Arriving at the Bundy Ranch standoff on April 12, I had no idea I would end up interviewing the Las Vegas shooters responsible for the deaths of 5 people, including 2 Las Vegas police officers. As I approached the vicinity, I witnessed a convoy of over a hundred law enforcement vehicles heading south on the I-15, away from the ranch. Unmarked SUVs and other vehicles bearing the seals of the BLM, Rangers, or various police departments retreated back into the desert.

Unarmed, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, I painfully stuck out like a sore thumb.

Almost everyone there in support of Cliven Bundy wore desert camouflage pants, an assault rifle, and at least one sidearm. Hesitant at first, some of them eventually agreed to speak with me on tape.

Cliven Bundy suddenly appeared on a makeshift stage thanking those present for their support and fervent dedication. Bundy asked everyone to reconvene for mass the following morning at 10am. As he stepped off the stage, I had a chance to interview Cliven.

Bundy spoke about witnessing the Watts Riots in 1965. While describing the chaos, he made some slightly racist comments. Uncomfortable with portraying Cliven Bundy as a possible racist, my photographer refused to release the footage. Less than 2 weeks later, the NY Times released Bundy’s “Negro” rant.

The next day I returned to the Bundy Ranch as the standoff continued. While interviewing state representatives, Oathkeepers, and members of Anonymous both on and off the record, I met the future Las Vegas shooters, Jerad and Amanda Miller.

The Millers agreed to speak with me off the record due to the fact that Jerad was violating his parole by carrying a sidearm in public. Amanda was also armed, but quite friendly while discussing draconian marijuana laws, militarization of the police, the growing surveillance state, excessive police brutality, and government corruption.

Jerad told me that he had been arrested for selling marijuana to “help old people with arthritis.” The handgun holstered on his right hip was apparently registered to him and legal for him to own, but not to carry in public. Surrounded by hundreds of federal agents, Rangers, and multiple police departments, the Millers saw themselves as foot soldiers locked in a war against their own government.

Refusing to be recorded, Jerad and Amanda Miller however did agree to pose for a picture on the condition that Amanda stood in front of Jerad’s holstered gun. Wearing a t-shirt supporting Gordon Martines for Sheriff with an anti-BLM button and camouflage pants, Jerad flashed a peace sign as Amanda used her body to conceal his firearm. The grip of Amanda’s pistol visibly protruded from her front pocket.

Although blatantly breaking the law, they did not stand out as spree killers. Jerad seemed a little hyperactive and often rushed into anti-government rhetoric against the New World Order, while Amanda appeared polite yet equally passionate.

The Millers never made any racist comments to me, but the absence of any minorities at the Bundy Ranch seemed to speak for itself. Surrounded by counter-snipers and heavily armed militiamen, the Millers were willing to sacrifice their lives in the defense of Cliven Bundy. Law enforcement had become the enemy, and Jerad and Amanda Miller were willing to murder for their beliefs.

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In this video Andrew Emett of WeAreChange caught up with one of our favorite comedians Lee Camp at United We Stand. Lee talks about his motivations, body of work, and how the mainstream media totally sucks.

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Exhausted. Frustrated. Lost.

The perfect trifecta when confronting a known war criminal on his turf.

After crawling through traffic, I finally arrived at the Nixon Presidential Library. Historically notorious for omitting facts and attempting to whitewash the Watergate scandal, this mausoleum stood upon unholy ground.

I texted Cassandra and met her in the parking lot. She was pissed.

Wearing a semi-conservative dress and a sweater to cover up most of her tattoos, Cassandra certainly looked the part. But upon closer inspection, the rest of her visible tats (Guy Fawkes mask, drunken peace symbol, etc.) raised multiple red flags screaming: “Anarchist!”

Realizing we would most likely be corralled through a security checkpoint, Cassandra remembered the plethora of contraband within her purse opting to leave them in my car instead.

In order to cleanly bypass security, we agreed to show up in disguise for the signing of Lynne Cheney’s new book, James Madison: A Life Reconsidered. Former Vice President Dick Cheney would accompany his wife to assist in promoting both her book and his psychotic agenda. We were in attendance to ask a simple question.

Having gone undercover into the Conservative ranks before, I found myself swimming in disturbingly familiar waters. So long as you comb your hair, act overly polite, and make derogatory comments about Obama while wearing a Polo shirt and khakis, no one will question a white guy’s loyalty. My usual dress code of ripped jeans and bongwater-stained shirts wouldn’t cut it with this crowd of frothing sycophants.

Stepping inside, Cassandra picked up her ticket at will call as I bought one from the gift shop. A poster of Richard Nixon bowling was calling my name, but I refused to give them any more of my money. “Would you also like to purchase a copy of Mrs. Cheney’s book?” the clerk asked.

“No.”

I should’ve bought the book, I later realized. It would’ve given me an opportunity to get close to them.

As I approached Cassandra, we were immediately herded toward the security checkpoint along with dozens of elderly couples. Security forced everyone to empty their bags and pockets while wanding us. Before sweeping the handheld metal detector over each senior citizen, security asked, “Do you have a pacemaker or any metal plates?”

Some of them answered, “Yes.” Completely bypassing security with a one-word response. If the elderly in this country ever went rogue, our initial defenses would be terrifyingly vulnerable!

Making it through security without incident, we found ourselves within the viper pit. The first 10 rows were cordoned off, so we grabbed the closest seats to the stage possible and began whispering strategies.

Should we just interrupt Cheney during the event? Will there be a Q & A? What if he doesn’t show up and it’s just Lynne? Dammit! We should’ve bought a book to get close to them.

Suddenly, an older woman in a pink sweater sat beside me. I immediately turned to Cassandra and whispered, “Code Pink?”

She shrugged, so I tested the waters.

Code Pink is an activist group consisting mostly of women who oppose war crimes and atrocities. They protested multiple times against CIA Director John Brennan for his complicity in the drone and torture programs. Last year, they protested and were ejected from his Senate hearing.

And they were rumored to appear tonight.

But this woman was no member of Code Pink. Her brother, Steve Tye, is running for California State Assembly. Because she believed I was a republican, she gave me his business card. As she handed me the card, I thought, An hour from now, you’re totally gonna regret giving this to me.

Witnessing a flock of high schools students being shepherded in, I immediately recognized the odious scent of indoctrination. You never forget that nauseating stench once you’ve been exposed to it. I almost felt sorry for them.

Dick and Lynne Cheney entered the suffocating room met with rounds of mindless applause. Because of their short stature, we couldn’t see them until they emerged onstage. The MC explained Mr. Cheney would be asking his wife questions regarding her new book then they would be taking questions from the audience.

We turned to each other like grinning idiots. Questions from the audience! That was our opening.

Dick sat down and asked his wife moronic quandaries off his index cards. Stifling yawns while dripping with sweat, I nearly lost control when Lynne mentioned President Madison had authored the 4th Amendment. She hailed Madison for this achievement even though her husband had successfully conspired to eviscerate the 4th and several other Amendments.

