Two
members of the Yes Men, a group of environmental and corporate ethics
activists, duped business executives and some news organizations
earlier today when they posed as top HUD officials and announced the
agency planned to renovate several housing developments now slated for
demolition.
Two members of the Yes Men, a group of environmental and corporate
ethics activists, duped business executives and some news organizations
earlier today when they posed as top HUD officials and announced the
agency planned to renovate several housing developments now slated for
demolition.
One of the men said they set up the hoax after receiving an e-mail
solicitation from Equity International -- the group staging the
conference -- in search of conference speakers. They responded by
saying HUD secretary Alfonso Jackson would like to speak, after which
Jackson was placed in the conference lineup after Gov. Kathleen Blanco
and Mayor Ray Nagin.
The two men, one of whom posed as a HUD "deputy special assistant" Rene
Oswin and the other as Oswin’s press secretary, showed up at the
Pontchartrain Center in Kenner this morning and told organizers that
Jackson couldn’t make the event, and that they would speak in his
place, one said.
Then the man posing as Oswin gave a 15-minute speech saying that HUD
was reversing its policy and would reopen all public housing in the
city. While the speech was under way, the group e-mailed a bogus press
release to major news outlets with the same announcement.
After the speech, the audience of several hundred people applauded, and
the conference organizer thanked Oswin for his comments. A group of
news reporters huddled around the fake HUD officials asking questions
about the apparent policy reversal. Some news organizations sent out
breaking news alerts to the major development before learning it was a
fake.
Shortly after the speech concluded, another member of the Yes Men,
standing outside the Lafitte housing development, said she had called
numerous contractors and told them to gather at Lafitte at 1 p.m. to
learn about millions in contracting opportunities that would spring
from the policy reversal. She refused to give her name. The Lafitte
complex is one of four slated for demolition.
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The Yes Men Impersonate HUD, Promise Housing in New Orleans
Authored by:
Anonymous on
Monday, August 28 2006 @ 06:41 PM PDT
In
case you are wondering what HUD stands for, it is a US government
agency that stands for, The Department of Housing and Urban Development.
I was a little confused, because here in NY, HUD is associated with
food stamps. Perhaps, they are they same agency, but I thought I'd just
clear that up for anyone wondering, because I never knew what HUD stood
for.
I was a little confused, because here in NY, HUD is associated with food stamps. Perhaps, they are they same agency, but I thought I'd just clear that up for anyone wondering, because I never knew what HUD stood for.