(Photo courtesy of Mike Miller)

A seemingly normal Occupy event in Bellevue, Nebraska, has taken a bizarre turn. It’s recently come to light that the supposed host organization, Occupy Omaha, had nothing to do with it.

The event, slated for Feb. 4 at Bellevue University’s Humanities Building Auditorium, has been promoted as a debate between “a leader from Occupy Omaha” and a representative of the Tea Party.

However, a press release issued by Occupy Omaha on Feb. 2 reveals that Occupy “had no involvement in the planning of the event and was not aware of its existence until it was publicly announced.”

The event was not brought before an Occupy Omaha General Assembly, the only body with the authority to sanction the event, until Feb. 1, less than half a week before the event is scheduled to take place. “[T]he General Assembly voted unanimously to disown the event,” according to the press release. Occupy Omaha members are now considering protesting at the event.

The debate, in reality, is a joint project of Americans for Prosperity and the Center for American Vision and Values. AFP is a far-right advocacy group bankrolled by the Koch brothers, which promotes privatization and deregulation, an ideology perfectly in line with that of its billionaire sponsors. The CAVV is run by Bellevue University, a private Nebraska college. Its website encourages visitors to “discover American exceptionalism.“

Since the event was announced, AFP has publicly attacked Occupy Omaha. A summary of the event posted on the AFP website crudely suggests Occupy’s complicity in violence and flag burning in Oakland and states flatly “the Occupy Movement is wrong.” The site goes on to extoll “free markets” and “limited government” as “principles that have made America the greatest nation in the world.” Brad Stevens, AFP’s Nebraska state director, will be representing the only side that consented to the debate.

The backhanded way AFP organized the event indicates that they either did not understand Occupy’s process, or ignored it. The latter has sinister implications, suggesting that the event was intentionally organized to exclude Occupy Omaha, fixing the debate for the AFP and preventing any organized criticism of its corporate agenda. Although a flyer promoting the event claims that Occupy will be defended by the “Director of Information” of Occupy Omaha, no such position exists, and Occupy Omaha has not authorized any individual to speak at the event on behalf of the group.

UPDATE:

Americans for Prosperity released a statement of their own on Feb. 3 in response to Occupy Omaha’s press release exposing the fraudulent event. The statement calls Occupy Omaha “cowards” and “extremist[s].”

This action proves the sinister intent behind the event. AFP organized the debate totally without the participation of Occupy Omaha and now that Occupy has stated formally that they had nothing to do with the event, AFP is using this fact as a jumping off point to smear Occupy. We can only guess that this was their intention all along.

Categories: Labor, Reactionary Watch, Statements, U.S. News, Workers Struggle