Dick Cheney, along with the rest of the Bush administration, authorized the use of illegal warrantless wiretapping, rendition, and torture. Yet his hypocritical wife had the audacity to lie directly to our faces. Unfortunately for the Cheneys, the Nixon Foundation was live streaming the event on YouTube.

As the Cheneys wrapped up their discussion, ushers prowled down the aisles picking people out of the audience and giving them questions to ask the Dick and Lynne Cheney. Cassandra began waving her hand vigorously. I turned on my camera.

After ignoring us for roughly 5 minutes, the usher finally picked Cassandra out of the crowd. He asked her, “What question do you have for Mr. and Mrs. Cheney?”

She lied, “What do you think is the most damage the Obama Administration has done to our Constitution?”

“Good question,” he leered.

After receiving several softball questions, Dick and Lynne appeared ripe for the plucking. Cassandra took the mic and asked, “You had mentioned how important it was to Madison, the freedom of conscience. So I’m wondering how you feel about the fact that John Kiriakou, the whistleblower who exposed the torture program, is the only one currently sitting in prison for it?”

As the usher finally snatched the mic away from Cassandra, the world watched Dick Cheney squirming in his seat. Lynne deflected the question, instead focusing on Edward Snowden as cries of “Traitor!” erupted behind me. While Cassandra took her seat, I kept filming. Finishing her response, Lynne was not prepared for Cassandra’s next outburst, “Don’t you think that detaining 76 people who are cleared for release in Guantanamo Bay is betraying our country? Indefinite detention is a little worse? I think that Madison would be rolling over in his grave.”

When Lynne refused to answer the follow-up questions, Cassandra shot back: “I didn’t think you would.”

To our surprise, law enforcement didn’t toss us. Surrounded by old people, we were buffered by multiple layers of elderly human shields.

After the Q & A ended, everyone stood up as all eyes landed on us. While leaving the room, some of the high school students gave us signs of respect as a reporter from the OC Weekly chased after us. To my surprise, Cassandra Fairbanks revealed her full name while stating, “How is it fair that whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning are being locked up while Dick and Lynne Cheney trot around the country promoting their books? They should be called out everywhere they go.”

Four days after the event, the Richard Nixon Foundation removed the video from their YouTube channel. They replaced it with an edited version that no longer shows Dick Cheney squirming in his seat. Recently, they’ve uploaded a second version that no longer includes Cassandra’s questions. Comments have been disabled for both versions. Unfortunately for them, I caught the entire incident on video and Luke Rudkowski spliced it with the original footage. Apparently, freedom of speech still refuses to exist within the confines of the Nixon Library.

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On the evening of May 21, 2013, an FBI agent, 2 Massachusetts State Troopers, and a local Orlando police officer arrived at Ibragim Todashev’s apartment to interview him again. 8 hours later, Todashev was shot dead leaving law enforcement officials with the daunting task of keeping their stories straight.

They failed.

At first, they claimed Todashev had been wielding a knife when the FBI agent was forced to shoot him 5-7 times. Then the knife became a metal pole. In later reports, they believed Todashev had threatened the FBI agent with a broomstick or a Banzai ceremonial sword.

Law enforcement officials later recanted their stories admitting Todashev had been unarmed when the FBI agent killed him.

According to Todashev’s live-in girlfriend, Tatiana Gruzdeva, the FBI had previously detained and interrogated her and Todashev on several occasions. At the time of Todashev’s death, Tatiana was being held in an immigration detention facility. Later that day, she was transferred to Glades County Jail in Moore Haven, Florida, and placed in solitary confinement.

In an interview with Boston Magazine, Tatiana revealed the FBI had confiscated their computers, contacted them regularly by phone, visited their apartment, and called them into the local FBI branch for further questioning. At first their queries concentrated on the Boston Marathon bombings and Todashev’s friendship with the alleged terrorist, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Then the questions changed, focusing on a triple homicide in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Todashev admitted he had trained in martial arts with Tsarnaev and had gone clubbing with him in Boston before Tsarnaev had become more devout. Tatiana swore to the FBI agents that she had been with Todashev on the day of the Boston bombings. Unable to answer questions regarding the triple homicide, Tatiana was taken from FBI custody to an immigration detention center.

Tatiana was released in August with her visa extended for another year. A few days after her interview with Boston Magazine, Tatiana was arrested by the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE officials told Tatiana she was being deported to Moscow because she had spoken with reporters.

According to law enforcement officials, Todashev had been writing a confession implicating his and Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s involvement in the brutal murders of Brendan Mess, Erik Weissman, and Raphael Teken just before he died. On September 12, 2011, in Waltham, Massachusetts, the three MMA fighters were found in Mess’ apartment with their throats slashed. They had been mutilated and covered in marijuana. $5,000 in cash was also found at the scene.

The FBI agent claims Todashev was in the process of writing this confession when he suddenly overturned the coffee table, grabbed a weapon, and lunged toward them. Although law enforcement officials claim Todashev didn’t have a weapon, the FBI still cleared their agent of any wrongdoing.

Two months before his death, Todashev underwent knee surgery. Even though his autopsy photos had been leaked, the FBI refused to release Todashev’s autopsy report for another 10 months. At a press conference in Moscow on May 30, 2013, Ibragim’s father, Abdul-Baki Todashev presented the autopsy photographs of his son revealing at least 12 bullet holes, including a control shot to the head.

“He did not believe the Tsarnaevs did this,” Abdul-Baki Todashev stated. “He said they had been set up. These were his exact words.”

After being suppressed for over 10 months, the autopsy report finally came out this week. Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, Gary Utz, M.D., determined Todashev had been shot 3 times in the back, twice in the left arm, once in the chest, and a bullet to the head. Although Todashev had been shot in the back 3 times, the FBI and Florida State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton have decided not to press charges claiming Todashev had been “carrying a long pole of some sort”.

From 1993 to 2011, FBI agents fatally shot 70 people and wounded an additional 80 others. Through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, we have learned that every one of those 150 shootings has been deemed justifiable.

This includes a 2002 shooting in Maryland in which the Bureau paid $1.3 million to an innocent man named Joseph Schultz who they shot in the face. In a case of mistaken identity, Agent Christopher Braga drew his weapon and shot Schultz in the jaw. Although Agent Braga’s report was full of inaccuracies, the shooting has been deemed faultless.

“Maybe my son knew some sort of information that the police didn’t want to get out,” Abdul-Baki Todashev speculated. “They shut him up. That’s my opinion.”

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The post FBI and DOJ Clear Agent of Executing Suspect During Interrogation appeared first on We Are Change.

On February 25 at 5:59 a.m., the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department, Salinas Police Department, and the FBI orchestrated the simultaneous arrests of 6 King City police officers. Included in the apprehensions for corruption charges were former Police Chief Nick Baldiviez, acting Police Chief Bruce Miller, and his civilian brother Brian Miller.

