Will Potter: The shocking move to criminalize nonviolent protest

Translator: Judit Piñol (Amara Staff) Reviewer: oscar chillon

It was less than a year after September 11,

Feia menys d'un any després de l'11 de setembre,

and I was at the Chicago Tribune

i jo estava al Chicago Tribune

writing about shootings and murders,

escrivint sobre assassinats i tirotejos,

and it was leaving me feeling

cosa que em deixava

pretty dark and depressed.

fet pols i deprimit.

I had done some activism in college,

Havia fet una mica d'activisme a la universitat,

so I decided to help a local group

així que vaig decidir ajudar a un grup local

hang door knockers against animal testing.

a penjar picaportes en contra de proves de laboratori en animals.

I thought it would be a safe way

Vaig pensar que seria una manera segura

to do something positive,

de fer una cosa positiva

but of course I have the absolute worst luck ever,

però clarament vaig tenir la pitjor sort

and we were all arrested.

i ens van detenir a tots.

Police took this blurry photo of me

La policia em va fer aquesta foto borrosa

holding leaflets as evidence.

subjectant pamflets com a evidència.

My charges were dismissed,

Els càrrecs en contra meva es van retirar,

but a few weeks later,

però setmanes més tard,

two FBI agents knocked on my door,

dos agents de l'FBI van trucar a la porta,

and they told me that unless I helped them

i em van dir que si no els ajudava

by spying on protest groups,

a espiar als grups de protesta,

they would put me on a domestic terrorist list.

em posarien en una llista de terroristes domèstics.

I'd love to tell you that I didn't flinch,

M'agradaria poder dir que no vaig encogir,

but I was terrified,

però estava atemorit,

and when my fear subsided,

i quan la por em va passar,

I became obsessed with finding out

em vaig obsessionar en descobrir

how this happened,

com tot això havia passat,

how animal rights and environmental activists

com els activistes dels drets animals i de l'entorn

who have never injured anyone

que mai han fet mal a ningú

could become the FBI's number one

podien acabar sent l'amenaça terrorista

domestic terrorism threat.

domèstica número u de l'FBI.

A few years later, I was invited to testify

Uns quants anys més tard, vaig ser convidat a testificar

before Congress about my reporting,

davant del Congrés sobre el que havia reportat,

and I told lawmakers that, while everybody

i vaig explicar als legisladors que, mentre tothom

is talking about going green,

parla de tornar-nos més verds,

some people are risking their lives

hi ha gent que arrisca la seva vida

to defend forests and to stop oil pipelines.

per defensar boscos i aturar oleoductes.

They're physically putting their bodies on the line

Que estàn posant els seus cossos físicament entre

between the whalers' harpoons and the whales.

els arpons dels pescadors de balenes i les balenes.

These are everyday people,

Són gent normal,

like these protesters in Italy

com aquests protestants a Itàlia

who spontaneously climbed over

que van saltar espontàniament

barbed wire fences to rescue beagles

tanques de filferro amb pues per rescatar beagles

from animal testing.

de proves de laboratori.

And these movements have been incredibly effective

I aquests moviments han estat increïblement efectius

and popular,

i populars,

so in 1985, their opponents made up a new word,

així que al 1985, els seus oponents van crear una nova paraula,

eco-terrorist,

eco-terrorisme,

to shift how we view them.

per canviar la manera com els veiem.

They just made it up.

Simplement s'ho van inventar.

Now these companies have backed new laws

Ara aquestes companyies han donat suport a noves lleis

like the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act,

com l'Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act,

which turns activism into terrorism

que converteix l'activisme en terrorisme

if it causes a loss of profits.

si això causa una pèrdua de beneficis.

Now most people never even heard about this law,

La majoria de gent ni ha sentit a parlar mai d'aquesta llei

including members of Congress.

incluïnt membres del Congrés.

Less than one percent were in the room

Menys d'un u per cent es trobava a la sala

when it passed the House.

quan es va aprovar a la Casa Blanca.

