The NATO 5: Political Repression in the United States

The cases of “The NATO 5,” five young anti-war activists arrested on terrorism charges in the days before the NATO summit in Chicago this past May, illustrate some of the worst law enforcement abuses in a town which is rife with them.

Using Chicago police informers, Cook County States’ Attorney Anita Alvarez used the arrests of these young activists as a political football to justify the obscene “security” funding for the NATO summit. The arrests just days before the summit also provided a convenient diversion from those attempting to call attention to the violence of NATO itself, which makes most other violence in the world pale by comparison.

In this episode, Dylan Hayworth-Weste of the NATO 5 Support Group is joined by fellow anti-NATO organizer and Gay Liberation Network co-founder Andy Thayer.

Originally broadcast December 7, 2012