The strange case of Barrett Brown
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· · · · ·
| Barrett Brown | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Barrett Lancaster Brown (1981-08-14) August 14, 1981 (age 33) Dallas, Texas |
| Education | Episcopal School of Dallas |
| Website | |
Barrett Brown (born August 14, 1981) is an American journalist, essayist and satirist. He is often referred to as an unofficial spokesperson for the hacktivist collective Anonymous, a label he disputes.[1] He founded Project PM, a research collaboration and wiki, to facilitate analysis of the troves of hacked emails and other leaked information concerning the inner workings of the cyber-military-industrial complex.[2] Project PM aims to operate a wiki in order to provide a centralized, actionable data set regarding the intelligence contracting industry, the public relations industry's interface with governments, the infosec cybersecurity industry, and other issues constituting what the project's members regard as threats to human rights, civic transparency, individual privacy, and the health of democratic institutions.
He has spent over two years in FCI Seagoville federal prison and at one time faced over a hundred more as he awaited trial on an assortment of seventeen charges filed in three indictments that include sharing an HTTP link to information publicly released during the 2012 Stratfor email leak, and several counts of conspiring to publicize restricted information about an FBI agent.[3][4][5][6]Between September 2013 and April 2014 he was held under an agreed gag order prohibiting him from discussing his case with the media.[3][7]
Early life and education[edit]
Brown was born in Dallas, Texas to Robert Brown and Karen Lancaster, who divorced when he was 7. He was brought up in the affluent neighborhood of Preston Hollow, living with his mother who saw something special in her only child and took a progressive approach to his rearing. He attendedPreston Hollow Elementary School (along with the Bush twins). Afflicted with ADD, young Barrett was restless in the classroom but a precocious reader and writer on his own, producing a newspaper on his home computer while still in elementary school. Early nurturing a capacity for moral outrage and quick to question authority, he embraced the writings of Hunter S. Thompson and Ayn Rand by middle school, declaring himself an atheist and founding an Objectivist club in high school; placing second in a national Ayn Rand essay contest.[2][8]
He attended the private Episcopal School of Dallas for high school but dropped out after his sophomore year. That summer, in 1998, he interned at the Met, an alternative weekly, and spent his would-be junior year unschooling in Tanzania with his father, who was trying to start a hardwood-harvesting business. While there Brown completed high school online through Texas Tech, earning college credit. He returned to Texas in 2000 and spent two semesters taking writing classes at theUniversity of Texas at Austin. He then pursued freelance writing.[2][8]
Journalism[edit]
Brown co-wrote the book Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern Creationism, Intelligent Design and the Easter Bunny, a comic critique of intelligent design and creationism.[9]
He has written for Vanity Fair,[10] True/Slant,[11] Huffington Post,[12] The Guardian,[13] and other publications.
Brown served as the Director of Communications for Enlighten the Vote, an atheist PAC that provides financial and strategic assistance to political candidates that advocate strict enforcement of theEstablishment Clause.[14][15]
In 2010, Brown began work on his crowdsourced investigation wiki, Project PM. Brown has written that the main goals of Project PM are to increase the positive influence of what he calls "the more capable segments of the blogosphere", while reducing the negative influence of well-regarded mainstream pundits, who may have political agendas not compatible with public interest. It was his aim that the wiki Project PM be established by way of the deliberate generation of critical mass of work and following among dependable bloggers in such a manner as that segments of the traditional media will be prompted or even forced to address critical issues in their own methods and means of reportage. A further and experimental aim of Project PM is also to develop a communicational schematic which could provide bloggers, reporters and any other concerned Citizen journalist with the best possible feed of raw information by which to produce content.