Targeting Hispanic residents, Sgt. Bobby Carrillo allegedly received a free vehicle for every 10-15 cars he had impounded. Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo believes Sgt. Carrillo received at least 5 vehicles and gave one to acting Police Chief Bruce Miller, who was Carrillo’s captain at the time.

At a press conference, District Attorney Flippo stated, “The victims were economically disadvantaged persons of Hispanic descent who were targeted by having their vehicles impounded, towed and stored by Miller’s Towing.”

The owner of Miller’s Towing, Brian Miller, is the brother of acting Police Chief Bruce Miller. After forced to wait 30 days, the owners of the confiscated vehicles found themselves unable to pay the exorbitant impound fees and their cars turned over to California’s King City police officers.

Brian Miller reportedly bribed his brother, acting chief Bruce Miller, with an impounded Nissan Sentra.

Because the victims were disadvantaged Latino residents, prosecutor Steve Somers considered charging the officers with hate crimes. Somers concluded the victims had instead been targeted because they had been socioeconomically vulnerable, not out of racial discrimination.

“While I hope this is an isolated incident, I fear it is not,” admitted State Senator Bill Monning. “There continues to be situations throughout the state where the immigrant workforce is subjugated to tyranny of those abusing their authority.”

Former Police Chief Baldiviez has been charged with embezzlement by a public officer for transferring ownership of a 2001 Ford Crown Victoria to Officer Mario Mottu, Sr. Although the city manager had authorized Baldiviez to give the vehicle to the King City Police Explorers, Baldiviez handed the title over to Mottu instead.

In 2010, Police Chief Baldiviez was placed on administrative leave after officers claimed he had arrived intoxicated at multiple crime scenes. Listed as a defendant in a lawsuit against the King City Police Department, Baldiviez has also been accused of authorizing excessive force against the Madriz family during an April 2012 raid, based on their ethnicity. As the District Attorney’s Office began investigating his department, Baldiviez retired in September 2013 leaving Miller as acting chief.

Unrelated to the impound scheme, Sgt. Mark Baker has been charged with making criminal threats against a local resident named Leon Rosalio Infante.

Officer Jaime Andrade has been charged with possession of an assault weapon and illegal storage of a firearm. While in possession of a semiautomatic Colt AR-15, Andrade allegedly left the gun at his stepson’s residence where “a child was likely to gain access to it.”

All 6 police officers have made bail and been placed on paid administrative leave.

According to Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz, the D.A.’s office has already dismissed at least 3 criminal cases due to the lack of credibility of these accused cops. Each case associated with them is now under review determining whether or not to proceed without the officers’ testimonies.

During the press conference, District Attorney Flippo claimed the FBI’s involvement in the arrests was unrelated to the investigation of bank robbery cash that went missing after recovered by the King City Police Department last year.

“I was aware of the investigations,” admitted acting Police Chief Miller, “but I didn’t know that I would become a suspect.”

King City resident Vivian Villa stated, “I’m not at all surprised by the arrests, I’m just surprised there weren’t more charges.”

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Last weekend, thousands of demonstrators across multiple continents protested against the state-sponsored violence in Venezuela. Attending the protest in front of the Federal Building in West Los Angeles, I tried not to recall how much blood had been spilled here in recent years.

Upon arrival, I find 4 students lurking within the shadows applying face paint to each other. I almost ask to join them. Out of cowardice, I remain silent.

In front of the Federal Building, hundreds of Venezuelan Americans stand in support wearing their country’s colors: red, blue, and yellow. But not in support of that government.

2 men hold up a sign equating the Ukrainian riots to the Venezuelan protests. They march across each corner of Veteran and Wilshire Blvd, met with crowds cheering in every direction.

Behind me bloodthirsty uniformed jackals sneer salivating at the scent of impoverished people committing public insubordination. Jacked up on Red Bull and horse semen, the LAPD pace back and forth like caged silverbacks frothing from their pursed lips and swollen genitals.

Deceptively attractive young women hold signs reading #SOSVenezuela and #PrayForVenezuela as a plethora of cars drive by vigorously honking in support. The often dull and sedated atmosphere of the assembly finds itself interrupted with sporadic bursts of enthusiasm and contagious, yet short-lived drumbeats.

In 2002, White House officials supported the failed coup d’etat against Hugo Chavez. 12 years later, President Maduro calls for a dialogue with President Obama as his police and national intelligence service kill unarmed students. Earlier this month, the Venezuelan government blocked images of wounded protestors on Twitter, prompting a response from the hacktivist collective Anonymous who launched #OpVenezuela in retaliation against censorship and state violence.

The unofficial death toll has risen to 11 since the demonstrations began. Security forces killed a 23-year-old student named Geraldine Moreno by shooting her in the face with rubber bullets. Last week, Venezuelan beauty queen Genesis Carmona received a bullet in the head for attending an anti-government protest.

My friend was standing next to her when she died. It changed him. He’s gone from a peaceful activist to throwing Molotov cocktails at police wearing riot gear.

During a press conference on Friday, President Maduro stated he would not defend any government agents caught shooting at protestors. Maduro claimed, “If any of them was involved in someone being wounded by a bullet, or in one of the deaths, they will pay with prison. I won’t protect anyone who shoots anyone else at a demonstration.”

As the crowd chants, “Libertad Venezuela!” an unmarked news van parks beside ABC. Fox sends a Latino correspondent to cover the protest. He remains there for 19 minutes. While covering the assignment in real time, I realize this story has become far more complicated than a 30-second sound bite.

No longer considering us a threat, the LAPD jump into their patrol cars and exit the scene. While waiting at an intersection, dozens of socially conscious drivers slam on their horns provoking the frustrated police officers who are unable to arrest the multitude of boisterous rabble-rousers.

After collecting a couple sound bites, the Fox reporter flees back into the white van with his cameraman in tow.

Fox keeps their news vans unmarked to reduce the risk of vandalism. With their hasty departure, NBC’s van finally arrives.

Playful catcalls erupt from the group beside me as the most voluptuous dark-skinned young goddess in tight white jeans strides into the intersection waving a Venezuelan flag. My paltry knowledge of español picks up a few phrases. Most are too dirty to repeat here.

My brother and his Venezuelan girlfriend finally emerge from the crowd. They greet me with hugs and accept me into the fold even though I look like an undercover cop with a regulation haircut. Against every skeptical cell in my body, these appear to be good people who simply want to stop the violence.

Roughly translated, the crowd begins chanting in Spanish: “Who are we? Venezuela! What do we want? Freedom!” In the background, cops dressed as Stormtroopers stand akimbo guarding the entrance of the Federal Building.

After the protest, I pull a demonstrator aside and ask her why she attended. She answers, “Because I will always support the side without guns over the side with guns.”

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With seemingly no explanation, 8 corporate executives have died within weeks of one another. Ruling out homicide in each case, local police believe the deaths were either suicidal or accidental in nature.

