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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.'"

24 of 399 comments (clear)

  1. Sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    We believe you.

    1. 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.

    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.

    5. 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.

    6. 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.

    7. Re:Sure... by Eivind+Eklund · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Anwar al-Awlaki - intentionally executed without trial.
      Samir Khan - unintentionally executed as part of the execution of Anwar al-Awlaki.
      Jude Kenan Mohammad - intentionally executed. Had previously been convicted of terrorism conspiracy, but not to a sufficient degree to actually be imprisoned.
      Abdulrahman al-Awlaki - 16 year old with no personal involvement in terrorism, but who had a father (Anwar al-Awlaki) who was involved. Robert Gibbs, former White House press secretary, stated that he "should have had a more responsible father." Unclear at what level the execution was a mistake.

      Three of the four are arguably "bad guys" - but they should still have gotten a proper trial, so we could determine if they are. The last one doesn't even seem to be a bad guy, just somebody that happened to be born to an unfortunate father.

      --
      Doubting the existence of evolution is like doubting the existence of China: It just shows that you're uninformed.
    8. Re:Sure... by Smauler · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm English, by the way.

      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.

      No... No, we are not. No one is trained to be patriotic in England. Seriously. There is no patriotism at all in schools, no proudness of what the UK has achieved. This is a US phenomenon.

      I personally love my country... but that has nothing to do with education, and the bits I love are probably the bits someone else who loves the UK hates. That's part of what I love about my country.

      Most people learn about how important the UK is now (7th biggest economy in the world) and was (largest empire of all time) after they have left school.

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

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

    --
    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.

    3. Re:I could imagine a truth buried behind this by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 5, Informative

      The Authorization for Use of Military Force is pretty clear about who the US is at war with.

      No, it's not. War is a state that exists between two sovereign nations or putative nations. It is not a state that exists between a nation and criminal gang.

      Nobody seems to be confused about who the war was against during the "war against fascism" between 1939-1945, but the "war against terror" from 2001-2013 seems to "baffle" people

      We were not at war with an abstract concept like "fascism" during WWII, we were at war with Germany, Japan, and Italy; when the governments of those nations signed surrender papers the state of war ended.

      Conveniently, there is no government to surrender in the "war" (so-called) on terror. We get to always be at "war" with terror.

      Those treaties allow al Qaida members to be held as enemy combatants and tried before military commissions if applicable.

      Not quite. Accused members of the criminal organization Al Qaida are entitled to the same civilian trials as any other criminal defendants, unless they were captured on the battlefield while engaging in combat. In that case they are combatants and are either prisoners of war or unlawful combatants; they are entitled to the presumption of POW status until their status has been determined by "a competent tribunal". But the U.S. doesn't get to say "we know, we just *know* you're an Al Qaida member!"

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
  3. 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
  4. Also by SB9876 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The official went on to say that he totally heard that the Justice department has a big basket of puppies waiting in the office to give to Julian [Assange] if he just drops by by next week.

  5. No need by bob_super · · Score: 4, Funny

    You typically don't arrest people after they jump off the curb in front of a bus while being mauled by a pack of attack dogs with polonium teeth. Especially if they previously committed suicide using the safe two-bullet-in-the-head technique and padlocked themselves in a gym bag.

    It's just poor taste

    1. Re:No need by Ralph+Spoilsport · · Score: 4, Informative

      Don't forget how Allende killed himself - the first world leader to shoot himself in the back with an M16 from 20 paces, pausing only once to reload!

      --
      Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
  6. 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.

    --
    Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
  7. As A Matter of Fact... by srobert · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... I heard that Julian Assange has accepted an invitation to speak publicly in New York City's, Central Park on November 30, 2013 at 6:00 PM. I also heard that large numbers of people were going to show up dressed as Julian Assange. Is there any truth to that rumor?

  8. 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
  9. 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.

  10. Re:I rather believe in Santa Claus by mwvdlee · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hey Julian, it's even been leaked by an anonymous source. You're into that kind of stuff, right?

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