Unknown; Occupy Wall Street Archives Working Group
Object Type
Signs
Description
Freedom of Information Act files obtained by various journalists, civil rights groups, and lawyers indicate that the FBI conducted high levels of surveillance against the Occupy movement, and that the movement was being watched as early as August, 2011. Protesters were largely aware of this fact, and—while security culture was not meaningfully employed in the movement—they aimed to keep one another aware, and perhaps also desired to let the feds know that they were aware as well.
Image Description
A hand drawing of a surveillance van, disguised as a "Joe's Pizza" delivery vehicle, is at the top of this protest sign. The sign says "Smile" with smiley faces drawn on either side of the word. Below this, the text of the sign reads, "that white van behind you is gathering all sorts of info about you, possibly even taking scans of your naked body, similar to the airport body scanners." The sign is written in thin black marker.
Citation
Surveillance van sign, circa 2011-2012; TAM.630 Occupy Wall Street Archives Working Group Records; box 20; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University