On the morning of January 26, 2014, Tata Motors Managing Director Karl Slym jumped out of his window on the 22nd floor of the Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. His wife claims she was asleep in the room with him at the time. Hotel staff awoke her shortly after her husband’s body was discovered on the 4th floor.

“We found a window open,” stated police lieutenant Somyot Boonyakaew, who is leading the investigation. “The window was very small so it was not possible that he would have slipped. He would have had to climb through the window to fall out because he was a big man. From my initial investigation we believe he jumped.”

In London, recently retired Deutsche Bank Risk Manager William Broeksmit was found hanging inside a residence on the same street where he lived. Although London’s Metropolitan Police stated Broeksmit’s body had not been found within his own home, they have declared his death non-suspicious.

Two days later, police believe JP Morgan Chase Vice-President in Technology Operations Gabriel Magee fell to his death from the 33-story London headquarters in Canary Wharf. London’s Metropolitan Police immediately declared his death non-suspicious.

On January 29, 2014, Russell Investments Chief Economist Mike Dueker parked his car at War Memorial Park in Tacoma, Washington, and disappeared. His body was found the next morning at the base of a 50-ft ramp near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. From 1991-2008, Dueker had been a Research Economist and Assistant Vice-President at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Police do not believe his death was accidental or homicidal in nature.

The body of 37-year old JP Morgan Executive Director Ryan Crane was found in his home in Stamford, Connecticut on February 3, 2014. Police are awaiting his toxicology report. According to the Arapahoe County coroner’s office, American Title Services CEO Richard Talley was found with 7 or 8 self-inflicted wounds to his torso and chest from a nail gun. On February 17, 2014, JP Morgan Investment Banker Li Junjie threw himself off the 30th floor of the bank’s headquarters in Hong Kong. Weeks earlier, Swiss Re Communications Director Tim Dickenson was found dead, yet the circumstances of his death have yet to be made public.

Several weeks prior to these apparent suicides, Wall Street Journal reporter David Bird went missing in Morris County, New Jersey. Known for covering OPEC and energy markets, Bird left his house on the afternoon of January 11, 2014. Going for a walk without taking his cellphone or liver medication, he never returned. Although the FBI has joined the search for Bird, he remains missing for over a month.

Are the deaths connected?

Corporate executives endure copious amounts of stress on a regular basis. In the case of Bank of America Exchange Manager Michael Burdin, witnesses claim he folded his arms across his chest a moment before leaping in front of an oncoming express train at Wimbledon station on October 31, 2012. “It’s a very difficult age for a male who has lost their job,” explained Deputy Coroner Dr. Shirley Radcliffe. “Psychiatrists will tell you 50-year-old men who have concerns about work and finances are a particularly vulnerable community, even if they have got no psychiatric illness.”

But never forget the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. On January 20, 2010, at least 26 disguised covert agents participated in the operation to assassinate al-Mabhouh in his hotel room in Dubai. After injecting him with the muscle relaxant, succinylcholine, his assassins suffocated him with a pillow leaving some of his medication beside him in an effort to make his death appear natural. After reviewing DNA evidence and the hotel’s CCTV footage, Dubai’s police chief Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim claimed, “I am now 100 percent sure that the Mossad is behind the assassination.”

And to confuse you even further, there’s the dubious case of deceased MI6 agent Gareth Williams. His naked body was found inside a red sports bag in his bathtub, padlocked from the outside, with the key inside the bag. None of his DNA was found on the padlock or the rim of the bathtub. The door to his apartment was locked from the outside, and the heat had been turned up to accelerate the decomposition of his corpse.

Colleagues at MI6 didn’t even inquire into his absence from work for a week. Located a few hundred yards from MI6 headquarters in Vauxhall, Williams’ flat had been used by the Secret Intelligence Service as a safe house. Although the coroner Dr. Fiona Wilcox said she was “satisfied that on the balance of probabilities Gareth was killed unlawfully,” London’s Metropolitan Police and Scotland Yard have recently reversed her findings and declared his death an “accident”.

Investigate the evidence to determine for yourself whether these cases are suicides, accidents, or murders. Are you being lied to?

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The post 8 Executives Found Dead Within Weeks: Suicide or Murder? appeared first on We Are Change.

On May 3, 1998, the Cincinnati Enquirer published an expose titled “Chiquita Secrets Revealed” by Mike Gallagher and Cameron McWhirter. The articles detailed Chiquita’s complicity in international drug trafficking, bribing foreign government officials, suppressing the unionization of workers and poisoning employees with hazardous pesticides.

The investigation included a wide range a sources including over 2,000 copies of voicemail messages between Chiquita executives admitting to their crimes. Mike Gallagher, the lead investigative reporter on the story, claimed he had acquired the voicemails from a former legal counsel for Chiquita who wished to remain anonymous.

In 1997, drug enforcement agents in the U.K. and Belgium found over a ton of pure cocaine smuggled aboard at least 7 Chiquita ships. Although company executives were aware of the lax security at their shipping center in Santa Marta, Columbia, voicemail messages revealed they were reluctant to take action.

According to the expose, a Chiquita subsidiary named Banadex illegally bribed government officials in Turbo, Colombia. After learning of the bribery incident, company officials attempted to cover up the scandal. Chiquita also reportedly committed tax evasion in Colombia, Honduras, and Costa Rica.

The article accused Chiquita of firing union activists and suppressing union organization in Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica. Employees were often fired a few days before the law entitled them to company benefits, then they were rehired to start the rotation process over again. In 1994, 58 Honduran union leaders were fired for union activism. 43 of them filed suit against Chiquita and won. Even though the Honduran courts ordered Chiquita to rehire the union leaders, they were fired a few months later.

Chiquita and its subsidiaries conducted aerial spraying in Latin America using pesticides that the EPA and US Department of Agriculture have labeled as highly toxic and possible human carcinogens. Unsuspecting field workers have reportedly been sprayed with these chemicals by aircraft without warning. According to an autopsy report from November 13, 1997, Greddy Mauricio Valerin Bustos, an 18-year-old Costa Rican plantation worker, died from organophosphate intoxication, which caused his brain damage and internal bleeding.

Although the newspaper defended the expose at first, they soon learned Mike Gallagher had lied about acquiring the voicemails from a former Chiquita legal counsel from Honduras. In the face of felony charges and a lawsuit from Chiquita, Gallagher revealed his source, George G. Ventura, had given him the codes to access the company’s voicemail system. Gallagher hacked into the system hundreds of times, stealing over 2,000 voicemail messages even though his editors and lawyers repeatedly told him not to access them.

Gallagher was fired, pleaded guilty and served probation. According to Cameron McWhirter, Chiquita ended up receiving a public apology, removal of the story from the Cincinnati Enquirer’s website and over $14 million in punitive damages from the newspaper. The Securities Exchange Commission launched an investigation into Chiquita, but could not use the stolen voicemail messages because they would be inadmissible in court.

