See also
- A Visit From The Goon Squad , 2011 Jennifer Egan novel
- Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs) – Lakota paramilitary force
- Labor spies
- Union busting
- Union violence
A goon squad is a group of people, often composed of hired criminals, detectives, or mercenaries, formed to intimidate and assault a specific group of opponents. [1]
In the United States, a goon squad is a group of criminals or mercenaries, commonly associated with pro-union violence or anti-union violence, [2] though they may be employed in other situations as well. In the case of pro-union violence, a goon squad may be formed by union leaders to intimidate or assault non-union workers, strikebreakers, or parties who do not cooperate with the directives of union leadership. [3] In the case of anti-union violence, goon squads are traditionally hired by employers as an attempt at union busting, and resort to many of the same tactics, including intimidation, espionage, and assault. [4]
During the labor unrest of the late 19th century in the United States, businessmen hired goon squads composed of Pinkerton agents to infiltrate unions, and as guards to keep strikers and suspected unionists out of factories. One of the best known such confrontations was the Homestead Strike of 1892, in which Pinkerton agents were called in to enforce the strikebreaking measures of Henry Clay Frick, acting on behalf of Andrew Carnegie, who was abroad; the ensuing conflicts between Pinkerton agents and striking workers led to several deaths on both sides. The Pinkertons were also used as guards in coal, iron, and lumber disputes in Illinois, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania, as well as the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
In some cases, corporations have been formed specifically to provide the services of goon squads. The Corporations Auxiliary Company was a corporation created to conduct "the administration of industrial espionage", [5] providing goon squads and labor spies in exchange for payment. In 1921 the Corporations Auxiliary Company was known to masquerade under a dozen different names, and specialized at electing its agents to union office in order to control or destroy unions. [6]
An example of goon squad activity outside the US was the 2019 Yuen Long attack, or 721 incident, during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, in which an armed mob of suspected triad members dressed in white indiscriminately attacked civilians on the streets and in Yuen Long station with steel rods and rattan canes, [7] [8] including the elderly, children, [9] protesters returning from a demonstration in Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island, [10] journalists, and lawmakers. [11] [12] Pro-democracy activists accused pro-Beijing advocates and police of colluding with of the attackers, pointing to the slow response time and uncharacteristically disinterested demeanor of the police [13] and a pro-Beijing politician and member of the Legislative Council, Junius Ho, who greeted a group of armed white-clothed men, shaking their hands and calling them "heroes", giving them thumbs-up and saying "thank you for your hard work." At least one of the white-clothed men who shook hands with Ho has been shown to have been inside Yuen Long station during the attacks. [14]
The 2010 novel A Visit from the Goon Squad won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The novel refers to time as "the goon squad" and "a goon", emphasizing how time robs most of the characters of their youth, innocence, and success. [15]
In 2023 five deputies and a police officer in Mississippi were charged with and pleaded guilty to torturing two black men at a home. The six officers reportedly referred to themselves as the "Goon Squad". [16]
The term "goon" was reputedly coined by F. L. Allen in 1921, [17] perhaps a variant of the US slang "gooney" which had been around since at least 1872, meaning a simpleton or fool, [18] which may have derived from "gony", applied by sailors to the albatross and similar big, clumsy birds (c.1839). In the late 1930s, E. C. Segar’s comic strip Popeye had a character named "Alice the Goon". It was from this character that large stupid people or stupid things came to popularly be called "goons" and the term entered into general use. [17] [19] "Goon" evolved into slang for a thug (1938), [20] someone hired by racketeers to terrorize political or industrial opponents (1938), [21] or a German stalag guard for American POWs (1945). [20]
Pinkerton is an American private investigation and security agency established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born American cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton & Co. and finally the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. At the height of its power from the 1870s to the 1890s, it was the largest private law enforcement organization in the world. It is currently a subsidiary of Swedish-based Securitas AB.
Yuen Long is an MTR station in the north-eastern part of Yuen Long Town, New Territories, Hong Kong, on the Tuen Ma line between Kam Sheung Road and Long Ping. It is an interchange between the Tuen Ma line and Yuen Long stop of the Light Rail system.
In the United States Senate, the La Follette Civil Liberties Committee, or more formally, Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee Investigating Violations of Free Speech and the Rights of Labor (1936–1941), began as an inquiry into a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) investigation of methods used by employers in certain industries to avoid collective bargaining with unions.
Yuen Long is a town in the western New Territories, Hong Kong. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu (洪水橋), Tin Shui Wai, Lau Fau Shan and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin (錦田), and to the north Nam Sang Wai.
Labor spying in the United States had involved people recruited or employed for the purpose of gathering intelligence, committing sabotage, sowing dissent, or engaging in other similar activities, in the context of an employer/labor organization relationship. Spying by companies on union activities has been illegal in the United States since the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. However, non-union monitoring of employee activities while at work is perfectly legal and, according to the American Management Association, nearly 80% of major US companies actively monitor their employees.
The pro-Beijing camp, pro-establishment camp or pro-China camp is a political alignment in Hong Kong which generally supports the policies of the Beijing central government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) towards Hong Kong. The term "pro-establishment camp" is regularly in use to label the broader segment of the Hong Kong political arena which has the closer relationship with the establishment, namely the governments of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Pro-Beijing politicians are labeled "patriots" by pro-Beijing media and "loyalists" by the rival pro-democracy camp.
Civil unrest occurred in Mong Kok, Hong Kong from the night of 8 February 2016 until the following morning. This incident occurred following the government's crackdown on unlicensed street hawkers during the Chinese New Year holidays. Eventually, violent clashes broke out between police and protesters, resulting in injuries on both sides.
