Barrett Brown Faces 105 Years in Jail

But no one can figure out what law he broke. Introducing America's least likely political prisoner


I have posted about Barrett Brown before. It is my belief that his contact and work with Michael Hastings is what got Michael killed. But that is another topic.

Since the Judge granted the gag order requested by the Feds prosecuting Brown, there is little information to be found about the case. It seems that other than FreeBarrettBrown.org, NOONE is writing about the case and I think it is one of the MOST important cases winding it's way through our "justice?" system right now.

Anyway. Rolling Stone has an in depth article on Barrett's case right now and as far as I am concerned it is a must read and the best article written so far. Hopefully with the Stone publishing this story, Brown's plight will get more exposure.

Brown sits down across from his co-counsel, a young civil-liberties lawyer named Ahmed Ghappour, and raises a triumphant fist holding several sheets of notebook paper. "Penned it out," he says. "After 10 months, I'm finally getting the hang of these archaic tools." He hands the article, titled "The Cyber-Intelligence Complex and Its Useful Idiots," to his lawyer with instructions to send it to his editor at The Guardian. Brown used to write for the British daily, but since he's been in prison, it's written about him and his strange legal ordeal that has had him locked up for nearly a year while he awaits trial next month. Should he be found guilty of all the charges the federal government is bringing against him – 17 counts, ranging from obstruction of justice to threatening a federal officer to identity fraud – he'll face more than 100 years in prison.

Given the serious nature of his predicament, Brown, 32, seems shockingly relaxed. "I'm not worried or panicked," he says. "It's not even clear to me that I've committed a crime." He describes his time here as a break from the drug-fueled mania of his prior life, a sort of digital and chemical fast in which he's kicked opiates and indulged his pre-cyber whims – hours spent on the role-playing game GURPS and tearing through the prison's collection of what he calls "English manor-house literature."

Brown has been called many things during his brief public career – satirist, journalist, author, Anonymous spokesman, atheist, "moral fag," "fame whore," scourge of the national surveillance state. His commitment to investigating the murky networks that make up America's post-9/11 intelligence establishment set in motion the chain of events that culminated in a guns-drawn raid of his Dallas apartment last September. "For a long time, the one thing I was happy not to see in here was a computer," says Brown. "It appears as though the Internet has gotten me into some trouble."

Encountering Barrett Brown's story in passing, it is tempting to group him with other Anonymous associates who have popped up in the news for cutting pleas and changing sides. Brown's case, however, is a thing apart. Although he knew some of those involved in high-profile "hacktivism," he is no hacker. His situation is closer to the runaway prosecution that destroyed Aaron Swartz, the programmer-activist who committed suicide in the face of criminal charges similar to those now being leveled at Brown. But unlike Swartz, who illegally downloaded a large cache of academic articles, Brown never broke into a server; he never even leaked a document. His primary laptop, sought in two armed FBI raids, was a miniature Sony netbook that he used for legal communication, research and an obscene amount of video-game playing. The most serious charges against him relate not to hacking or theft, but to copying and pasting a link to data that had been hacked and released by others.

The Rest

Interesting. First I've heard of him. Now I gotta read up on him. If "they" want you in prison for then rest of your life then "they" will see that you do. If I was him I would be scared. To trust the judicial system is a big mistake.

reply to post by GrantedBail


This is the first I've ever heard of this, this is something that needs to come to light.

Good post, S+F for you.

Does this have any possible connection to the Admin trying to order the Federal Judge to not rule on the unconstitutionality of the NSA spying?

Having previously been raided by the FBI on March 6, 2012 and not arrested or charged, on September 12, 2012 Barrett Brown was again raided and this time arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation while he was online participating in a Tinychat session. He was subsequently denied bail and detained without charge and adequate medical treatment for over two weeks while in the custody of US Marshals.

In the first week of October 2012, he was finally indicted on three counts. related to alleged activities or postings on popular websites such as Twitter and YouTube. On December 4, 2012 Barrett was indicted by a federal grand jury on twelve additional counts related to data from the Stratfor breach. Despite his lack of direct involvement in the operation and stated opposition to it, he faces these charges simply for allegedly pasting a hyperlink online. On January 23rd, 2013 he was indicted a third time on two more counts, relating to the March 2012 FBI raid(s) on his apartment and his mother’s house. Barrett has pleaded not guilty in all three cases. He is currently incarcerated while awaiting trial in Mansfield, TX.

