Source: The American Prospect
by Whitney Curry Wimbish
“Dio Smith had a clean record before they showed up to protest OpenAI executives’ plan to dominate American life, drain increasingly scarce resources, and otherwise steal their future. They gathered with more than 30 other students on August 10 at the artificial intelligence company’s new lobbying headquarters, just blocks from the half-destroyed White House. They dropped banners and held signs, all of which demanded that the company cease and desist. Cops closed in after two hours. They arrested 13 students, separated them by gender, sent them to two different precincts in D.C., and left OpenAI executives free to continue their $140 million-plus lobbying project to manipulate the government in their favor. Smith was in jail for six hours, taking solace from their preparation with other student organizers and reminding themselves that they were following the paths laid by their ancestors: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Huey Newton.” (09/10/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/09/10/oct-2026-building-power-one-person-at-a-time/