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Article

14 Apr 2008

Author:
Amy Bennett Williams, journalist for Fort Myers News-Press; Marc Rodrigues, Student/Farmworker Alliance; interviewed by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! [USA]

Did Burger King Target and Spy on Tomato Pickers Rights Groups? [USA]

Marc Rodrigues: "...Burger King said in Amy’s article that they don’t know anything about this [Cara Schaffer of Diplomatic Tactical Services posing as a student activist to try to gain information about Student/Farmworker Alliance]. But...why would a private investigation/intelligence firm, which just happens to be based in the Miami area, suddenly one day out of its own volition decide to try to infiltrate the Student/Farmworker Alliance?"... Amy Bennett Williams: "Well, I spoke with Burger King’s official spokesman,...Keva Silversmith, and he was very careful to say that he had no knowledge of or information about Diplomatic Tactical Services, always careful to use the first-person pronoun. And as for the online postings and an email that I received [both of which claimed that farmworker groups and agreements with McDonalds and Taco Bell (part of YUM!) did not benefit tomato pickers] that we traced back to Burger King corporate headquarters, he said, '...our employees are allowed to use our internet for personal purposes, and this was a personal email...is it official communication? No. But...our employees are entitled to their opinions...' And he has been very accessible and also very quick to deny any Burger King involvement in this at all."