Before Chiquita Brands International, the company started in 1899 as United Fruit Company. Both a representative of J. Henry Schroder Banking Corporation and a law partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, Allen Dulles had economic and legal ties to United Fruit. From 1946-1950, Allen Dulles served as Director of the Council on Foreign Relations. On August 23, 1951, he was appointed Deputy Director of the CIA. Exactly a month before Allen Dulles became appointed the Director of the CIA on February 26, 1953, his brother, John Foster Dulles, became the US Secretary of State.

In 1952, democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz succeeded in passing the Agrarian Reform Act. Arbenz reimbursed the company at their declared tax value of the land. United Fruit lost millions of dollars. On June 27, 1954, CIA officers E. Howard Hunt and Phil Roettinger orchestrated the coup d’etat ousting Arbenz in a covert operation designated PBSUCCESS. Arbenz fled the country while United Fruit regained the land.

Corporate raider Eli M. Black renamed the company United Brands in 1970. Black mismanaged the company and eventually committed suicide by jumping out of his office from the 44^th floor. The SEC was investigating him at the time for bribing Honduran President Oswaldo Lopez Arellano with $2.5 million.

After gaining majority ownership, Carl H. Lindner, Jr. changed the name to Chiquita Brands International. During a bankruptcy reorganization plan in 2002, the company was renamed Chiquita Brands. On March 14, 2007, the US Justice Department fined Chiquita $25 million for funding Colombian paramilitary groups named on the US State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.

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On April 4, 1968, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, an assassin’s bullet stole the life of civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Before arriving in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. King was organizing the Poor People’s Campaign. The Campaign sought economic and civil rights while demanding anti-poverty legislation. Thousands of people would eventually camp out on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in an effort that would later inspire movements like Occupy Wall Street.

During a rainstorm on February 1, 1968, two black sanitation workers in Memphis lost their lives when the truck’s compactor accidentally triggered. On that same day, 22 black sewer workers were sent home without pay while their white coworkers received compensation. On February 12, over a thousand black sanitation workers went on strike wearing placards reading, “I AM A MAN.”

Dr. King spoke at a rally supporting the striking sanitation workers on March 18 promising to lead a march later in the month. According to the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives, a black civil rights group named the Invaders sabotaged the March 28 demonstration by distributing hundreds of two by two sticks attached to placards into the hands of impressionable black children caught breaking store windows. The Invaders allegedly incited violence against Dr. King’s orders of peaceful resistance.

The FBI has revealed its illegal COINTELPRO harassment of Dr. King and the existence of at least 5 paid informants who reported to their Memphis Field Office. In addition to the FBI informants, a black undercover Memphis PD officer named Marrell McCollough had infiltrated the Invaders in 1968. McCollough stood in the parking lot of the Lorraine Motel on the night Dr. King died. He claimed to have been the first person to reach the body.

Because of the violence perpetuated during the March 28 demonstration, the city of Memphis filed a formal complaint against Dr. King and his associates within the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. On the last day of his life, Dr. King spent most of his time with Dr. Ralph Abernathy of the SCLC. While Rev. Andrew “Andy” Young of the SCLC had convinced U.S. District Court Judge Bailey Brown to allow Dr. King to organize a peaceful march scheduled for April 8, Dr. King was preparing for dinner with Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles.

On the day of April 4, 1968, Dr. King’s Memphis PD security detail had been withdrawn, a black Memphis PD detective posted near the Lorraine Motel had been removed and 2 black firemen in a station near the Lorraine Motel were transferred shortly before the assassination. Former Memphis PD Detective Jerry Williams had been assigned to Dr. King’s security detail twice before his final visit in 1968. Det. Williams claimed on Dr. King’s final visit no black officers had been assigned to his security detail. The day before Dr. King’s death, Inspector Don H. Smith requested to remove his detail. The request was granted.

Accounts differ regarding Dr. King’s final words. According to FBI documents, Dr. King was discussing the weather with his chauffeur, Solomon Jones, Jr., when the fatal shot struck. Rev. Jesse Jackson instead recalls Dr. King chastising him for not wearing a tie. Dr. King turned to musician Ben Branch, who was standing beside Jackson, and said, “Make sure you play Take My Hand, Precious Lord. Play it real pretty.” Those were his last words.

While recalling Dr. King’s final moments, Rev. Billy Kyles who was standing beside Dr. King on the balcony admitted, “Only as I moved away so he could have a clear shot, the shot rang out.” FBI documents revealed Dr. King’s trusted friend and renowned photographer, Ernest Withers, had been secretly working as an FBI informant.

Although the Invaders had been removed from the Lorraine Motel a few hours earlier, undercover MPD officer Marrell McCollough remained on the premises until Dr. King’s death. McCollough claimed he spent the day shopping with Rev. James Bevel and Rev. James Orange of the SCLC. Standing in the parking lot of the Lorraine Motel, McCollough witnessed Dr. King’s assassination then ran up the stairs to view the body. ABC News confirmed McCollough went on to join the CIA and later testified on March 12, 1978, to the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

In 1999, civil trial King v. Jowers determined former Memphis PD officer Loyd Jowers had been complicit in a conspiracy to assassinate Dr. King. In December 1993, Jowers appeared on ABC’s Prime Time Live confessing to his participation in Dr. King’s assassination. Jowers admitted he believed MPD Lt. Earl Clark fired the shot that killed Dr. King, not James Earl Ray.

“A time comes when silence is betrayal.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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In an effort to expose police corruption, 18 Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies have been charged with various reports of inmate abuse, assaulting visitors, obstructing an FBI investigation, and threatening an FBI agent.

While investigating claims of Sheriff’s Deputies using excessive force on inmates and smuggling contraband into jail in exchange for bribes, an FBI informant allegedly paid Deputy Gilbert Michel to smuggle a cell phone into the jail.

After terminating an interview with the informant and FBI agents, Lieutenant Gregory Thompson, who oversaw Operation Safe Jails Program and its Jail Investigations Unit, secretly transferred the FBI informant to a cell in the medical ward. The indictment stated Deputies Gerard Smith and Mickey Manzo carried out the orders and stood guard over the FBI informant while Lt. Thompson falsified entries into the database claiming he had been released. Instead, Lt. Thompson held the FBI informant under the false name “John Rodriguez” before transferring him to the San Dimas station.

Upon his arrival at the San Dimas station, the FBI informant found Deputy James Sexton standing guard outside his cell preventing any outside contact. Meanwhile, Lt. Stephen Leavins, Sgt. Scott Craig and Sgt. Maricella Long of the Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau allegedly began conducting surveillance on Deputy Michel. According to testimony, Leavins and Craig attempted to coerce Michel into refusing to cooperate with the FBI investigation.