On the aim of Project PM, Brown has stated:
"The institutions and structures that have developed over the past two decades of accelerating public internet use have had what we reasonably describe as a wholesome effect on information flow. But the information age is a work in progress, and thus there are potential improvements to be made. More importantly, there are improvements that can be made by an initially small number of influential participants working in coordination. The purpose of Project PM is to implement these solutions to the extent that participants are collectively able to do so, as well as to demonstrate the beneficial effects of these solutions to others that they might be spurred to recreate or even build upon them independently of our own efforts."[16]
In June 2011, he and Project PM released an exclusive report about a surveillance contract called "Romas/COIN" which was discovered in e-mails hacked from HBGary by Anonymous. It consisted of sophisticated data-mining techniques leveraging mobile software and aimed at Arab countries.[17][18]
In November 2011, Brown said that 75 names of members of the Zetas drug cartel would be released if a member of the Anonymous group who had been kidnapped was not set free.[19] Brown claims the member was then released and that there was a truce between him and the drug cartel for the moment. Others have claimed the kidnapping was fake.[20]
On January 18, 2012, Brown interviewed with the cable news network RT about the cyber attacks by Anonymous and the temporary blackout of the US government websites WhiteHouse.Gov, DoJ.gov and FBI.gov.[21]
On March 6, 2012, he confirmed on Twitter that the FBI raided his residence after receiving information from Hector Xavier Monsegur (also known by the online pseudonym Sabu), the founder of LulzSec.[22]
In early January 2014, it was announced that his second book, started in 2006, will be published. According to his legal defense website:
The book was originally titled Hot, Fat, and Clouded: The Amazing and Amusing Failures of America’s Chattering Class and consisted of his attack on the ubiquitous newspaper columnists and media pundits whom he argues are undeservedly influential and able to form public opinion. … We are excited to announce that we have rescued the book from its fate and that it will soon see the light of day. Newly titled as Keep Rootin’ for Putin: Establishment Pundits and the Twilight of American Competence, the text become available as an eBook in the spring of 2014 for donors to his legal defense fund.[23]
During his incarceration, and beginning in September 2012, Brown is writing a series of columns forD Magazine titled "The Barrett Brown Review of Arts and Letters and Jail".[24]
Association with Anonymous[edit]
Some media outlets present Brown as a spokesperson for Anonymous.[8] He has appeared in the documentaries We Are Legion and Terms and Conditions May Apply.[25] Brown claims he renounced his links with the group in 2011.[19][26] It was also reported in 2011 that Brown and Anon alum Gregg Housh had landed a six-figure deal with Amazon for a book tentatively titled Anonymous: Tales From Inside The Accidental Cyberwar.[27]
Arrest and trial[edit]
On March 6, 2012, the FBI executed search warrants at Brown's apartment and his mother's house seeking evidence of alleged crimes. The items to be seized included "Records relating to HBGary, Infragard, Endgame Systems, Anonymous, LulzSec, IRC Chats, Twitter, <a href="http://wiki.echelon2.org" rel="nofollow">wiki.echelon2.org</a>, and pastebin.com". Agents took possession of his laptop computers. "I suspect that the FBI is working off of incorrect information", Brown told a reporter.[28]
On September 12, 2012, Brown was arrested in Dallas County, Texas for allegedly threatening anFBI agent in a YouTube video. His arrest occurred as he left a computer linked to Tinychat in which the raid could be heard in the background.[29] Brown has been public about his history of using heroin[26] and he was going through withdrawal[4][30] on the day of his arrest.
A magistrate denied bail, and therefore he was kept in pre-trial detention, because he was "a danger to the safety of the community and a risk of flight".[31]
On September 24, 2012, a Pastebin post appeared titled "Barrett Brown – Communiqué from Prison 9/20/12", in which Brown thanked supporters, described the insufficient medical treatment he received after having his ribs injured during his arrest, and acknowledged some past mistakes. The missive concludes, "I will personally thank everyone on the outside who has helped me and this movement particularly at this critical time, when I have regained the freedom that I did nothing to lose. For now, and until that time, it is war, on paper as always, but war."[32]
On October 3, 2012, a federal grand jury indictment was returned against Brown on charges of threats, conspiracy and retaliation against a federal law enforcement officer. Various tweets, YouTube uploads and comments made by Brown before his arrest were cited as support within the indictment.[33][34] He later entered a plea of not guilty to all three counts.[citation needed]
On December 4, 2012, Brown was indicted on an additional 12 federal charges related to the December 25, 2011 hack of Austin-based private intelligence company Stratfor carried out by Jeremy Hammond.[35][36] A trove of millions of Stratfor emails from the hack, including authentication information for thousands of credit card accounts, was shared by the hacker collective LulzSec withwhistleblower site Wikileaks (main article: 2012 Stratfor email leak). While Hammond plead guilty and received the maximum sentence of ten years in federal prison for the hack itself,[37] Brown faced up to 45 years in federal prison for allegedly sharing a link to the data as part of Project PM, after a presumed FBI entrapment maneuver.[38] Attorney Jesselyn Radack has raised connections between Brown's case, and that of her client Peter Van Buren, whom the State Department sought to prosecute over a link on his personal blog to a Wikileaks document. Two online commentators on internet security issues criticized the charges against Brown.[39][40] He has entered a plea of not guilty to all twelve counts.[citation needed]
On January 23, 2013, a third indictment was filed against Brown on two counts of obstruction for concealing evidence during the March 6, 2012 FBI raid of his and his mother's homes.[41] During a brief court hearing a week later, a judge found him mentally competent to stand trial, while Brown again plead not guilty to the additional charges.[42]
On May 1, 2013, it was announced that Brown had retained two attorneys, Charles Swift and Ahmed Ghappour, to represent him in his legal cases.[citation needed]
As of September 4, 2013, Brown was under a federal court-issued gag order; he and his lawyers were not allowed to discuss his case with the media, lest it taint a jury.[7][43] Assistant United States Attorney Candina S. Heath (the lead prosecutor) said that Brown has tried to manipulate the media from behind bars for his benefit, that Brown's attorney "coordinates and/or approves of his use of the media," and that most of the publicity about Brown has contained false information and "gross fabrications".[44] Defense counsel maintained the gag order was an unfounded and unwarranted breach of Brown's First Amendment rights. Though forbidden to write or speak out about his case, Brown continued to pen articles from his prison cell on unrelated topics.[45][46] The gag order was lifted on April 23, 2014, and key documents were unsealed.
Brown has been in custody since September 12, 2012.[47] His mother was sentenced on November 8, 2013 to six months of probation and a $1,000 fine for a misdemeanor charge of obstructing the execution of a search warrant. "My better judgment was clouded by my maternal instinct", she stated in court. The judge said to her, "I feel for you, as a parent. I know you did the best you could."[48][49]
In March 2014, most charges against Brown were dropped.[50] In April 2014, it was reported that Brown had agreed to a plea bargain.[51]
In January 2015, Brown was sentenced to 63 months in prison. He was also ordered to pay over $890,000 in fines and restitution.[52] Journalist Joshua Kopstein said he believed the government considered Brown to be a threat and suggested that its witnesses may have lied to secure his conviction.[53]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- Jump up ^ Patrick McGuire (March 1, 2013). "We Spoke To Barrett Brown From Prison". VICE. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Alexander Zaitchik (September 5, 2013). "Barrett Brown: America's Least Likely Political Prisoner". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
- ^ Jump up to: a b David Carr (September 9, 2013). "A Journalist-Agitator Facing Prison Over a Link".The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Peter Ludlow (June 18, 2013). "The Strange Case of Barrett Brown". The Nation. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Kristin Bergman (August 6, 2013). "Adding up to 105: The Charges Against Barrett Brown". Digital Media Law Project. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "A Dispatch From Outside the Prison Holding Barrett Brown". Vice. March 8, 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Fruzsina Eördögh. "The US Government Just Upheld Barrett Brown's Gag Order". <a href="http://Motherboard.vice.com" rel="nofollow">Motherboard.vice.com</a>. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2013.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Tim Rogers (March 23, 2011). "Barrett Brown is Anonymous". D Magazine. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Donald R. Prothero (May 16, 2007). "National Lampoon Meets Creationism". Skeptic. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Barrett Brown". Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Barrett Brown". True/Slant. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Barrett Brown". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Barrett Brown". The Guardian. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Ryan Gallagher. "How Barrett Brown went from Anonymous's PR to federal target". The Guardian. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Barrett Brown". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. August 1, 2012. Retrieved September 6,2013.
- Jump up ^ Barrett Brown (March 24, 2010). "The Great Pundit Hunt – Barrett Brown at True/Slant". True/Slant. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
- Jump up ^ Barrett Brown (June 22, 2011). "Romas/COIN". Project PM. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
- Jump up ^ Barrett Brown (June 22, 2011). "A sinister cyber-surveillance scheme exposed". The Guardian. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Tim Rogers (November 4, 2011). "Barrett Brown vs. The Zetas". D Magazine. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Adam Clark Estes (November 4, 2011). "Anonymous and the Zetas Cartel Declare a Truce". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Internet strikes back: Anonymous' Operation Megaupload explained". RT. January 20, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Adrian Covert (March 6, 2012). "Anonymous Reacts to Sabu's Betrayal of LulzSec".Gizmodo. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Rogers, Tim (January 6, 2014). "Barrett Brown Book Will Be Released After All". D Magazine. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
- Jump up ^ "The Barrett Brown Review of Arts and Letters and Jail". D Magazine.
