Transcripts For CSPAN3 Operation Correction 20151107

Yes, there were demonstrations against the committee, some newspaper editorials against the committees tactics. In fact, fairly widespread questioning of the committee by persons were present in many shades in the Broad Spectrum of political opinion. No doubt some communist, both foreign and domestic variety are against the committee, but we point out and we will prove with our own film that persons who demonstrate against the committee are not there thereby communists or communist dupes. If you are to be called a communist every time you stand up for basic american rights and freedoms, what is likely to happen question mark will you be silent, and if so, happen . Will you be silent, and if so, is this what the House Committee on unamerican activities is after a silent, submissive, on protesting american . If not, why the falsifications in their own film . In a moment, you will see that film, known as operation abolition, but you will hear a corrected description of the events. The evidence provided by the committee to prove that the San Francisco demonstrations were communist had manipulated is this film, but mark this well. The evidence lies not in the pictures you see, but in the words spoken by the operation abolition narrator. Some of the effect has been achieved, also, by skillful editing, and by omission of certain news real sequences. Were going to play fair the american way. We do not think you answer lies and propaganda with more propaganda. We think that if we show you the original film with the same sequences in it, in the same positions, but tell you in a straight, simple facts, on which day each sequence was made, you will see for yourself some of the things that occurred in San Francisco. In brief, what occurred was this a threeday hearing of the House Committee on unamerican act of a unamerican in San Francisco on thursday, friday, saturday, may students4, 1960, with expressing their protest against the committees tactics on all three days. The police turned fire hoses on the demonstrators. Those of the simple fact. The committee would have you believe that everything that occurred was calculated to lead up to the friday afternoon disturbance and they tried to prove it by rearranging the seems to fit that falls assertion. One of the dozens of examples of telling you one thing and showing you another is this statement in the film by chairman walter. Scenes youlter the will be viewing were taken by news real photographers during of the committee on unameritivican aces in San Francisco, california, on may 12, 13, and 14, 1960. During the next few minutes, you will see revealed the long time, classic communist tactic, in which a relatively few welltrained, hardcore communist agents are able to incite and used noncommunist sympathizers to perform the dirty work of the communist party. That, as you will see, is it totally unsupported propaganda statement, which is why the American Civil Liberties union of Northern California has, in the interest of setting the record straight, called its version of the film operation correction. Films were made outside of the San Francisco city hall on thursday, the day before the police hoses. The students are exercising the freely, right to picket a right guaranteed to them and a right care recognized by the San Francisco police department. The group engaged in peaceful and orderly picketing thursday morning through saturday without incident. Members of the students for Civil Liberties of the university of california, joined by students from San Francisco State College and other schools are present. None of the organizers of the group is either a known or alleged communist. The operation abolition narration states that the students were activated by trained educators and propagandists much months before the hearings, a neat trick, considering the hearings were announced only 16 days in advance. Here we have congressman willis, giving a reporter the committees expedition of why the hearings were being held. Congress and willis with respect to the communist insurgency, and where it may lead. It is a mandate. The law has been on the books for over 20 years. We receive our appropriations and audits every year to maintain the general surveillance of the communist operations with the view of amending, improving, correcting flaws having to do with our thel security internal security act of 1950, the foreign agents registration act, the smith act, and so on. This is part and parcel of our general studies of the machinations of the commonest conspiracy. The Committee Hearings had been announced as public hearings, meaning that any citizen might go and see what is elected members to congress were doing. One group of students was at this moment inside of city hall, waiting to get into the hearing. In order to show you how the committee has falsified the facts by stringing scenes together without regard to the two sequence of events, from time to time, we are going to supply subtitles to indicate when the scenes were actually , but now, lets listen to the original narration. Who had an active part in the San Francisco Abolition Campaign and demonstrations were harry bridges, who you see here being escorted out of city hall by Police Officials moments before the writing rioting broke out. The truth is bridges was having lunch when the disturbance occurred and did not arrive at city hall until the hosing was over and order had been reserved. Fbi director J Edgar Hoover