The rest were outside at a new memorial.

La resta eren fora a un nou acte commemoratiu.

They were praising Dr. King

Elogiant al Dr. King

as his style of activism was branded as terrorism

mentre el seu estil d'activisme s'anomena terrorisme

if done in the name of animals or the environment.

quan es fa en nom dels animals o del planeta.

Supporters say laws like this are needed

Els que hi donen suport diuen que lleis com aquesta es necessiten

for the extremists:

per als extremistes:

the vandals, the arsonists, the radicals.

els vàndals, els incendiaris, els radicals.

But right now, companies like TransCanada

Però ara mateix, companyies com TransCanada

are briefing police in presentations like this one

reuneixen als policies en presentacions com aquesta

about how to prosecute nonviolent protesters

per explicar-los com procedir als protestants no-violents.

as terrorists.

com a terroristes.

The FBI's training documents on eco-terrorism

Els documents d'entrenament del l'FBI en eco-terrorisme

are not about violence,

no van sobre violència,

they're about public relations.

van sobre relacions públiques.

Today, in multiple countries,

Avui dia, en molts països,

corporations are pushing new laws

les corporacions empenyen noves lleis

that make it illegal to photograph

que fan que sigui il·legar de fotografiar

animal cruelty on their farms.

la crueltat animal en les seves granges.

The latest was in Idaho just two weeks ago,

La última va ser a Idaho fa dues setmanes,

and today we released a lawsuit

i avui hem emès un plet

challenging it as unconstitutional

desafiant-la com a inconstitucional

as a threat to journalism.

com a amenaça al periodisme.

The first of these ag-gag prosecutions,

La primera d'aquestes acusacions "ag-gag",

as they're called,

com les han anomenat,

was a young woman named Amy Meyer,

va ser d'una noia que es diu Amy Meyer,

and Amy saw a sick cow being moved

i l'Amy va veure una vaca malalta moguda

by a bulldozer outside of a slaughterhouse

per una esplanadora a fora d'un escorxador

as she was on the public street.

mentre caminava pel carrer.

And Amy did what any of us would:

I l'Amy va fer el que qualsevol de nosaltres faria.

She filmed it.

Ho va gravar.

When I found out about her story, I wrote about it,

Quan vaig descobrir la seva història, vaig escriure sobre ella,

and within 24 hours, it created such an uproar

i en 24 hores, va crear tant d'escàndol

that the prosecutors just dropped all the charges.

que els fiscals van retirar tots els càrrecs.

But apparently, even exposing stuff like that

Però aparentment, fins hi tot posant a la llum fets com aquests

is a threat.

és una amenaça.

Through the Freedom of Information Act,

A través de l'Acta de Lliure Informació,

I learned that the counter-terrorism unit

vaig aprendre que la unitat anti-terrorista

has been monitoring my articles

havia estat controlant els meus articles

and speeches like this one.

i discursos com aquest.

They even included this nice little write-up of my book.

Fins i tot van incloure aquest petit text sobre el meu llibre.

They described it as "compelling and well-written."

El van descriure com a "convincent i ben escrit"

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)

Blurb on the next book, right?

Propaganda per al següent llibre, no?

The point of all of this is to make us afraid,

L'objectiu de tot això és fer-nos por,

but as a journalist, I have an unwavering faith

però com a periodista, tinc una fe ferma

in the power of education.

en el poder de l'educació.

Our best weapon is sunlight.

La nostra millor arma és la llum del Sol.

Dostoevsky wrote that the whole work of man

Dostoevsky va escriure que tota la feina de l'home

is to prove he's a man and not a piano key.

és per probar que és un home i no una tecla de piano.

Over and over throughout history,

Una i altra vegada a través de la història,

people in power have used fear

les persones en poder han fetr servir la por

to silence the truth and to silence dissent.

per silenciar la veritat i per silenciar discomformitat.

It's time we strike a new note.

Ja va sent hora que toquem una altra tecla.

Thank you.

Gràcies.

(Applause)