Thread by @bradleyrsimpson

1/7 I was a radio producer for Democracy Now! on September 11, 2001 and in the months afterwards. I had a unique vantage point to witness the antiwar movement against the US invasion of Afghanistan. There was a mass antiwar movement: decentralized, local, and ignored by media.

2/7 Shortly after 9/11 we had Rita Lazar on the show. She lost her brother in the Twin Towers. She talked about her opposition to killing innocent Afghan civilians as revenge for the murder of innocent US civilians. There were many, many Rita Lazars.

3/7 One morning we had Colleen Stevens on. She lived in suburban CT and her husband had died on 9/11. She held a candlelight vigil to protest the prospects of war against Afghanistan and 5,000 people showed up. It merited 1 line in an AP report. There were more Colleens.

4/7 We set up a voice mailbox at the show and asked people to leave messages describing what they were doing in their cities and towns. At first it was a trickle. A few vigils daily here and there. Then dozens. Then they overwhelmed us. Every day. For weeks.

5/7 I marched with maybe 10,000 people in NYC in October, shortly before the US invasion. We knew the US would invade. Most folks who opposed the war had *no idea* that there had been hundreds of protests around the country since 9/11. Most Americans still have no idea.

6/7 Millions, tens of millions of Americans opposed using the pain of 9/11 to murder more innocent people in Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands, probably more, came into the streets opposing war. These protests were totally ignored by the media. But they happened. I saw it.

7/7 I had a unique vantage point. @democracynow was the only media outlet in the US giving voice to antiwar Americans. But they were everywhere. Under the media radar screen, in hundreds of towns and cities. The movement largely disappeared when war started. But it was there. END

8/8 This was pre-social media, but after 9/11 DN! would just play voice mails on the air describing some of the protests taking place on college campuses and in towns and cities across the country. We wanted people to know they weren’t alone in opposing the march to war.