As in nearly everything we're learning about the Occupy protests, all is not exactly as they like to portray things.
Reuters published this piece this morning about Scott Olsen, the former Marine injured Tuesday night at the Occupy Oakland protest:
An Iraq war veteran badly wounded in clashes between protesters and police on the streets of Oakland was awake and lucid, hospital officials and family members said on Thursday.
Scott Olsen, a 24-year-old former U.S. Marine struck in the head during Wall Street protests on Tuesday night, had been upgraded from critical to fair condition overnight.
Olsen's injury has become a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street movement nationwide, and Oakland organizers said they would stage a general strike over what a spokeswoman called the "brutal and vicious" treatment of protesters, including the young Iraq war veteran.
Mr. Olsen soon became "a rallying cry" according to other media outlets as well:
On Thursday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams proclaimed: "Protesters across the country and a lot of Americans who are sympathetic to this Occupy Wall Street protest movement are tonight rallying around a 24-year-old Iraq war veteran who was seriously injured during a violent confrontation with police in Oakland, California on Tuesday."
On ABC's World News, fill-in anchor George Stephanopoulos echoed that sentiment: "...one young man has become a symbol of their resolve." Correspondent Abbie Boudreau followed by declaring: "With tensions mounting daily, the name Scott Olsen has become a national rallying cry for Occupy Wall Street....injured Tuesday night, as police began firing tear gas during the Oakland crackdown."
And the inevitable Facebook page soon followed, this one called We Are All Scott Olsen.
But are we really?
It has been widely reported that Olsen is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. But apparently his opposition to the U.S. military and the Marine Corps in which he served runs a little deeper.
The site is no longer live, but Olsen was the founder ofIHateTheMarineCorps.com, a private user forum apparently dedicated to bashing the Marine Corps.
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A Scott Olsen is listed as the registered owner of this domain, and I was able to confirm that this is indeed the same Scott Olsen based on a user profile on the fundraising site pledgie.com.
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I also uncovered a comment from Olsen on the Yahoo Answers site from last year where he is highly critical of the Marine Corps:
The Marine Corps thrives on its image. They convince young men and women that they’re joining a professional military organization. But that’s not the case at all, every Marine knows it, and most have no problem downplaying the bullshit to outsiders so they can protect their “beloved corps”. I noticed some of the other posters have told you not to pay any attention to my site because we’re just a bunch of ********* who couldn’t hack it, right? Maybe not hacking it means we saw through the bullshit and don’t want to take it. Maybe the brainwashing didn’t work on us. I’m not here to tell you if you should join or not. I’m here to advise you to take the people who visit my website just as seriously as anybody who tries to sell you the MC as a good thing.
My site is anonymous, these people don’t have to worry about hiding from the MC, or protecting the MC’s image or anything. It is unfiltered truth.
Source(s):
Former Marine, owner of http://www.ihatethemarinecorps.comWe are still digging for any other relevant information, so stay tuned.
Update: There are some pictures of interesting foliage and other paraphernalia on his Flickr account. Go figure: the guy being held up as a war hero by OWS is a pot smoker who hates the Marines.
I join with the countless others who wish this young man well. My sincere hope is that he heals fully. But I think it deceiptful and dishonest not to report the full story on the guy, especially when he's being portrayed, to further an agenda, as someone who in reality he is not.
Crossposted at Wizbang.
An MSNBC commentator about two weeks ago remarked, that what this occupy movement needs is their own "Kent State Moment."
I believe they have been committed to finding that moment and they continue to be committed to getting their martyr/s.
This guy Olsen is a member of an anti war group and he is an anarchist activist, the fact that he was once in the Marines means little concerning his present actions. He is using his past to attempt to portray himself as a patriot, when in fact he is a traitor to every core principle the Marine Corps attempted to instill in him.
I imagine that in fifteen years, he will join the ranks of John Kerry and others who pursued the same path.
In the mean time, I can't print what true Marines have to say about this individual, but let's just say that he needs to stay surrounded by his peeps and as far away from those Marines as he can.
Posted by: Locutisprime | Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 07:01 AM
As a Marine I can say he is a disgrace.
Posted by: Bernie | Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 10:58 PM
What in the hell does this have to do with the police beating him up and throwing a flash grenade into the small group which returned to try and help him? Why are people like you insisting obscuring with your agenda?
Posted by: EJ Inigo | Friday, November 04, 2011 at 06:03 PM