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Gainesville 8: Episode 3 (Final Cut)

 

 

In this final installment of SPOHP volunteer John Paul Lorie’s three-part podcast on the Gainesville Eight, we hear the story of the federal government’s indictment of the Eight on charges of conspiracy to disrupt the 1972 Republican National Convention. We hear the lawyer for the defendants assess the prosecution’s case, and describe the legal strategy his firm adopted for defending these veterans in court. We also hear direct testimony from members of the Eight including Scott Camil, as well as other VVAW members who were subpoenaed to testify, in describing the FBI’s infiltration of VVAW and the flagrant violations of their constitutional rights that ensued. Given that we are currently witnessing–and some of us participating in–a new era of demonstration and direct action, this story is of particular relevance to questions of lawful protest and the constitutional rights of demonstrators.