reported the correct timing of the bridges on arrival, and congress and willis said the errortary is an is in in stating he arrived at city hall before the writing broke out. Order had certainly been restored when this film was the scene was filmed, because this took his saturday, the day after the fire hosing. Here is archie brown, a subpoenaed witness, described as playing a major role in inciting the demonstrations. He is doing no inciting here, because one of these scenes took place on friday, and another on saturday, both after the firehose incident. The committee would have you think the students are as guilty of associate with Archie Bronson because they were also at city hall. In the sequence, brown is exercising his right in shooting leaflets. This is morrow brodsky, another witness, described as participating in the singing and chanting demonstrations outside of the hearing room. Brodsky was acting ability on his own. When he tried to get cooperation from student monitors, he got a flat turned down. Here is douglas walker. The committee falsely claimed he played an important part in the student demonstration. The fact is, he was forced to attend as a subpoenaed witness. He was not the leader of any demonstrations. You will note that he is just finishing his testimony, yet this shot shows him in the hallway with the students, awaiting admission with the students to the hearings. Remember, the committee marrieds were to be meetings were to be public. They queued up outside of the hearing room waiting to be admitted. They assumed admission would be on a firstcome, firstserved races, but the committee was not playing it that way. Passes issued by the committee to carefully selected groups were admitted by the side door, and the overwhelming majority of the seats were occupied by these testcarrying friends of the committee. On the first morning, they did admit about 75 people from the general public, but this was the most ever. Narrator sayss the committee issued 100 passes. What he does not say is that on meant 3,es it said it 4, five, or six. It was this policy of stacking the Committee Hearing with friends of the committee that produced a deep sense of indignation with the students that had waited outside of the door so long. Here is archie brown again. The original film cast him in the role of villain, and brown is giving a good performance. Like the committee, he is reaching for newspaper headlines. In this sequence, brown is being evicted from the hearings on thursday morning. Effect, this has been falsely coupled with these shots of an eviction of a student on friday morning. On also morrow brodsky friday Merle Brodsky on friday. A glaring example of how the film transposes scenes is shown in the reappearance of douglas walker. He was previously shown leaving the witness stand. Now he is just appearing on the stand and testifying at some length. Numeric, he was forced to be present because he was subpoenaed. Beremember, he was forced to present because he was subpoenaed. Unlike archie brown, he did not behave badly or was tossed out of the hearings. Why does the film spent so much time on him . It is because he is an alleged communist and college student, because you see one communist student, the committee would have you lump them together and believe all of the demonstrated students were communists. This is known as guilt by association, the committees favorite weapon smearing all kinds of people. Lets listen to the mild mannered douglas testifying. Douglas it punishes individuals and groups for political ideas and associations through public exposure and condemnation. Im sorry. You are refusing to answer on the basis of the first amendment, is that correct . Douglas i have objected to the question. It punishes individuals and groups for their ideas through public exposure and condemnations, often resulting in economic sanctions. I cannot cooperate with committee in answering any such questions. I feel i have an obligation as a citizen of this country to preserve the constitution and i do not feel i can do so in good conscience by allowing the house on unamerican activities mittee to inquiring by to inquire on my beliefs were associations. He is then required to answer the question whether he is a communist party member. Here is his response. Douglas i decline to answer the question on grounds previously stated, and i also respectfully refused to answer the question of Congress Constitutional ground that i cannot be forced to bear witness against myself. Perhaps these crowd shots were designed to link him to the demonstrating students. At noon on thursday, a mass rally was conducted at union square, about a mile away from city hall. A minister and two california some women addressed the rally denounced and denounced the House Unamerican Activities Committee as a threat to Civil Liberties. After the rally, the students marched back to the city hall and began to picket outside of the building under the direction , of monitors wearing armbands. They carried signs, critical of the committee. Here is Police Inspector dan shelley on duty outside of the door of the hearing room on thursday morning, waving back to students who are unable to gain admission. At the close of the thursday morning session, and while the committee was recessed, a group of subpoenaed witnesses engaged in a demonstration inside of the hearing room. They chanted open the door, this was followed by the singing of the starspangled banner, and there is the pledge of