As Lt. Thompson reportedly falsified the informant’s name in the database to “Chris Johnson”, Sergeants Craig and Long began conducting surveillance on an FBI Special Agent referred to as “LM” in court documents. Craig and Long confronted Special Agent LM at her house in an effort to intimidate her. Sgt. Craig threatened to obtain a warrant for her arrest in a false felony complaint.

Another indictment accused Sgt. Eric Gonzalez, the visiting center supervisor at the Men’s Central Jail, of ordering his deputies to beat and illegally detain visitors. In one instance, an Austrian consulate official and her husband were improperly arrested while visiting a prisoner who was an Austrian national. The indictment stated she had committed no crime and would have been immune to prosecution.

In another incident, Gabriel Carrillo was arrested while attempting to visit his incarcerated brother. According to statements, Carrillo was handcuffed, taken to a break room, assaulted and pepper sprayed in the face by Deputies Sussie Ayala, Noel Womack, and Pantamitr Zunggeemoge. The deputies gave false testimonies and misleading reports to charge Carrillo with battery, but prosecutors dropped the case. Deputy Fernando Luviano was also charged in that incident.

Deputy Bryan Brunsting was accused of assaulting inmates and using his trainees to falsify reports. While supervising a rookie, Brunsting ordered him to beat a mentally ill inmate and cover up the incident. The rookie was later contacted by FBI agents. Deputy Jason Branum was also charged with assaulting a prisoner along with Brunsting.

In other cases, Deputy Richard Piquette was charged with possessing and illegally modifying an assault rifle. Deputies Benny, Billy, and Johnny Khounthavong were charged with conspiracy to make false statements in a mortgage fraud scheme. The three brothers avoided more than $340,000 of unpaid mortgage debt.

All have been released on bond.

“These incidents did not take place in a vacuum – in fact, they demonstrated behavior that had become institutionalized,” US Attorney Andre Birotte, Jr. said in a statement. “Some members of the Sheriff’s Department considered themselves to be above the law.”

“99.9% of our employees are on the right track,” defended Sheriff Lee Baca. “There is no institutional problem with the Sheriff’s Department when it comes to correcting itself.”

Retired sheriff’s Commander Bob Olmsted stated he tried several times to report abuses and misconduct at Men’s Central Jail to his superiors, but they repeatedly ignored him.

“I knew I had to act,” admitted Olmsted, “And as a result, I notified the FBI of the department’s culture and acceptance of excessive force, inmate abuse, sheriff’s gangs, and corruption.”

Olmsted was planning to run against incumbent Sheriff Baca in this year’s election, but Sheriff Baca suddenly announced his resignation at the end of this month.

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Continued from CIA Exposed Part 2: Convicts, Assassins, and Defectors

13. Kermit Roosevelt, Jr.

Grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt and distant cousin of FDR, Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. entered the Office of Strategic Service during World War II. After the dissolution of the OSS, Roosevelt became a political action officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Plans. In 1953, he orchestrated the coup d’etat against Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, codenamed TP-AJAX. After returning to the US, Roosevelt worked in Washington as a lobbyist for foreign governments, including Iran.

“We were all smiles now… Warmth and friendship filled the room.”

14. Phil Roettinger

As a member of the US shooting team during the 1948 summer Olympics, operations officer Phil Roettinger had a preferred skill set and the ability to travel without question. In 1954, Roettinger was recruited to overthrow the democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz. After the successful coup d’etat, Roettinger had been assigned to conduct surveillance on Fidel Castro. After leaving the Agency in 1964, Roettinger settled in Mexico. He passed away in 2002.

“The CIA was going to have me overthrow these friends of mine. They explained to me that this is extremely important to the security of the United States. When they pull that, you know there’s something wrong because the United States is so secure, nobody’s going to do anything to it.”

15. David Henry Barnett

In 1958, David Henry Barnett became a contract employee of the CIA in South Korea. During the 1960s, he worked as a CIA officer stationed in Indonesia. But in 1976, Barnett contacted KGB agents in Jakarta and committed treason. He ended up receiving $92,000 from the Russians for disclosing the identities of numerous CIA assets and revealing a CIA operation codenamed HABRINK, designed to implement the covert acquisition of Soviet weaponry systems.

In 1979, Barnett’s KGB handlers ordered him to infiltrate the House and Senate intelligence committees and the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. Barnett failed his assignment and was eventually betrayed by Col. Vladimir Piguzov, who worked as a double agent for the CIA. Barnett was arrested and sentenced to 18 years in prison. He was paroled in 1990 and died three years later.

“Well, there’s some mix-up.”

16. William Kampiles

As a low-level CIA watch officer, William Kampiles grew bored of his desk job. In 1977, Kampiles stole 13 copies of the classified KH-11 spy satellite manual, resigned from the agency and flew to Greece. While visiting the Russian embassy in Athens, Kampiles sold the manual to the Soviets for $3,000. When Kampiles returned to the US, he informed his former employers at the CIA of his crime in the hopes of receiving a promotion to double agent. Instead, Kampiles was arrested and sentenced to 40 years. He was released in 1996 after only serving 18 years.

“There are no words to describe my sorrow and remorse. I let my country down and have brought more pain to my mother and brother than could ever be imagined.”

17. Edward Lee Howard

In 1983, CIA case officer Edward Lee Howard was fired from the Agency after failing a polygraph test questioning incidents of petty theft and drug use. Howard allegedly sold information to the Soviets in 1984, compromising several intelligence operations and resulting in the execution of CIA asset, Adolf Tolkachev.

While under FBI surveillance, Howard escaped with the help of his wife, Mary Howard. Driving home from a dinner party, Mary slowed to turn a corner and Edward leapt out leaving a stuffed dummy in the passenger seat. As her husband fled the country, Mary played tape recordings of his voice over the phone to fool the FBI agents wiretapping the line. In 2002, Edward Lee Howard died in his Russian dacha from a broken neck.

“I don’t think any secret service can deal with multiple names, multiple passports.”

18. Jeffrey Sterling

Former case officer Jeffrey Sterling was arrested on January 6, 2011, and charged with unauthorized disclosure of national defense information. According to the indictment, Sterling allegedly revealed details of a CIA operation codenamed Operation Merlin to New York Times reporter James Risen. The operation was a failed attempt to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program by handing flawed blueprints to a Russian asset who would feed the defective plans to the Iranians. Instead, the Russian asset betrayed the CIA and informed the Iranians of the flaws within the blueprints, accelerating their weapons program. The CIA claims Sterling leaked to Risen after suing the Agency for racial discrimination in 2002.

“I think they bring minorities in the door to maintain appearances, and so they can say they are diverse. But that’s just a façade.”

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Continued from Part 1 CIA Exposed: Traitors, Patriots, and Madmen

8. E. Howard Hunt

After receiving a medical discharge from the Navy, E. Howard Hunt began working under “Wild” Bill Donovan within the newly formed Office of Strategic Services. As the OSS dissolved and reformed into the Central Intelligence Agency, Hunt joined as a CIA officer. In 1954, he planned the coup d’etat against Guatemala’s democratically elected president, Jacobo Arbenz. His failure during the Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961 effectively ruined Hunt’s career at the CIA.

