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An Anonymous US Law Enforcement Officer Claims US Wouldn't Arrest Julian Assange

Posted by Unknown on from the with-crossed-fingers dept.

McGruber writes "The Washington Post reports that 'Federal prosecutors have not filed a sealed indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, despite persistent rumors that a nearly three-year grand jury investigation into him and his organization had secretly led to charges, according to senior law enforcement sources. ... "Nothing has occurred so far," said one law enforcement official with knowledge of the case. "If Assange came to the U.S. today, he would not be arrested. But I can't predict what's going to happen. He might be in six months." The law enforcement official providing this assurance chose to remain anonymous.'"

15 of 399 comments (clear)

  1. I could imagine a truth buried behind this by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They might not arrest him. They might just shoot him.

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    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    1. Re:I could imagine a truth buried behind this by asmkm22 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Or detain him indefinitely. Many of the people in Gitmo haven't actually been "arrested" or charged with anything.

    2. Re:I could imagine a truth buried behind this by C0R1D4N · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Except we have not declared war.

  2. Cops Lie, Film @ 11 by flyneye · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can't believe a damn thing anyone in law enforcement says.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08fZQWjDVKE
    Never could, no point in starting any time soon.
    Makes good family viewing. Especially your kids.

    --
    *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    1. Re:Cops Lie, Film @ 11 by flyneye · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My mind goes farther and farther back in time.
      When and where are you talking about? They were lying shit in the 70s and I presume the 60s from stories I hear. Beyond that the history books aren't kind either. I guess television always showed fictitious nice cops. I suppose the highway patrolmen touring the elementary school safety circuit are probably nice guys, but, those are the ones they send on tour. I'm fairly loaded with psych case histories and results of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory battery of tests of cops over the last 30 years or so in my area. They're fairly simple, power hungry and can have some pretty major deviations and will still be hired. That's the profile you get, here and elsewhere. As long as you're no brainiac, have no record and can read and write,you can be a real nut job and still be a cop fresh out of training and believe me, the majority do. The worst of them trickle down to the podunk towns after and if they get fired from urban areas.
      Here in my area of the state, there are 3 separate cases of incarcerating officers sexually assaulting suspects this year alone. There is also a regional rash THIS YEAR of 6 cases of suspects fleeing, jumping in ponds and drowning. Not years previous, just this year.This is a two county area I'm speaking of.
      We have two officers up for murder and one, a police trainer, convicted of murdering his wife and committing arson to cover it up. There aren't even a million people here. This is only the headline stuff too. Soooo much more.
      It ain't 9-11 anymore, the polish wore off and all we have left is punks with badges all the way up to Federal levels.

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    2. Re:Cops Lie, Film @ 11 by Runaway1956 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oh, the ponds.

      There was a case in Oklahoma several years back. A young black man eluded police until he ran into a pond and drowned. The autopsy stated quite clearly that he drowned to death. Oddly, that drowned young man had some bullet holes in his back. I didn't view the body, so I can't swear that there were holes in his back - but I did talk to a member of his family who did view the body before it was dressed for the funeral.

      We screwed up badly when fleeing and evading the police was made into a felony. Quite naturally, a police officer is authorized to use deadly force to prevent the commission of a felony. If you've done nothing else wrong, just turning a corner to avoid being seen by a cop is reason to be shot to death.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  3. Why would he be arrested? by BringsApples · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He wouldn't be arrested, they don't have to do that in America anymore - they "detain" you.

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    Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
  4. Re:Sure... by bhcompy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    To iterate, what I'm saying is that we can't execute US citizens without a fair trial, yet we've done numerous times in the past few years. So "can't" just doesn't fly. "Not supposed to" is more accurate.

  5. Re:Its A Trap! by Runaway1956 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You are apparently a fortunate person. I know people over the age of 20 who would believe this nonsense. They'll believe anything their favorite talking head says to believe.

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  6. Re:Its A Trap! by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The quoted article doesn't SAY that, not anywhere. It's called "making shit up" otherwise known as writing Slashdot headlines, and there is no such implication in US law. Normally, an arrest happens on suspicion and an indictment follows. Sometimes, they do it the other way around but it's never the case that the police need an indictment to arrest you.

  7. Re:Sure... by Zemran · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Have you heard of a place called Guantanamo that is filled with people that are not US citizens, have never been to the US or committed crimes in the US and most were just defending their country against an invasion, as I hope you would if your country was invaded.

    --
    I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
  8. Re:Sure... by Zemran · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Would you say that was unjustified?"

    Yes, because that made it murder. If they were not ready to give him a trial they should not have gone after him. You accept that he is the evil nemesis only because the people that made billions from a war, told you he was. Without that fair trial, he was an innocent man and shooting him was murder. He was unarmed when they entered his bedroom, there was no need or reason to shoot him. They should have given him a fair trial so that the world could see the man to be who they claim he was. Now it all looks like a lie.

    --
    I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
  9. Re:Sure... by Smauler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Everyone knows he deserved to die is the anti-judicial refrain. I personally am happy he is dead, but there was no justice involved. The government killing people and imprisoning people without a fair and open trial is fucking immoral, no matter what anyone says.

  10. Re:Sure... by Rakhar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "but there was no justice involved"

    As a US veteran I actually got teary eyed when I saw the newspaper headlines after Osama was killed with the President saying that "Justice has been served". The President of the United States, calling that justice. The country we have now and the one I enlisted to defend are not the same country.

    The older I get, the harder I find it to be truly patriotic.

  11. Re:Sure... by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Most people are trained to be "patriotic" to whatever country they live in from a young age.

    We are taught the pledge of allegiance in class for just this reason.

    I don't want America to lose a war to a foreign invasion, but that doesn't mean that I should go die for her in a pointless war.

    WWII is the last war that really mattered. The rest were about money, politics, oil, etc.