From freebarrettbrown.org

Lol the justice system is a joke, going through some legal troubles my self and didn't realize how backward the system really is, innocent until prove guilty my a$$. Its a shame, protect the rich and powerful and lock up and harass everyone else with double standard on top of double standard

catfishjoe
Interesting. First I've heard of him. Now I gotta read up on him. If "they" want you in prison for then rest of your life then "they" will see that you do. If I was him I would be scared. To trust the judicial system is a big mistake.

I guess that's how freedom of speech dies, in relative obscurity with few hearing about it.

The irony of it would be hilarious if it wasn't so disheartening.

The article is long and full of personal details but not much in the way of substance. He was big among Anon then dropped out of that then got involved in the Stratfor leaks which is apparently what led to his arrest.

In early December 2011, a young Chicago Anon named Jeremy Hammond cracked Stratfor's server and downloaded some 5 million internal documents. With the apparent blessing and supervision of the FBI, Sabu provided the server for Hammond to store the docs

www.rollingstone.com...

Typical FBI enables and encourages illegal behavior themselves then charges those who join in. Entrapment apparently is a meaningless word nowadays for any legal defense.

So they're going after him for a hyperlink? This could set a legal precedent that would make criminals of most people under 30. He pissed of a lot of powerful people -Stratfor, Booz - Allen and the FBI. It would be fair to point out they pissed him off first.

We stand to lose a great deal of freedom over the outcome of his case. If the FBI wins they will be chasing down everyone who posts a link to something they don't want the public to know about. Brown is right, the media is dead. No longer are they investigators but corporate cheerleaders trying to steer public perception.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


That Sabu guy turned on his peers after getting busted for being stupid. He is a wussy man. At least we can see heros standing up and not caving under the threat of the federal government like Hammond and Brown.

Brown's haughty dismissal of the new crop of hacktivists was not a feeling shared by the FBI. The government continued to see Anonymous as a major and growing threat. And in the summer of 2011, it acquired a key piece in its operation to destroy the network. On the night of June 7th, four months after the HBGary hack, two federal agents visited the Jacob Riis public­housing project on Manhattan's Lower East Side and introduced themselves to a 27-year-old unemployed hacker named Hector Monsegur,­ known inside Anonymous as "Sabu." As a leader of an Anonymous offshoot called Lulzsec, he had hacked a number of state and corporate servers. In early 2011, he made some rookie errors that led the FBI to his door: Facing the prospect of being indicted on 12 counts of criminal conspiracy, Sabu rolled over on his old hacker associates. He signed a cooperation agreement and began feeding the FBI information on Anonymous plots. The biggest of these involved a private global intelligence contractor located in Barrett Brown's backyard, the Austin-based Stratfor.

People such as Barrett make me very curious regarding others such as Snowden.

Snowden and his leaks (poor wording, I know), were plastered all over media outlets and were reported through mainstream media.

People such as Brown, you never hear of unless you take the time to research (or if it's brought to us on ATS). It begs the question, 'who benefits?'

It's speculation, and my opinion, yeah, but it is just 'odd' how Snowden is so easily whitewashed as a traitor, yet there are a number of people who essentially have been in the same situation that HAVE been silenced with no fight.

Maybe I'm looking too far into it, but I don't get a good feeling from it.

Sremmos80
Lol the justice system is a joke...

Quote from a former deep-cover CIA operative:

"The United States Federal Courts are not your friend. The court system as it's set up today is not setup as a tool for justice, it's setup as a tool for retribution. Anyone that they want, they can get." ~ Chip Tatum (@ 76 min.)

FYI: Tatum had been involved in assassinations for the U.S. Government and was tasked with killing presidential candidate Ross Perot, a job he refused.

a reply to: GrantedBail

Just reading about this story www.theguardian.com...

merely linking to hacked material”. how many people have done that wiki leaks

be afraid be very afraid of this