allegiance to the flag, and then repeated chanting of open the door. The connection between the subpoenaed witnesses and the students protesting the committee is never made clear. Witnesses, the star of the show did not think it with the students, and the students were strictly careful to have nothing to do with the witnesses. Yes, this backandforth, these honest, accidental mistakes, to quote chairman walter again, to have you believe that there was a connection. Show thenal film account in the hearing room in three rooms. First of all, it showed that most of the time the committee was not in session. Second, it hit the immediate reason for the demonstration. The fact was that some of the subpoenaed witnesses had presented a petition to the ammittee asking it to move to larger room, or else admit people on a firstcome, firstserved basis. To committee refused consider the petition. Third, students were justifiably a angry over this seating policy. The fact that almost all of the seats were filled by people carrying a white card. You would think it happened friday, just before the police held them. It was not that way at all. Lets listen to the demonstration. [applause] [indiscernible] open the door open the door open the door open the door [applause] open the door open the door [indiscernible] open the door or get out of town. [singing starspangled banner] [applause] bear in mind of the committee is not now in session. This demonstration, however noisy, is in no way interfering with the taking of testimony. Open the door open the door open the door what are you afraid of . Open the door americanism. Watch this americanism and action in action. Finally, after the seven subpoenaed witnesses had been allowed to put on their act for the benefit of the tv cameramen and the newspapers, they were removed from the hearing room by Police Officers. They could have been removed much sooner, since police were hearings, buthout it served the purpose of allowing the demonstration to be prolonged. In fact, both the committee and be demonstrators were bidding for headlines. Chairman willis opens thursday afternoons sessions with a request for order. Beenese hearings have conducted in a dignified fashion, and ultimately [indiscernible] in the next two minutes, you will see a series of extent scenes. Because we cannot show you what really happened, we will have to tell you. We are getting out of the heart of this matter. What are called the quote communist led rights. First, there were two Police Operations on this friday. On one side was sherman carberry, on the other, inspector maguire. Workingiff seemed to be in one direction, and the inspector and another. Naturally, there was confusion. Friday morning, the sherman said, i will try to arrange for you to be admitted to the hearing room. Necessaryot make the arrangements in time for the afternoon session. In the meantime, the responsible Student Leadership made several attempts to cooperate with police. They were robust. The danger and the situation and made frantic efforts to contact the mayor, or some other responsible city official. No one was available. At noon on friday, the students thought their efforts were to be successful, that at last they were to be let in on a firstcome, firstserved basis. Again, they were treated to the spectacle of the passholders being admitted ahead of them. They felt cheated. They felt they had been but trade. They had been led to expect the afternoon session would see admissions on a more equitable basis. Ironically enough, the sheriff had done as he promised. He got the permission he was after, and he was back to city on his way back to city hall when the hosing began. Under inspector maguire studentson, the quieted down. The expected police to make some statement, some request for them to leave the building, but nothing was said. It is true that the police asked of you individual students to leave, but there was never a general warning to the students. Given of what was to come. Out of the sight of the students, police began uncoiling the fire hoses. The students tried to demonstrate their nonviolent intentions by sitting down. Some witnesses heard of policeman shot something to this effect, so, you want some of this, do you, you will get it. Hen, the water was turned on here is what the committees here is the committees version of what happened. The demonstrators become more and more unruly. One student provides the spark that sets off the violence. He grabs the Police Officers nightstick and begins eating the Police Officer over the head. As the mob surges forward, the Police Inspector orders that the fire hoses be turned off. You surely know that robert was acquitted in the San Francisco trial. If you sell life magazine, you saw photographs of robert completely dry, looking on as the students were host. Not only the committee will suggest that a man can touch off a right, be a Police Officer, be hoses, and getre away, all dried off and a matter of seconds. Cant be done, and wasnt done. Another curious fact. Despite all of the experience, press, and Television Cameramen on the spot, no one has come forward with a single frame showing anyone jumping any barricade. Nor, as the committee would have it, any mob surging forward to gearch the doors sur the doors. You can bet that if it occurred, someone would have pictures of it. , i even longer odds, if such pictures existed, the committee would have publicized them far and wide. Look at these scenes of police at city hall. Which group