Posted on 05/01/2013 5:14:09 AM PDT by Nextrush
Back in the days of Operation Rescue protests blocking abortion clinic entrances I was in the mainstream media supervising news coverage on weekends when the demonstrations occurred.
Police had apparently infiltrated the movement because they had advance knowledge of the first protests. They knew when I knew about a protest.
I told protest leaders not to call me in advance but to wait until the protests began. I would then call the reporter and photographer to send them out.
When Martin Luther King led a failed campaign of civil disobedience in Albany, Georgia in 1962 police and FBI informants were everywhere.
The Kennedy Administration and local authorities were able to sabotage the protests.
In 1963 by carefully limiting knowledge of his plans, Dr. King was able to spring a surprise on President Kennedy and Birmingham, Alabama by starting a campaign of civil disobedience.
Things moved slowly at first, but after his arrest he got the attention of President Kennedy and the protest became a national event.
In his jail cell, Dr. King read about all kinds of criticism in newspapers and government of his actions, but he was especially hurt by the opposition of white liberal pastors in Birmingham to the protests.
That motivated MLK to write his now famous "Letter From Birmingham Jail."
King bailed out of jail and went on trial the week of April 22nd. He and other protest leaders were found guilty and given five day jail sentences and 50 dollar fines. The sentences were held in abeyance pending appeal.
The national media was paying less attention as protests lost momentum. MLK told an aide "we've got to get something going."
Organizer James Bevel saw an opportunity in using school students who were showing up at meetings. By Tuesday April 29th leaflets were circulated in the black high schools of Birmingham calling on students to join the protest on Thursday.
Two of Bull Connor's detectives who monitored a Tuesday night meeting saw indications of a major action on Thursday.
Is it something we should be doing in this day and age????
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