A keynote speech by News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch was hijacked several times by Occupy Wall Street hecklers in San Francisco, California. The shocked audience at the Palace Hotel included leaders of business, politics and education, who were suddenly surprised by screaming OWS activists dressed as Sesame Street characters. Rupert Murdoch was in San Francisco for an annual summit held by the Foundation for Excellence in Education , a nonprofit headed by former Governor Jeb Bush . The media billionaire was speaking on the subject of joining education and technology but was repeatedly interrupted by hecklers and mockers in the swanky Grand Ballroom. The FOX News mogul had to resume his speech, over and over, due to the disruptions by the well-dressed protesters who yelled, “Occupy Sesame Street!” — some of them with character masks from the children’s TV program. Many wonder if the whole thing was a set-up designed to discredit the Occupy Wall Street movement as childish. Critics note how there were conveniently-placed cameramen and photographers to quickly turn around and film each protester “right on cue.” They insist that the “actors” were too old and too educated to be real OWS activists. The add that Rupert Murdoch himself appeared to anticipate each outburst, then laugh it all off with, “A little controversy makes things a little more interesting.” Real activists or fake?
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Murdoch Mocked in San Francisco
I was involved in the direct action to disrupt Murdoch’s speech and was the first speaker to stand and shout out. We are all members of US Uncut San Francisco and have been involved with US Occupy San Francisco since September 17, the very first day. The choice of the “Occupy Sesame Street” theme was clearly to make the point that we need to resist corporate domination of public education as we resist it in every other area. Childish? lol. The issues is children’s eduction, for cryin’ out loud. Yow. Have you lost your sense of humor? And the comment regarding the age of the activists is a little odd. Of course, the enthusiastic participation of youthful protestors in OWS is a — if not THE — critical element in its success. At the same time, anyone who has participated in OWS sees the movement is truly multi-generational. Solidarity.