is using allout violence . The students or the police . And, just suppose, for the sake of argument that a student had a barricade and assaulted an officer. That would certainly be grounds for his arrest, but would that have justified the police and handling all of the students in this way . The fact is that no one leaped a barricade. No one assaulted an officer. Why did please use the hoses . Only the police know that. They are not saying. There has been a widespread awareness, not only in San Francisco, but nationally that the evidence points to brutality and violence on the part of the police, rather than on the part of the students. We asked you to draw your own conclusions. Remember, most of the same to saul just prior to the hosing were actually taken the day before, on thursday. The makers of operation abolition were not satisfied. It was not dramatic enough. Its not prove their point about a communist led right. Riot. By combining the demonstrations, the filmmakers were able to create a distorted untrue affect. , the errors were not accidental. When the committee subpoenaed the film from the photographers, all sequences were properly dated and labeled. There was no excuse for error, no excuse for mixing up the true sequence of events. It is a matter of records that at least seven students were injured. What operation abolition did not include was the original newsreel film showing injured students lying apparently unconscious on the floor of city hall, or outside on the ground. Such scenes were carefully deleted by the committee producers. In contrast, see what tender concern they have for the police. In the words of the original narrator for students of suffered minor injuries. Sufferolice officers injuries, serious enough for hospitalization. Age 61,lice officer, who suffered a stroke. A good story from the Committee Point of view, but the truth is that the officer merely collapsed from exhaustion. Other Police Injuries were minor. Why should they not be minor . No one was turning hoses on the police, or dragging them down the stairs. The Committee Also falsely tied in the students with communism by declaring that just before the hosing, students enthusiastically joined in on e refrains of the song, abolish the committee, we shall not be moved, lyrics lifted from the old communist songbook. Actually, we should not be an old spiritual, and familiar to people familiar with old folk recent. Later, charges against all but one were dismissed. The one was acquitted after hours of the liberation. Arrested arehose even alleged to be communist. These two join the group only after the hoses were turned on. Even this flimsy pretext by the committee of communist provocation by police falls flat. Now, the film shows you evidence agitatinged communist. This includes clippings from the daily californian, and the San Francisco chronicle. The implication is that these new stories on events surrounding the hearings are result of communist inspiration. Showing a page from the newspaper obviously does not prove this claim, nor do continuing scenes of pickets and routes, taken at various times during the hearing. Again, you will see actions of some of the witnesses under subpoena in the hearing room. In some way, these witnesses were directly responsible for the demonstrations of mile away at union square. Also, the demonstrators outside city hall, and also those trying to get into the hearing. The committee narrator tells you it is a communist tactic for. Itnesses to defy it if so, why does the committee subpoenaed the same witnesses again and again . Is this because they really believe the witnesses will suddenly break down and make some dramatic disclosure . Or, is it because they can count on the stubborn defiant witness making a good newspaper story . The committee does not like statements from on from the witnesses. Its rules say that any statement can be rejected as an attack on the committee. Any witness that dares disagree has no way of being hurt, either verbally or writing, without the committees indulgence. Here we see archie brown attempting to read such a statement. Francisco street, san. Shoreman. Term i want to state [indiscernible] i want to tell the committee my family is being threatened. [indiscernible] answer the question. I direct you to answer the question. Are you represented by counsel . That i am. Where were you born . Mr. Chairman, i want to i have directed you to answer the question. Here. As subpoenaed here, and myaed i was born in sioux city, iowa. What is the outstanding principal question . Born . Re were you it. Rd sai already said chairman willis threatens him with expulsion from the hearing room. Under the rule of the committee, you can file that paper with the director at this time. If you wish to. Statement. O read a i want to read the statement, mr. Chairman. I want to explain my position. Statement. File the [indiscernible] archie brown is forcibly removed for the third time. The committee needed to be surprised that the next witness, willie mandell, turned out to be hostile. He was described as an identified agent of the communist party. What did they expect . They expected an outburst because this is great publicity. In fairness to mr. Mandel, it should be said that the testimony you hear was presented out of context. Do you think that i will cooperate with the collection of students, men who said that in violation of the United States constitution . If you think i will cooperate with you in any way, you are