Fred Shavies, an undercover police officer outed while embedding himself within Occupy Oakland, has stepped forward in a brave and brutally frank interview with Justin Warren.
The video, which came to my attention via Zaid Jilani at Think Progress, offers an unfiltered window into views that, one can only hope, are shared by more rank and file officers. Here's Jilani's introduction to the video:
Shavies said that the police brutality that occurred could be our generation’s Birmingham — referring to the civil rights struggle in the South — and that he hopes the movement is a turning point for changing the country:
SHAVIES: I’m a police officer. I’m part of the 99 percent. [...] In the ’60s when people would protest, would gather in order to bring about change, right? Those protests were nonviolent they were peaceful assemblies. They were broken up with dogs, hoses, sticks. [...] It looks like there was a square, and police shot tear gas. That could be the photograph or the video for our generation. That’s our Birmingham. So, twenty years from now this movement could be the turning point, the tipping point, right. It’s about time your generation stood up for something. It’s about time young people are in the streets. [...] Ya’ll don’t need to throw gas canisters into a group of people occupying an intersection.
And here is the interview:
As a commenter at Think Progress opined:
May our police someday realize that dressing up in riot gear to face peaceful protesters makes them the source of violence. Turn the stone and look beneath it.
I believe that many police officers – who are afraid to vocalize this truth – understand it. Perhaps many more than we realize or suspect.
That is my hope.
In the meantime, let us celebrate the honesty of Fred Shavies.
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Author's Note: Below is the video which "outed" Shavies. I'd originally placed it in the comments, but feel it deserves more prominence, particularly considering Shavies' willingness to speak candidly after this video circulated widely: