US Official Admits That UK Detention Of Glenn Greenwald's Partner Was 'To Send A Message'

[NealK]

by Mike Masnick

Tue, Aug 20th 2013

Buried in a Reuters report about the UK government's ridiculous decision to force the Guardian to destroy some hard drives with Snowden-related materials, is the fact that the reporter got a US official to admit that the detention of Glenn Greenwald's partner, David Miranda, was all about "sending a message" to anyone who had the Snowden documents:

One U.S. security official told Reuters that one of the main purposes of the British government's detention and questioning of Miranda was to send a message to recipients of Snowden's materials, including the Guardian, that the British government was serious about trying to shut down the leaks.

That's what many people had assumed, but to have it admitted by an official just shows how incredibly stupid this whole thing was. The only message it sent was that the UK government has gone way overboard in abusing the law for reasons of personal thuggery, rather than any legitimate purpose. The law they used was an anti-terrorism law, and they flat out used it to intimidate the press. That's not how the government in a free country acts. The outrage over all of this (both the detention and the hard drive destruction) isn't just going to go away. These actions are, in some ways, worse than the original reports, because they confirm the petty vindictiveness of those in power against journalists doing their job in exposing the abuse of people's rights.

It's this very reason why people are so concerned about the collection of all of this data. If the government has no problem detaining people under bogus pretenses to "send a message" to journalists, while also threatening to shut down newspapers and forcing them to destroy hard drives, what else might they already be doing with all of that personal data and information they've been sucking up?

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130820/03160924251/us-official-admits-that-uk-detention-glenn-greenwalds-partner-was-to-send-message.shtml

[cantbeserious]

1. White House knew Glenn Greenwald's partner David Miranda would be detained

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/19/world/europe/greenwald-partner-detained

(CNN) -- Glenn Greenwald, the reporter who broke the news about secret U.S. surveillance programs, said the authorities who took his partner into custody at London's Heathrow Airport "are going to regret what they did."

"I am going to write my stories a lot more aggressively now," the Guardian reporter told Brazil's Globo TV on Monday in Rio de Janeiro.

"I am going to publish many more documents now. I am going to publish a lot about England, too, I have a lot of documents about the espionage system in England. Now my focus is going to be that as well."

Greenwald's partner, 28-year-old David Miranda, was held for nearly nine hours. He was reportedly passing through the airport on his way home to Brazil after leaving Berlin. Authorities seized his laptop, phone, and other materials.

The White House knew the move was coming.

Snip ...

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. Occupy already "got the message" regarding peaceful 1st Amendment protest

and civil disobedience. Now journalists need to "get the message" about attempted journalism.

To whom shall they next send a message?

[Warren Stupidity]

8. no shit. The only amendment of importance left standing is the 2nd

It is almost as if they are channeling legitimate dissent toward armed insurrection. Gee, why would they do that?

[RKP5637]

3. ... a message also to say we will go after friends, family and relatives to get you, any of you.

... a message to try to scare the sh** out of everyone, non-compliance will not be tolerated.

Yep, back to the good old days.

[NealK]

6. It sounds like something the Mob would do.

[tsuki]

11. You are so right. Watch this.

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2013/08/thomas-drake-on-government-overreach.html

[RKP5637]

19. Thanks, have it saved to watch later. n/t

[gopiscrap]

4. It's heavy handed bullshit like that which

foments revolution.

[DirkGently]

5. Right. They weren't prosecuting "stolen documents" or "terrorism."

It was intimidation aimed at silencing government critics. Period.

Which we all knew already.

[NealK]

9. +1

Some were pretending that it wasn't intimidation and yada yada yada.

[MotherPetrie]

7. Police state message indisputably delivered.

[DirkGently]

10. And our response will be ...?

[MotherPetrie]

14. I can only speak for myself. My response is a massive increase in distrust, cynicism, pessimism, and

Fear for the future.

[DirkGently]

22. Someone had suggested a certain crude

epithet rhyming with "duck stew!"

That might be a decent start, actually.

[uponit7771]

12. FUCKIN OBAMA!! Should've been a dictator to UK and tell them to stop!

[NealK]

13. Thanks for the kick.

[Bonobo]

16. Good Christ but that's pathetic. nt

[NealK]

17. Pathetic and also borderline pathological.

[DirkGently]

21. Funny. In a sad, ineffective way.

[AzDar]

15. Sickening.

[blackspade]

18. Naked authoritarianism.

[ocpagu]

20. Pathetic...