US Uncut#Criticisms
{{Infobox organization
| name = US Uncut
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| formation = {{start date and age|2011|02}}
| founder = Ryan Clayton, Joanne Gifford, Carl Gibson
| founding_location = USA
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| purpose = political activism
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| website ={{URL|http://www.usuncut.org/}}
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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.{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/27/us-uncut-bank-of-america-liberal-tea-party_n_828782.html |title=Liberal Tea Party? U.S. Uncut Disrupts Service At Bank Of America |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date= 2011-02-27|access-date=2012-05-18 |first=Lucia |last=Graves}}
History
US Uncut was co-founded in 2011 by Ryan Clayton, Joanne Gifford, and Carl Gibson.{{cite web|last1=Tau|first1=Byron|title=UK protest group spreads to US|url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/ben-smith/2011/03/uk-protest-group-spreads-to-us-034548|website=Politico|access-date=4 December 2017}} 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.{{cite magazine|last1=Kilkenny|first1=Allison|title=Meet US Uncut|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/meet-us-uncut/|website=The Nation|date=17 March 2011|access-date=13 November 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Rushe|first1=Dominic|last2=Taylor|first2=Matthew|title=UK Uncut inspires US groups to attack cuts and tax avoidance|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/feb/25/uk-uncut-us-groups-cuts|website=Guardian|date=25 February 2011|access-date=13 November 2016}}
The organization's activities were the subject of a Sundance Film Festival documentary, [http://werenotbrokemovie.com/ 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."{{cite web |title=We're Not Broke Movie |url=http://werenotbrokemovie.com/ |website=werenotbrokemovie.com |access-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117011819/http://werenotbrokemovie.com/ |archive-date=January 17, 2012 |language=en |url-status=live}} The film is available to watch for free on Netflix{{cite web |url=https://www.netflix.com/title/70229268 |archive-date=December 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210233144/https://www.netflix.com/title/70229268 |website=www.netflix.com |lang=en |title=Archived}}{{dl|date=April 2023}} (U.S.) and Vimeo{{cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/ondemand/werenotbrokefilm|website=We're Not Broke on Vimeo|title=Watch We're Not Broke Online | Vimeo on Demand|date=28 October 2013}} (International).
The group's first action occurred simultaneously in 50 cities across the United States, mostly at Bank of America branches.{{cite web|last1=Levine|first1=Art|title=US Uncut Spreads Spirit of Madison: 50 Protests Saturday Over Budget Cuts, Corporate Tax Dodgers|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/art-levine/us-uncut-spreads-spirit-o_b_828058.html|website=Huffington Post|date=25 February 2011|access-date=13 November 2016}} Bank of America was chosen for its role in the 2008 financial crisis and the fact that it paid no income taxes in 2009 or 2010.{{cite book|author1=Paul Street|author2=Anthony R. Dimaggio|title=Crashing the Tea Party: Mass Media and the Campaign to Remake American Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CzgeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA181|date=30 November 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-26193-3|pages=181–}}{{cite journal|title=Do You Pay Your Taxes? Bank of America Doesn't|url=http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/do-you-pay-your-taxes-bank-of-america-doesnt|journal=Yes! Magazine|access-date=13 November 2016|last1=Collins|first1=Chuck}} By May 2011, over 100 cities had had Uncut sponsored actions.{{cite web|url=http://usuncut.org/blog/-release-after-ge-stunt-us-uncut-organizing-100-tax-day-actions-across-america |title=RELEASE: After GE Stunt, US Uncut Organizing 100 Tax Day Actions Across America |publisher=US Uncut |date=2011-04-15 |access-date=2012-05-18}}
