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What a firestorm my Comment is Free blog post in the Guardian, “The
Shocking News Behind the Crackdown on Occupy”, has unleashed: some have
praised, while others have attacked. Josh Holland’s criticisms of my
piece, in a blog post, “Naomi Wolf’s Shocking Truth about Occupy is
Anything But”, was picked up the most widely of the critics’ attacks.
But the criticisms Holland poses are poorly grounded.

Holland’s main premise is that I am part of a “flurry of speculation” that is without basis in fact, and that there was no federal involvement in the crackdown. I cited evidence that DHS was on the 18-member conference call of mayors, which Oakland Mayor Jean Quan alluded to in an interview with the BBC on 15 November, and my source was Wonkette on 15 November. Holland argues that his assertion to contrary has been qualified, and I am happy to adjust the citation accordingly.

But Holland is seriously mistaken in reaching his premature conclusion that there is no evidence of DHS or federal participation in the crackdown, and for attacking me for having asserted the connection: “Mayors in a handful of cities,” he concludes, “responding to local political pressures, decided to break up their local occupations – decisions that were announced to the press well in advance – and were advised as to how best to do so.”