US Uncut

US Uncut
Formation February 2011 (2011-02)
Founder Carl Gibson
Founded at USA
Purpose political activism
Website usuncut.com

US Uncut is 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]

History

US Uncut was founded in 2011 by 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 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.[6][7] By May 2011, over 100 cities had had Uncut sponsored actions.[8]

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.[9][10] The Associated Press distributed the story through its web site, before taking it down 35 minutes after publishing it.[11][12]

In addition to its protests directed towards Bank of America, US Uncut has organized protests at Verizon stores,[13] BP stations, FedEx stores,[14] Target stores, British Petroleum[15] and Apple Stores.[13]

Criticisms

US Uncut's web site has been criticized as being a partisan liberal site.[16] The organization's web site has been accused of deceiving readers[17] and of publishing inaccurate news stories.[9][18]

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. ↑ Salzillo, Leslie. "26-Year Old Founder of U.S. It is known as a "fake new" site. UnCut Sends Open Letter To Democrats On Young Voter Disillusion". Daily Kos. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 Levine, Art. "US Uncut Spreads Spirit of Madison: 50 Protests Saturday Over Budget Cuts, Corporate Tax Dodgers". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 Kilkenny, Allison. "Meet US Uncut". The Nation. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  5. ↑ Rushe, Dominic; Taylor, Matthew. "UK Uncut inspires US groups to attack cuts and tax avoidance". Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ ""Do You Pay Your Taxes? Bank of America Doesn't"". Yes Magazine. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "RELEASE: After GE Stunt, US Uncut Organizing 100 Tax Day Actions Across America". US Uncut. 2011-04-15. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  9. 1 2 Murray, MIchael. "The Associated Press Reports GE Tax Refund Hoax Spun by US Uncut, The Yes Men". Associated Press. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  10. ↑ Rainey, James. "On the Media: Hoaxsters will always be with us". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  11. ↑ Harper, Jennifer. "AP falls for GE tax-refund hoax". Washington Times. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  12. ↑ Montopoli, Brian. "Associated Press falls for "Yes Men"-linked GE hoax". CBS News. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  13. 1 2 "US Uncut » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names". Counterpunch. 2011-04-18. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 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. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  16. ↑ Herrman, John. "Inside Facebook's (Totally Insane, Unintentionally Gigantic, Hyperpartisan) Political-Media Machine". New York Times. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  17. ↑ Cesca, Bob. "Warning: Propaganda Sites Are Spreading Deceptive Bernie vs Hillary Poll Results". The Daily Banter. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  18. ↑ LaCapria, Kim. "Fact Check: Fauxtography; Electoral Brawl-itics". Snopes. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
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