US Uncut

US Uncut was a decentralized direct action group in the United States established in February 2011 to draw attention to corporate tax avoidance, cuts to social spending, and public sector jobs.[1]

US Uncut
FormationFebruary 2011 (2011-02)
FounderRyan Clayton, Joanne Gifford, Carl Gibson
Founded atUSA
Purposepolitical activism
Websitewww.usuncut.org

History

US Uncut was co-founded in 2011 by Ryan Clayton, Joanne Gifford, and Carl Gibson.[2][3] The US-based organization draws its name, organizing structure, and tactics from UK Uncut, a movement that had begun only four months earlier in London, England.[4][5]

The organization's activities were the subject of a Sundance Film Festival documentary, We're Not Broke, which follows the group's co-founders nonviolent direct actions at corporate storefronts across the country. According to the film's website, "We're Not Broke is the story of how U.S. corporations have been able to hide over a trillion dollars from Uncle Sam, and how seven fed-up Americans from across the country, take their frustration to the streets . . . and vow to make the corporations pay their fair share."[6] The film is available to watch for free on Netflix[7] (U.S.) and Vimeo[8] (International).

The group's first action occurred simultaneously in 50 cities across the United States, mostly at Bank of America branches.[3][4] Bank of America was chosen for its role in the financial crisis and the fact that it paid no income taxes in 2009 or 2010.[9][10] By May 2011, over 100 cities had had Uncut sponsored actions.[11]

In April 2011, in political action to highlight corporate tax avoidance, US Uncut published a news story based on a fake press release that said General Electric was returning its 3.2 billion dollar tax refund to the U.S. Treasury. The hoax was done in collaboration with The Yes Men.[12][13] The Associated Press distributed the story through its web site, before taking it down 35 minutes after publishing it.[14][15]

In addition to its protests directed towards Bank of America, US Uncut has organized protests at Verizon stores, BP stations, FedEx stores,[16] Target stores and British Petroleum.[17]

Criticisms

In August 2016, US Uncut's Facebook page,[18] with 1.5 million followers, was hijacked and began posting articles from an impostor site mockingly named US Uncut.[19] On March 2 or 3, 2017, their site was shut down with the message "Sorry, we had to shut down the site.Thank you for reading our articles all these years." This was a result of a legal settlement between Carl Gibson, Mark Provost and co-founder Ryan Clayton.[20][21]

US Uncut's web site has been criticized as being a partisan liberal site.[22] The organization's website has been accused of deceiving readers and of publishing inaccurate news stories.[23][12][24]

See also

References
  1. Graves, Lucia (2011-02-27). "Liberal Tea Party? U.S. Uncut Disrupts Service At Bank Of America". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  2. Tau, Byron. "UK protest group spreads to US". Politico. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  3. Levine, Art (25 February 2011). "US Uncut Spreads Spirit of Madison: 50 Protests Saturday Over Budget Cuts, Corporate Tax Dodgers". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  4. Kilkenny, Allison (17 March 2011). "Meet US Uncut". The Nation. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  5. Rushe, Dominic; Taylor, Matthew (25 February 2011). "UK Uncut inspires US groups to attack cuts and tax avoidance". Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  6. "We're Not Broke Movie". werenotbrokemovie.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  7. "Archived". www.netflix.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017.
  8. "Watch We're Not Broke Online | Vimeo on Demand". We're Not Broke on Vimeo. 28 October 2013.
  9. Paul Street; Anthony R. Dimaggio (30 November 2015). Crashing the Tea Party: Mass Media and the Campaign to Remake American Politics. Routledge. pp. 181–. ISBN 978-1-317-26193-3.
  10. Collins, Chuck. "Do You Pay Your Taxes? Bank of America Doesn't". Yes! Magazine. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  11. "RELEASE: After GE Stunt, US Uncut Organizing 100 Tax Day Actions Across America". US Uncut. 2011-04-15. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  12. Murray, Michael. "The Associated Press Reports GE Tax Refund Hoax Spun by US Uncut, The Yes Men". Associated Press. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  13. Rainey, James (2011-04-16). "On the Media: Hoaxsters will always be with us". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  14. Harper, Jennifer. "AP falls for GE tax-refund hoax". Washington Times. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  15. Montopoli, Brian. "Associated Press falls for "Yes Men"-linked GE hoax". CBS News. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  16. Allison Kilkenny on March 18, 2011 - 10:22 AM ET (2011-03-18). "US Uncut Adds Verizon and FedEx to its Target List". The Nation. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  17. Allison Kilkenny on April 18, 2011 - 9:35 AM ET (2011-04-18). "For Tax Day, US Uncut Asks Americans to Hold Corporate Tax Dodgers Accountable". The Nation. Archived from the original on April 19, 2011. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  18. https://www.facebook.com/usauncut
  19. Provost, Mark. "THE US UNCUT FACEBOOK PAGE HAS BEEN HIJACKED". US Uncut. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  20. "Riding high, crashing hard: A cautionary tale of Facebook dependence". Center for Investigative Reporting. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  21. "Cenk Uygur: Middle Class Keeps Up the Fight". Reader Supported News. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  22. Herrman, John (24 August 2016). "Inside Facebook's (Totally Insane, Unintentionally Gigantic, Hyperpartisan) Political-Media Machine". New York Times. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  23. Cesca, Bob. "Warning: Propaganda Sites Are Spreading Deceptive Bernie vs Hillary Poll Results". The Daily Banter. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  24. LaCapria, Kim. "Fact Check: Fauxtography; Electoral Brawl-itics". Snopes. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
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