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.{{cite web|last1=Murray|first1=Michael|title=The Associated Press Reports GE Tax Refund Hoax Spun by US Uncut, The Yes Men|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/associated-press-reports-ge-tax-refund-hoax-us-uncut-yes-men/story?id=13367623|website=Associated Press|access-date=13 November 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Rainey|first1=James|title=On the Media: Hoaxsters will always be with us|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-apr-16-la-et-onthemedia-20110416-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=13 November 2016|date=2011-04-16}} The Associated Press distributed the story through its web site, before taking it down 35 minutes after publishing it.{{cite web|last1=Harper|first1=Jennifer|title=AP falls for GE tax-refund hoax|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/13/ap-falls-for-ge-tax-refund-hoax/|website=Washington Times|access-date=13 November 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Montopoli|first1=Brian|title=Associated Press falls for "Yes Men"-linked GE hoax|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/associated-press-falls-for-yes-men-linked-ge-hoax/|website=CBS News|access-date=13 November 2016}}
In addition to its protests directed towards Bank of America, US Uncut has organized protests at Verizon stores,{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} BP stations, FedEx stores,{{cite journal|author=Allison Kilkenny on March 18, 2011 - 10:22 AM ET |url=http://www.thenation.com/blog/159307/us-uncut-adds-verizon-and-fedex-its-target-list |title=US Uncut Adds Verizon and FedEx to its Target List |journal=The Nation |date=2011-03-18 |access-date=2012-05-18}} Target stores and British Petroleum.{{cite magazine |author=Allison Kilkenny on April 18, 2011 - 9:35 AM ET |url=http://www.thenation.com/blog/159996/tax-day-us-uncut-asks-americans-hold-corporate-tax-dodgers-accountable |title=For Tax Day, US Uncut Asks Americans to Hold Corporate Tax Dodgers Accountable |magazine=The Nation |date=2011-04-18 |access-date=2023-04-12 |url-status=live |archive-date=April 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110419184733/http://www.thenation.com/blog/159996/tax-day-us-uncut-asks-americans-hold-corporate-tax-dodgers-accountable}}
Criticisms
In August 2016, US Uncut's Facebook page,https://www.facebook.com/usauncut {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}} with 1.5 million followers, was hijacked and began posting articles from an impostor site mockingly named US Uncut.{{cite web|last1=Provost|first1=Mark|title=THE US UNCUT FACEBOOK PAGE HAS BEEN HIJACKED|url=http://usuncut.com/news/us-uncut-facebook-hijacked/|website=US Uncut|access-date=2016-08-26}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.revealnews.org/article/riding-high-crashing-hard-a-cautionary-tale-of-facebook-dependence/|website=Center for Investigative Reporting|title=Riding high, crashing hard: A cautionary tale of Facebook dependence|date=2017-02-28|access-date=2017-05-17}}{{cite news |title=Cenk Uygur: Middle Class Keeps Up the Fight |url=https://readersupportednews.org/video/4-video/5116-middle-class-keeps-up-the-fight |access-date=5 June 2020 |work=Reader Supported News |language=en-gb}}
US Uncut's web site has been criticized as being a partisan liberal site.{{cite news|last1=Herrman|first1=John|title=Inside Facebook's (Totally Insane, Unintentionally Gigantic, Hyperpartisan) Political-Media Machine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/magazine/inside-facebooks-totally-insane-unintentionally-gigantic-hyperpartisan-political-media-machine.html?_r=0|website=New York Times|date=24 August 2016|access-date=13 November 2016}}
The organization's website has been accused of deceiving readers and of publishing inaccurate news stories.{{cite web|last1=Cesca|first1=Bob|title=Warning: Propaganda Sites Are Spreading Deceptive Bernie vs Hillary Poll Results|url=http://thedailybanter.com/2016/02/warning-propaganda-sites/|website=The Daily Banter|access-date=13 November 2016}}{{cite web|last1=LaCapria|first1=Kim|title=Fact Check: Fauxtography; Electoral Brawl-itics|url=http://www.snopes.com/tag/us-uncut/|website=Snopes|access-date=13 November 2016}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.usuncut.org/ Official website]
- [https://werenotbrokemovie.com/ We're Not Broke, Sundance Film Festival documentary]
Category:Civil disobedience in the United States
Category:Taxation in the United States
Category:Political organizations based in the United States