United States Marine Corps. Sgt. Shamar Thomas from Roosevelt, NY went toe to toe with the New York Police Department. An activist in the Occupy Wall Street movement, Thomas voiced his opinions of the NYPD police brutality that had and has been plaguing the #OWS movement. Thomas is a 24-year-old Marine veteran (two tours in Iraq), he currently plays amateur football and is in college. Thomas comes from a long line of people who sacrifice for their country: mother, Army veteran (Iraq), stepfather, Army, active duty (Afghanistan), grandfather, Air Force veteran (Vietnam), great grandfather Navy veteran (World War II).
Thomas later appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
When the criminals on Wall Street, corporations and banks created the economic conditions that led to the disparity of wealth the likes of which the world has never seen, they disenfranchised 95% of the population from any hope of escaping the cycle of debt and working for unsustainable wages. With both parents holding multiple jobs, their children in debt to colleges, or else joining the military to escape poverty, the Industrial-Military Complex has NOT created an “All Volunteer” military, but has in fact forced enlisted personnel into their ranks by turning the light off at the end of the tunnel.
We as a nation have indeed gone over to the “Dark Side,” not just morally and ethically, but economically, politically and militarily as well. I have served in a foreign war, and am old and ready to check out. I have seen a nation change from one with a Constitution and Bill of Rights to one where dictatorial powers have been given to the Executive Branch, a congress that no longer represents the people but Wall Street and powerful banking and corporate interests, and a Supreme Court that has swung so far to the Right that they no longer know, read, nor understand the Constitution and what a representative democracy is supposed to look like.
Thank you Shamar Thomas, for being a sane light in the violent and crazy world of American life we are having to live in now. We, as regular citizens, have the responsibility of seeing that America returns to DEMOCRACY. Capitalism is not democracy and the world seems to be unaware of that. Democracy is one person one voice and your voice made me cry with pride. Rich people are not the problem and poor people are not the problem. The loss of our rights and freedoms is the problem. Thank you, Shamar, for reminding us of that.