- Jump up ^ "Barrett Brown (II)". Internet Movie Database. September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Nate Anderson (May 6, 2011). "Prolific "spokesman" for Anonymous leaves the hacker group". Ars Technica. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Hannah Roberts (November 5, 2011). "Cashing in as the face of Anonymous: Hacking group spokesman lands a six figure book deal". Daily Mail. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Michael Hastings (April 24, 2012). "Exclusive: FBI Escalates War On Anonymous".BuzzFeed. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Barrett Brown Busted". YouTube. September 12, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Kevin Drum (September 9, 2013). "105 Years in Jail for Posting a Link?". Mother Jones. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Robert Wilonsky (April 3, 2013). "U.S. Attorney’s Office asks judge to toss motion to intervene in the case of detained hacktivist Barrett Brown". Dallas News. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Barrett Brown – Communiqué from Prison 9/20/12". <a href="http://Pastebin.com" rel="nofollow">Pastebin.com</a>. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Avi Selk (October 4, 2012). "Feds indict self-proclaimed Anonymous spokesman Barrett Brown on retaliation, conspiracy charges". Dallas News. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Federal Grand Jury Charges Dallas Resident With Making An Internet Threat And Other Felony Offenses". Justice.gov. October 4, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Robert Wilonsky (October 7, 2012). "New federal indictment lists 12 more charges against Barrett Brown". Dallas News. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Dallas Man Associated With Anonymous Hacking Group Faces Additional Federal Charges". Justice.gov. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Jeremy Hammond, hacker for Anonymous, sentenced to 10 years". The Washington Post. November 15, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Robert McMillan (December 7, 2012). "Feds Charge Anonymous Spokesperson for Sharing Hacked Stratfor Credit Cards". Wired. Retrieved December 16, 2013. )
- Jump up ^ Adrian Chen (December 7, 2012). "Former Anonymous Spokesman Barrett Brown Indicted For Sharing a Link to Stolen Credit Card Data". Gawker. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Paul Wagenseil (December 12, 2012). "Editorial: If Barrett Brown's Guilty, Then So Am I".LiveScience. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Anna Merlan (January 24, 2013). "Barrett Brown Was Hit With a Third Indictment Yesterday, This Time For Concealing Evidence". Dallas Observer. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Anna Merlan (January 30, 2013). "Barrett Brown Found Competent To Stand Trial; Pleads Not Guilty On Newest Charges of Concealing Evidence". Dallas Observer. Retrieved September 6,2013.
- Jump up ^ Robert Wilonsky (May 1, 2013). "Hours before judge hears government's case to slap gag on jailed hacktivist Barrett Brown, his attorneys strongly object". Dallas News. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Krause, Kevin (September 4, 2013). "Gag order issued in federal cases against Dallas man tied to hacking group Anonymous". The Dallas Morning News.
- Jump up ^ Ed Pilkington (September 4, 2013). "US stops jailed activist Barrett Brown from discussing leaks prosecution". The Guardian. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Tim Rogers (December 18, 2013). "Barrett Brown Writes From Jail About Profanity on the Airwaves". The Guardian. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Zetter, Kim (January 25, 2013). "Anonymous spokesman Barrett Brown faces new charges". Wired UK. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Jump up ^ "Mother of Anonymous-linked Dallas writer gets probation for hiding laptops from feds". Dallas News. November 8, 2013. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Dart, Tom (November 9, 2013). "Jailed activist Barrett Brown's mother given probation for helping son". The Guardian. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- Jump up ^ Mullin, Joe (March 5, 2014). "Feds drop most charges against former Anon spokesman". Retrieved January 24, 2015.
- Jump up ^ Krause, Kevin (December 17, 2014). "Update: Dallas hacktivist Barrett Brown thought he would be sentenced today. He was wrong". The Dallas Morning News.
- Jump up ^ Woolf, Nicky (January 22, 2015). "Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months for 'merely linking to hacked material'". The Guardian.
- Jump up ^ Kopstein, Joshua (February 25, 2015). "Will Matt DeHart be the next victim of the war on leaks?". Al Jazeera America, Al Jazeera.
Further reading[edit]
External links[edit]
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Brown, Barrett |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Author |
| Date of birth | August 14, 1981 |
| Place of birth | Dallas, Texas, United States |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death |
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Barrett Brown - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barrett Brown (born August 14, 1981) is an American journalist, essayist and satirist. He is often referred to as an unofficial spokesperson for the hacktivist ...Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months for - The Guardian
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Barrett Brown
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Feds censor Brown once again.
How The Gov’t Legalizes Theft by Infowars.com
Feds take property and money over victimless "crimes."
Rule by presidential decree.
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