Retiring from the Agency in 1970, Hunt eventually found himself working for the Nixon administration as a “security consultant”. Under executive orders, Hunt broke into the office of the psychiatrist treating Daniel Ellsberg, who had leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, to discredit him. Hunt also orchestrated the break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex. Behind bars with his fellow burglars and facing a possible 35 years in prison, Hunt threatened to leak classified information to the press. Instead, his wife, Dorothy Hunt, died in the crash of United Airlines Flight 553 carrying $10,000 and E. Howard Hunt ended up serving 33 months in the low-security Federal Prison Camp at Eglin AFB. In an early deathbed confession to his son, St. John, he acknowledged the CIA’s role in JFK’s assassination.

“I think that LBJ settled on [Cord] Meyer as an opportunist like himself in a man who had very little left to him in life ever since JFK had taken Cord’s wife as one of his mistresses.”

9. Frank Sturgis

Born Frank Angelo Fiorini, Sturgis fought alongside Fidel Castro and taught guerilla warfare to Che Guevara during the Cuban revolution. Operating as a secret CIA informant, Sturgis recruited 19-year-old, Marita Lorenz, to assassinate Castro with poison. Lorenz failed. After the Bay of Pigs debacle, Sturgis returned to the United States. On June 17, 1972, he was arrested along with 4 other burglars for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters located in the Watergate complex. He served 13 months for the crime.

“I’m a military man. I’m a soldier. I go fight. But damn it, if I risk my ass out there and I’m getting shot at, I don’t want some stupid-ass politician to go ahead and make deals behind my back where my people or maybe myself are gonna get killed. I don’t like that.”

10. Ralph McGehee

As the former Director of covert operations in Thailand and Vietnam, Ralph McGehee was admittedly active in the Phoenix Program, the CIA’s torture and assassination operation from 1965 to 1972. After resigning in 1977, McGehee became openly critical of the Agency and wrote the book Deadly Deceipts: My 25 Years in the CIA.

“No amount of criticism of the agency, no amount of revelation of its dirty deeds, no amount of exposure of the weaknesses of the agency has weakened the CIA. But I do feel that at some point all of this is going to be impact on the awareness of the American people, and at that time there will be an attack on the CIA.”

11. Harold James Nicholson

On November 16, 1996, CIA station chief Harold Nicholson was arrested for selling sensitive information to Russian intelligence. Prior to his arrest, Nicholson had been an instructor at the CIA’s training facility known as the Farm located at Camp Peary, VA. Since 1994, Nicholson had sold to the Russians the names, ranks, and locations of his fellow officers. Nicholson also revealed the identities of the trainees that he had instructed at the Farm to Russian intelligence. He was paid $300,000 for his betrayal. Incarcerated at United States Penitentiary, Florence ADX, Nicholson is scheduled for release in 2024.

“I have lost everything that was ever dear and important to me, everything that was ever of value. I am in so many ways so very sorry.”

12. David A. Passaro

CIA contractor David Passaro is the first US civilian convicted of abusing an Afghan detainee. On June 19 and 20, 2003, during an interrogation with a suspect named Abdul Wali, Passaro beat the man to death using a 2-foot-long metal flashlight. The government prosecuted Passaro under a provision of the PATRIOT Act and sentenced him to 8 years in prison.

In 1990, Passaro was fired from the Hartford Police Department for excessively beating a man in a parking lot.

“Because I have special rules.”

Continue to CIA Exposed Part 3: Fugitives, Conspirators, and Whistleblowers

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From the ashes of the dissolved Office of Strategic Services, in 1947 the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was born. Shrouded in secrecy, the agency has operated within the shadows for 66 years. Only a few CIA officers, such as Richard Helms, William Colby, and John Brennan, have risen to the coveted position of Director of Central Intelligence.

But this isn’t their story. These are the crimes and confessions of the analysts, contractors, interrogators, and officers of the CIA. From political assassinations to state-sponsored torture, this is the CIA’s story in their own words.

1. Verne Lyon

While operating under deep cover, Verne Lyon engaged in domestic spying on antiwar Iowa State University students. Codenamed Operation CHAOS, the CIA launched the illegal program against US citizens. In a documentary entitled “Secrets of the CIA”, Lyon admitted to mixing cement powder into the milk sent to a secondary school in Havana.

“The CIA is a state sponsored terrorist association. You don’t look at people as human beings. They’re nothing but pieces on a chessboard.”

2. Philip Agee

After resigning from the agency, former case officer Philip Agee published a book in 1975 named “Inside the Company: CIA Diary”. In his book, Agee exposed the identities of roughly 250 alleged officers and agents. Deprived of his US passport and expelled from France, Italy, West Germany, and the Netherlands, Agee died of peritonitis in Cuba at the age of 72. His revelations led to the creation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.

“The CIA has been involved in assassination and torture behind the scenes all through its history.”

3. James Angleton

The former chief of counterintelligence James Angleton had orchestrated the illegal domestic spying on antiwar groups codenamed Operation CHAOS. Angleton retired in ’74, just prior to the formation of the Rockefeller Commission, Church Committee, Nedzi Committee, and Pike Committee. When testifying before the Church Committee, Angleton admitted to illegally opening and reading US mail.

“We believe that it was extremely important to know everything possible regarding contacts with American citizens with Communist countries.”

4. Aldrich Ames

On February 21, 1994, counterintelligence officer Aldrich Ames was arrested for divulging the names of numerous CIA assets to the KGB. Since April 1985, Ames had compromised over a hundred intelligence operations and had been responsible for the deaths of at least 10 CIA assets in the Soviet Union. In exchange for his betrayal, Ames ended up receiving over $2.5 million from Russian agents. Ames is currently serving a life sentence with no remission at United States Penitentiary, Allenwood.

“The reasons that I did what I did in April of 1985 were personal, banal, and amounted really to greed and folly. Simple as that.”

5. John Kiriakou

On December 10, 2007, during an interview with ABC News, former case officer John Kiriakou revealed the torture program euphemistically referred to as “enhanced interrogation techniques”. Following a lead concerning the interrogation of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, New York Times reporter Scott Shane asked Kiriakou about a CIA interrogator named Deuce Martinez. Kiriakou had Martinez’s business card with his contact information at Mitchell Jessen and Associates, the CIA contractor responsible for devising the interrogation program, and gave it to Shane. Kiriakou was charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982. He is currently serving 30 months in prison.

“I should never have provided the name. I regret doing it, and I never will do it again.”

6. Jose Rodriguez, Jr.

On November 9, 2005, the Director of National Clandestine Service Jose Rodriguez, Jr. authorized the burning of 92 videotapes depicting the harsh interrogation of 2 high-profile detainees. The Justice Department has decided not to file charges against him. During an interview with CBS News, Rodriguez was asked if he bore any regrets.

