Shahid Buttar

Today, after publishing Back to Square One on Spying in the Hill, I spoke at a congressional briefing about a proposed bipartisan measure to repeal the twin statutory pillars of the surveillance state. Here's video of my remarks at the briefing:

I know how to intentionally risk political arrest. I've done it many times before, though not in the past ten years.

(My most recent political arrest was in June 2003, when -- while studying for the bar exam after graduating from Stanford Law School -- I helped blockade the Bechtel headquarters in San Francisco to protest the company's seizure and privatization of water in Iraq in the initial months following the invasion that spring. Here's a photo that USA Today ran on June 19 of me kicking rhymes while getting handcuffed).

That was in 2003. When I went to Capitol Hill for a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing this February 26, I had no intention of seeking arrest.

I specifically chose not to interrupt or disrupt the hearing -- yet found myself detained afterwards, anyway. All I did was ask a crucial question of vital public interst that no Senators have demonstrated the independence to raise themselves.

I could go on about shooting the messenger (i.e., the irony of leaving in handcuffs after asking a question about corruption, while the officials whose criminal actions have gone unpunished continue to walk free with taxpayer funded paychecks), but I particularly want to focus here on the circumstances surrounding my unlawful arrest.

I'd been back in DC for less than 14 hours before I found myself standing up in a Senate hearing chamber to ask Director of National Intelligence James Clapper a question that somehow never came up during his appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

Check out a series of 9 sick remixes of NSA vs USA, or download the open source stems from which to construct your own. You can also download the extended dance floor mix from Soundcloud.

NSA vs. USA was written to be a teaching tool as much as a dance track. Below are annotated lyrics, with links to articles and reports you can read to learn more. The first step in helping "build a movement, raising your voice" is to learn history and get informed.

In my favorite place yet
I learned a great deal
for many millions together
can do amazing things

I learned a great deal
Cuba's revelatory history
can do amazing things
were we in the States aware

Cuba's revelatory history
it shows who we are
were we in the States aware
we'd do something about it.

It shows who we are
when our empire throws elbows
we'd do something about it
if it impacted us

From December 2006 through January 2007, I joined two dear friends (Hawah and V:shal) for a two month voyage across South Asia promoting Hindu-Muslim harmony. At the time, I wrote a series of blog posts recounting our adventures, which I've collected and posted here:

Today was the 13th anniversary of military detention at Guantanamo Bay. After joining inspiring allies from Witness Against Torture (many of whom fasted for a week and came from all across the US) at a vigil at the White House, we marched to DC Superior Court, where I busted this rhyme about the inversion of criminal justice in America. The guilty remain free and run amok, while innocents are imprisoned en masse.