Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal
arrested: ‘This charge is 100% false’:
The Grayzone editor Max
Blumenthal has been arrested on false charges after
reporting on Venezuelan opposition violence outside
the DC embassy. He describes the manufactured case
as part of a wider campaign of political
persecution.
By Ben Norton
October 29, 2019 "Information
Clearing House" -
Max Blumenthal, the editor of
the news site The Grayzone, was arrested on the
morning of October 25 on a fabricated charge related
to the siege of the Venezuelan embassy in
Washington, DC that took place between April and
May.
A team of DC police officers appeared at
Blumenthal’s door at just after 9 AM, demanding
entry and threatening to break his door down. A
number of officers had taken positions on the side
of his home as though they were prepared for a
SWAT-style raid.
Blumenthal was hauled into a police van and
ultimately taken to DC central jail, where he was
held for two days in various cells and cages. He was
shackled by his hands and ankles for over five hours
in one such cage along with other inmates. His
request for a phone call was denied by DC police and
corrections officers, effectively denying him access
to the outside world.
Blumenthal was informed that he was accused of
simple assault by a Venezuelan opposition member. He
declared the charge completely baseless.
“This charge is a 100 percent false, fabricated,
bogus, untrue, and malicious lie,” Blumenthal
declared. “It is clearly part of a campaign of
political persecution designed to silence me and the
The Grayzone for our factual journalism exposing the
deceptions, corruption and violence of the far-right
Venezuelan opposition.”
The arrest warrant was five months old. According
to an individual familiar with the case, the warrant
for Blumenthal’s arrest was initially rejected.
Strangely, this false charge was revived months
later without the defendant’s knowledge.
|
Are You Tired Of
The Lies And
Non-Stop Propaganda?
|
“If the government had at least told me I had a
warrant I could have voluntarily surrendered and
appeared at my own arraignment. I have nothing to
fear because I’m completely innocent of this bogus
charge,” Blumenthal stated. “Instead, the federal
government essentially enlisted the DC police to
SWAT me, ensuring that I would be subjected to an
early morning raid and then languish in prison for
days without even the ability to call an attorney.”
Background to the embassy siege
In April and May, Washington-backed Venezuelan
coup leaders began taking over properties in the
United States that belong to the internationally
recognized government of Venezuela’s democratically
elected
President Nicolás Maduro, in violation of
international law.
A group of activists responded by keeping a vigil
inside the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, DC, in
order to protect it from an illegal seizure by the
US-supported coup leaders. The activists formed what
they called the Embassy Protection Collective. The
internationally recognized Venezuelan government
gave them permission to stay in its embassy, which
is its own sovereign territory under international
law.
In response, hordes of violent right-wing
activists who support the Venezuelan opposition
launched a de facto 24/7 siege of the embassy,
preventing people, food, and supplies from entering
the building.
The Grayzone reporter
Anya Parampil and Alex Rubinstein, a contributor
to The Grayzone, were
embedded in the embassy with several peace
activists.
Parampil and journalists including Blumenthal
documented the right-wing mobs lashing out with
racist and sexist invective as well as violence at
Venezuelan solidarity activists who gathered outside
the embassy to show support for the protectors.
The Venezuelan coup regime’s supposed ambassador
to the United States, Carlos Vecchio, who is not
recognized by the United Nations and the vast
majority of the international community, helped to
lead this aggressive mob as it besieged the embassy.
The Grayzone’s Anya Parampil
exposed Vecchio to be a former lawyer for the oil
corporation Exxon. The Grayzone has documented
his close links to the US government, and has
reported at length on
accusations of corruption. Vecchio was a regular
presence outside the DC embassy, appearing with his
gaggle to stage manage the situation.
The Grayzone has also published numerous
exposés on Venezuelan coup leader Juan Guaidó,
who was selected by the US government to be the
so-called “interim president” in Caracas, detailing
his extensive ties to Washington and his notorious
corruption.
Blumenthal was arrested literally hours after The
Grayzone published an
article on USAID paying the salaries of Guaidó’s
team as they lobbied the US government.
“I am firmly convinced that this case is part of
a wider campaign of political persecution using the
legal system to shut down our factual investigative
journalism about the coup against Venezuela and the
wider policy of economic warfare and regime change
waged by the Trump administration,” Blumenthal
stated.
If this had happened to a journalist in
Venezuela, every Western human rights NGO and news
wire would be howling about Maduro’s
authoritarianism. It will be revealing to see how
these same elements react to a clear-cut case of
political repression in their own backyard.
Ben Norton is a journalist, writer, and
filmmaker. He is the assistant editor of The
Grayzone, and the producer of the
Moderate
Rebels podcast, which he co-hosts with editor
Max Blumenthal. His website is
BenNorton.com and
he tweets at @BenjaminNorton.
This article was originally published by "Gray
Zone"- -
Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here
==See Also==
Note To ICH Community
We ask that you assist us in
dissemination of the article published by
ICH to your social media accounts and post
links to the article from other websites.
Thank you for your support.
Peace and joy