“No. No regrets. I would do it all again.”

7. Ray McGovern

Retired CIA analyst turned political activist, Ray McGovern recently visited former CIA contractor Edward Snowden at an undisclosed location in Moscow. Along with NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, DOJ whistleblower Jesselyn Radack, and FBI whistleblower Colleen Rowley, McGovern presented the Sam Adams Award for truth telling in intelligence to Snowden. During an interview with RT, McGovern was reminded that he had never received the Sam Adams Award.

“Well, I haven’t received it because I don’t deserve it.”

Continue to CIA Exposed Part 2: Convicts, Assassins, and Defectors

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Mourning the recent death of his father, Abdulrahman decided to return home after the roads had cleared. Encouraged by his cousins to join an outdoor barbeque on the evening of October 14, 2011, Abdulrahman suddenly heard drones piercing the sky moments before the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles executed him. Methodical in application, the UAVs indiscriminately butchered everyone within his vicinity.

Abdulrahman al-Aulaqi was born in Denver, Colorado. Before his government sanctioned death, he loved hip-hop music and talking with his friends on Facebook. He had been living with his grandparents in Yemen when he ran off in search of his estranged father, Anwar al-Aulaqi, commonly misspelled as “al-Awlaki”.

Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Anwar al-Aulaqi became an imam who at first denounced the actions of Islamist militants. While cooperating with the FBI, Anwar became enraged witnessing the aggressive raids on Muslim institutions and community leaders throughout March 2002. Anwar’s sermons took a more menacing tone as his relationship with the FBI deteriorated.

Anwar left the country, eventually settling in Yemen. He left his son behind in the care of Abdulrahman’s grandparents. Anwar had openly declared war against his government, but had no intention of involving his innocent child. After surviving several assassination attempts, Anwar knew his life was endangered.

On September 30, 2011, two Predator drones launched from a secret CIA base, crossed the border into northern Yemen and fired Hellfire missiles at Anwar’s vehicle. According to witnesses, six other passengers were in the pick-up truck with Anwar when the missile killed them. The government would later learn one of those passengers had been another US citizen, Samir Khan.

Although Anwar’s name had been placed on the disposition matrix, Samir Khan was not targeted on any kill lists. The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), NSC (National Security Council), and JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) each produce their own disposition matrix. After discontinuing the CIA’s rendition program, President Obama decided to modify the kill/capture program by removing the “capture” part.

Two weeks after his father’s death, Abdulrahman was attending a barbeque with his cousins and several of their friends when the US government executed them. The administration claimed the missile had been intended for an Egyptian named Ibrahim al-Banna. But al-Banna wasn’t there. Blaming bad intelligence for the attack, US officials compounded insult to injury by falsely claiming Abdulrahman’s age as 21. Abdulrahman’s grieving grandfather responded by releasing his birth certificate, showing his true age of 16.

Did Abdulrahman die because of his father’s crimes? It’s possible that an operator with an intense hatred for Anwar chose to murder his son in an attempt to wipe out the bloodline. But the modus operandi of this operation points to a possible signature strike. Signature strikes occur when drone operators fire on unidentified people based on evidence of suspicious behavior or other signatures. One of these alleged “signatures” includes any gathering of adult males, such as barbeques or tribal councils.

Reporter Sierra Adamson asked former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs about the legality of targeting an underage US citizen without due process. Gibbs responded, “I would suggest that you should have a far more responsible father if they are truly concerned about the well-being of their children.”

Since when do we kill children for their father’s crimes?

The Department of Justice has argued that Samir Khan and Abdulrahman’s civil rights were never violated because they were not specifically targeted for assassination. Due process isn’t taken into account when the US government accidentally murders its own citizens.

“It’s important for the American people to know when the president can kill an American citizen, and when [he] can’t,” Senator Ron Wyden

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Continued from Part 1: The War on Truth: Jeremy Hammond Political Prisoner

At Jeremy Hammond’s bail hearing last year, Judge Loretta Preska denied bail claiming he was more dangerous than a sexual predator. There are no pending charges against Jeremy for violence or sexual misconduct. Yet Judge Preska has accused him of committing worse deeds.

Judge Preska is also presiding over Hector “Sabu” Monsegur’s case. His sentencing has been postponed several times due to his continuing work as an active FBI informant. A few minutes before the FBI raided Barrett Brown’s home, someone with the screen name “Sabu” entered the chat, presumably to monitor Brown and other members of Anonymous.

In a statement released on August 22, 2012, Jeremy wrote,

“It is widely known that Sabu was used to build cases against a number of hackers, including myself. What many do not know is that Sabu was also used by his handlers to facilitate the hacking of targets of the government’s choosing – including numerous websites belonging to foreign governments. What the United States could not accomplish legally, it used Sabu, and by extension, me and my co-defendants, to accomplish illegally. The questions that should be asked today go way beyond what an appropriate sentence for Sabu might be:

“Why was the United States using us to infiltrate the private networks of foreign governments?

“What are they doing with the information we stole?

“And will anyone in our government ever be held accountable for these crimes?”

When comparing Jeremy’s case to that of his co-defendants, a true double standard emerges. Ryan Ackroyd is serving a 30-month prison sentence in England. Jake Davis served 38 days in a young offenders institute and was electronically tagged for 21 months. Ryan Cleary was jailed for 2 years and eight months for hacking into the Pentagon.

The only difference between Jeremy and his co-defendants is that Jeremy Hammond is an American.

And the US government is terrified of Americans who question the rules, support social movements, and inspire change within a corrupt system.

Who watches the watchmen?

Well, we were supposed to…

And in our absence, Jeremy stood up against the forces threatening to take our civil liberties.

Now, it’s our turn to support Jeremy.

Please contact the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the NY State Bar Association, and the US District Court Southern District of New York before Jeremy’s sentencing, which is this Friday, November 15.

Inform them that Judge Loretta Preska has a conflict of interest in Jeremy’s case due to the fact that her husband is one of the defendant’s victims. Judge Preska exhibits an appearance of bias since her husband is financially tied to Stratfor and many of its clients. Therefore, her decision cannot be viewed as impartial.

In 1969, while employed by the RAND Corporation, Daniel Ellsberg photocopied several sets of classified documents that became known as the Pentagon Papers.

These documents exposed systematic lying by the Johnson administration about success rates and casualty reports during the Vietnam War. Eventually, all charges against Ellsberg were dropped.

Like Daniel Ellsberg, Jeremy had no malicious intention to use or sell the information he had obtained. Jeremy didn’t sell Stratfor’s sensitive information to a competitor.

He didn’t even use the stolen credit card information to make purchases. Instead, Jeremy gave them to the public, who decided the money should be donated to charity.

“I did this because I believe people have a right to know what governments and corporations are doing behind closed doors. I did what I believe is right.” – Jeremy Hammond

NYSBA

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