Anti-union violence in the United States is physical force intended to harm union officials, union organizers, union members, union sympathizers, or their families. It has most commonly been used either during union organizing efforts, or during strikes. The aim most often is to prevent a union from forming, to destroy an existing union, or to reduce the effectiveness of a union or a particular strike action. If strikers prevent people or goods to enter or leave a workplace, violence may be used to allow people and goods to pass the picket line.
Lam Cheuk-ting is a Democratic Party politician in Hong Kong. He is a former investigator of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and chief executive of the Democratic Party. He was a member of the North District Council for Shek Wu Hui until March 2021. He was elected to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in 2016 through New Territories East.
On 15 October 2014, pro-democracy activist Ken Tsang was beaten by Hong Kong Police officers in Tamar Park, Admiralty, after being arrested in a police clearance operation during the 2014 Hong Kong protests. Though not the only reported instance of police brutality during the protests, the assault gained notoriety as it was filmed from a distance by a Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) news crew and broadcast to Hong Kong audiences.
The 2019 Hong Kong District Council elections were held on 24 November 2019 for all 18 District Councils of Hong Kong. 452 seats from all directly elected constituencies, out of the 479 seats in total, were contested. Nearly three million people voted, equivalent to 71 per cent of registered voters, an unprecedented turnout in the electoral history of Hong Kong. The election was widely viewed as a de facto referendum on the concurrent anti-extradition protests.
The 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests were a series of demonstrations against the Hong Kong government's introduction of a bill to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in regard to extradition. It was the largest series of demonstrations in the history of Hong Kong.
The 2019 Yuen Long attack, also known as the 721 incident, refers to a mob attack that occurred in Yuen Long, a town in the New Territories of Hong Kong, on the evening of 21 July 2019. It took place in the context of the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. A mob dressed in white stormed the MTR's Yuen Long station and attacked protesters returning from a demonstration in Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island as well as bystanders.
This segment of the timeline of the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests covers the month of July 2019. The anniversary of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China on 1 July saw large daytime protests. In the evening of that day, protesters stormed the Legislative Council Building and defaced symbols, with police only moving in after midnight. This incident, which was sharply condemned by the government of Carrie Lam, did however not lead to a split between peaceful and violent protesters. Observers linked the understanding of the non-violent protesters for the violent wing to the lack of willingness of the Lam government to engage in dialogue about the protesters' five demands. Apart from major protests on Sundays, there were also mostly peaceful demonstrations during the week.
The month of August 2019 in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests saw a continuation of protests throughout the city. Several of the peaceful daytime protests were held by social groups such as families, the elderly, and various professions. In many instances, peaceful protests occurs during the day, turning increasingly violent at night. In North Point and Tsuen Wan, white- or blue-shirted armed groups were attacking protesters, but unlike in the Yuen Long violence of 21 July they were beaten back in North Point. Protesters aimed at drawing international attention through methods such as extended sit-ins at the airport. In many occasions, an eye injury of a female protester who had served as frontline medical staff became a symbol of the protests. At the airport protests, a mainland journalist was violently tackled by protesters who did not reveal his identity to the protesters. Protesters later apologised for this incident, reducing tensions and satisfying some pro-establishment lawmakers. The Prince Edward station attack on 31 August proved to be a further landmark event in the protests.
The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) struggled with corruption among its ranks from the 1940s until the 1970s. It gained the nickname "Asia's Finest" after undergoing reforms in 1979. Since the 2010s, the force has faced allegations of police brutality, sexual assault, excessive use of violence, falsification of evidence, and a lack of professionalism.
The conduct of the Hong Kong Police Force is a subject of controversy during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. Tactics employed by the force have led to misconduct allegations and protesters have accused the Hong Kong government of using the police as a method to resolve a "lingering political crisis." Actions taken by the police force and the Hong Kong government have caused mixed reactions inside Hong Kong and in the general international community. Allegations against the police include excessive use of force, force against unspecific targets, and arrest without warrant. These allegations have been presented in various media both supporting and detracting from the complaints, such as through amateur video. In general, the spirit, rumors, videos, and other media shared by the public have caused a drop in support for the police force, and an Amnesty International report accused the police of using excessive force against civilians. One of the objectives of the 2019–2020 protests is establishment of an independent inquiry system into said allegations.
In late January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic started to gain more concerns from the public due to its severity. In early February, consequently, the organizers announced to suspend the demonstrations. Alternatively, protests over responses to the outbreak were held in various districts. The largest demonstrations besides the outbreak protests were to commemorate the July 21 Yuen Long attack and August 31 Prince Edward station attack, as well as the death of Chow Tsz-lok and Chan Yin-lam.
Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam is a Hong Kong social activist and former reporter of the now defunct news outlet Stand News, who rose to prominence for her frontline reporting in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. In June 2020, she announced her candidature in the 2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries, in which she obtained a nomination ticket in the general election that was later postponed. For her participation, she was arrested in January 2021 along with over 50 other pro-democrats on national security charges and was remanded in custody. In December 2021, she received a sentence of six months in relation to her role in a banned protest during the 31st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in June 2020.
After the 1 July police stabbing, Hong Kong police and the government characterized the incident as a "lone wolf" terrorist attack. Foreign media saw the stabbing as a sign of a steep decline of the reputation of the police in the eyes of some locals, a process that had begun with the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. They also considered the uncovering of a bomb plot on 5 July as evidence of a polarization in society, and pointed to the influence of diminishing legal ways to voice dissent in the year since the national security law came into effect. At the beginning of the month, the police arrested citizens who posted on the Internet for inciting others to kill the police. Later it persecuted members of the student union of Hong Kong University for having passed a motion, subsequently withdrawn, that had praised the "sacrifice" of the deceased attacker of 1 July.
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