC:

Sunday, August 4th is 1984 Day. A broad coalition of resistance, including Restore the Fourth, will be gathering in cities across the US to oppose the global surveillance apparatus. In NYC, we're meeting at 3:00pm in Bryant Park to march on locations that have aided the surveillance state. Some of us will be clad in gear inspired by George Orwell's 1984.

From the NSA to the NYPD, the 99% are monitored by a system designed to target anyone perceived as a threat to the 1%. Because occupiers know first hand how surveillance functions to quash dissent, we are calling on Occupy Wall Street to join us in solidarity.

Crucial info:

Restore the Fourth NYC Facebook Rally/March Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/508963769175983/

Restore the Fourth Facebook Rally/March Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/585565111483298/

1984 Day Website (for further information about other local events): http://www.1984day.com

Some Background:

Recent local and international events have exposed chilling parallels to the dystopian world of Orwell's novel:

Over a month ago, leaks of top-secret governmental files revealed that the US is spying on its own people and the people of the world, and that multinational corporations like AT&T, Verizon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and Google are complicit in varying degrees. We have since learned that countries including the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands are engaged in similar programs.

Just yesterday, it was revealed that the surveillance apparatus is even broader than we'd been told. In addition to metadata and telephone records, the NSA routinely intercepts the contents of personal communications, including e-mails and telephone calls, and collects “nearly everything a user does on the Internet," using a tool called ‘XKeyscore’.

And the problem is bigger than just electronic spying. Racist policies like NYPD's "Stop and Frisk" subject people --especially people of color-- to invasive physical searches and police intimidation. On June 28th, Mayor Bloomberg stated that the NYPD "disproportionately stop[s] whites too much and minorities too little" when talking about the Stop and Frisk program. On July 23rd, after vetoing the Community Safety Act, he stated that the bill, which would severely restrict the use of Stop and Frisk, "would make New Yorkers less safe."

Let's get real. Such constant appeals to "safety" and "security" are fear tactics that exploit public apprehension over crime and terrorism. They mask the surveillance state's true intent -- to protect the interests of the 1% through the monitoring and intimidation of anyone they perceive as a threat to their power: people of color, political activists, immigrants, and ultimately, everyone -- in other words, the 99%.

Enough is enough. It's time to fight back against a future without freedom.

Sunday, August 4th, is 1984 day.

See you in the streets!

More about Restore the Fourth NYC:

https://www.facebook.com/restorethe4thnyc
http://restorethefourthnyc.org/
restorethe4thnyc@gmail.com
@Restorethe4thNY
#1984dayNYC

More about Restore the Fourth:

http://www.1984day.com
http://www.restorethefourth.net/
https://www.facebook.com/RestoreTheFourth
@Restore_the4th
#1984day