insane. [indiscernible] [applause] mandells answer that he was a lecture is left out. Now, we only hear part of his answer to the next question, whether he was a party member and lecturer. Was asked this question in 1943, let me say, i am honored when people come up to me on the street perhaps i do not deserve the honor and say that i am the man who killed mr. Mccarthy. I do the best to conduct myself in a manner end which i am conducting myself today. If there were any evidence against me under law, the property authorities would operate against me. This is a kangaroo court. It i does not have my respect. I will not answer that question. Next you will see frank. Ilkinson being interviewed he is described as a top communist agent and accused of studentg amongst the demonstrators. Of course, this accusation is totally unsupported, and just as phony as the crowd noises that were dumped into the film dubbed into the film. I understand you said you were organizing protests against the committee. Yes. One of the things that the committee does is come to each committee, when the Committee Issues a subpoena, to assist the othernaed persons and persons in a committee that are not familiar with the kind of unconstitutional a hater that this committee carries on, to assist that committee and the subpoenas. Called ane International Communist agent. Flatteringa very called a i have been communist, but never an International Communist. Hasl the Supreme Court answered the fundamental constitutional question, which is now pending in my case, which is one of the test cases of this committee until they have resolved this matter and declared these kinds of questions under compulsion to be illegal and unconstitutional, i have refused to answer the refused, just as i have to answer them directly to the committee when i have been called. Now you have seen the film , operation abolition or go im sure you now see that what happened in San Francisco was not a communist led riot or americans being. Uped by communists once you recognize this truth, two questions arise. Why were the students there, and why did the House Committee on unamerican activities make this film. Gophers, the student demonstrations. Increasingly, students have become passionately involved in civil liberty issues. These are good, forthright american issues, going back to the declaration of independence, the bill of rights, and coming right up to today with our Serious National Concern for the civil rights of all americans. There is a difference between communist dupes and highminded young men and women proud of their countrys traditions of freedoms. So proud that they have a conviction to protest. The students protested by peaceful picketing. They sought admission to public hearings, and were denied. Yes, their reaction to the denial singing and chanting inside a public link may be may well be criticized. The second question. Why did the House Committee on unamerican activities twist and distort this episode . Why did they play scenes out of sequence . Why did they leave out certain scenes . Why did they make narration statements that were totally unsupported, either by the pictures are the facts . Why did they give special prominence to the misbehavior and cited the hearing room of a few communists, and elijah alleged communists . We believe that the film was created to give the impression that all were communists or communist dupes. In this matter, the committee prohibit freedom of speech and assembly. Yes, some americans have been duped, but in this case, the duping has been done by the House Committee on unamerican activities. Mark welled up the Water Committee did all of this by dubiousg in a highly bit of business, using subpoena over film to a whoercial Film Producer distributed the film and took profits. Our disclosure gives the American People a concrete example of the irresponsible house in which the Unamerican Activities Committee operates. The aclu supports the statement of the New York Times when it says, this whole unamerican operation by the House Unamerican Activities Committee is evidence of its need for abolition. That is why we have just shown you operation correction. Every weekend, the cspan Network Features programs on politics, nonfiction books, and history. As the nation commemorates veterans day, today, starting at eastern, American History will be live from the National World War Ii Museum and new orleans in new orleans. Be will tour the museums exhibit and take your calls and tweets. Starting this week and every sunday morning at 10 00, our new program, road to the right rewind. House this we can, we will feature Ronald Reagans president ial campaign announcement. Steamboat 8 30, the steamboate Institute Conference on the legalization of marijuana. Sunday night, the road to the white house continues with martin omalley, who will speak at a town hall meeting an in durham. Today, on cspan 2, it is the. Oston book festival mike and james ood. Sunday night at 11 00, a Book Discussion with the former first lady of massachusetts, ann romney on her book about her journey with multiple sclerosis. Get the complete schedule at weekend, American History tv is featuring sacramento, california. Is now aand state historic park. As californias governor, u. S. Senator, and president of the Central Pacific railroad. He established Stanford University in memory of his son who died of typhoid. Home hosted by our Comcast Cable partners, cspans city tours staff recently visited sites showcasing the citys history