Los Angeles, California. An American reporters struggle with the government of the USA illustrates that freedom of the press is valid in America only as long as it serves state interests.
American reporter Barrett Brown was re-arrested and taken into custody Thursday, the day before he was scheduled to be interviewed for a PBS documentary.
Brown has quickly became a symbol of the US attacks on press freedom after he was arrested in 2012 for reporting on the hacked emails of intelligence-contracting firms. Brown wrote about hacked emails that showed the firm Stratfor spying on activists on behalf of corporations. Brown also helped uncover a proposal by intelligence contractors to hack and smear WikiLeaks defenders and progressive activists.
The reporter was confronted with the possibility of 100 years in prison, Brown pleaded guilty in 2014 to two charges related to obstruction of justice and threatening an FBI agent, and was sentenced to five years and 3 months. He was released in November.
According to his mother, who spoke with Brown by phone after his arrest, Brown believes the reason for his re-arrest was a failure to obtain “permission” to give interviews to media organizations. Several weeks ago, Brown was told by his parole officer that he needed to fill out permission forms before giving interviews.
Brown was set to do a number of interviews, further calling attention to the American supression of press members to speak openly in the USA. Because the case is not covered in the American state controlled press, very few inside the USA know of the persecution of this reporter.