How to Get Arrested on Twitter
Getting arrested for tweeting has never been easier and once this case is done with, we’ll all be sharing recipes and knitting patterns — exactly what the Internet was designed for.
"Democrats do not fear Republicans who fear no Democrat, but both will learn to fear anarchists now that net gives us revenge."
Barrett Brown’s tweets from the 8th September are listed in the 3rd October 2012 indictment under section 5 and itemised a to g. They are:
a) Democrats do not fear Republicans who fear no Democrat, but both will learn to fear anarchists now that net gives us revenge #ProjectPM
Someone in The J. Edgar Hoover Building located at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., will be looking at this and making much more sense of it than I am. It’s tweets like this that make me worry that a case could be mounted against virtually anybody, once the evidence stacks up. In and of itself however, I do not believe that this tweet amounts to evidence of Jack Shit.
b) So now if I don't take my opiates I guess I get to feel 2 years of betrayal by country, loss of best kids in West to feds. Fuck you
It’s not discussed much, probably because very few people know the details, but it is clear that during the period in question Barrett was not well due to a combination of stress and drug withdrawal. Barrett feels powerless against the Feds who have raided his mother’s house and taken his computers, so he resorts to two words — which land him in jail. In truth we may be better not to watch this case, because if we take its message to heart, we’ll end up saying nothing but ‘have a nice day’ on social media.
c) @_Dantalion Most people can't understand. Uncle who went to Nam, watched them die for no reason, got on drugs knows better than I
The complete conversation in this case is at least partially enlightening. It goes:
Barrett Brown@BarrettBrownLOL
So now if I don't take my opiates I guess I get to feel 2 years of betrayal by country, loss of best kids in West to feds. Fuck you
Danny 2.2 @_Dantalion
@BarrettBrownLOL Not even trying to troll, but I cannot even understand that statement.
Barrett Brown@BarrettBrownLOL
@_Dantalion Most people can't understand. Uncle who went to Nam, watched them die for no reason, got on drugs knows better than I
Danny 2.2 @_Dantalion
@BarrettBrownLOL Ahhh I see what you're saying now.
Krazy McKaos w/Cheez @Shad0wfly
@_Dantalion Maybe you can help me out I'm still gonna need a translation..... @BarrettBrownLOL
Poor Krazy McKaos w/Cheez never got his /her answer, which is a pity. But do not despair, it’ll come out in court and all will presumably be made crystal clear.
c) Last outlet that ran my work, Guardian, no longer responding. Nothing restrains me now from finishing my real work #ProjectPM
I like this tweet because it rings of the mad scientist that Barrett Brown has clearly become. ‘Nothing restrains me now from finishing my real work’ is a priceless quote, but why this appears on the indictment is anybody’s guess. Can you go to prison for that. No doubt about it — YES.
As for the Guardian, Barrett has worked for newspapers before, and he should know that when they don’t get back to you, it’s not personal. Honestly, news outlets only get back to you if they are interested, and that is the rule.
d) Journalists allow the guilty to escape. #ProjectPM ensures the guilty will be known to their children as they are, forever
e) Help #ProjectPM plan, execute further attacks #PantherModerns http://tinychat.com/barrettbrown#Anonymous #Wikileaks cryptome.org/2012/09/frey-chat-brown-02.htm
If I was a prosecutor, I'd probably be scratching my head just now wondering how I could squash all of this together into some kind of legal case. For the uninitiated, Barrett Brown was working on a project to give as much public information as he could about current surveillance methods, which he found most alarming. Problematic, I guess, is the fact that some of his evidence may have come from hacked emails, but he worked well with what he had and built a fairly impressive edifice before he was silenced. Time will tell what the authorities found on his computers.
f) @_Dantalion No. I'd shoot you w/ my shotgun if you came near my home in Texas, where even I can legally kill ppl www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkqSIZaBhUY&list=UUv1FlZ4TdveCyva7okPRmSA&index=2&feature=plcp …
To the ignorant, this may look like a threat to kill somebody, but if you read the tweets, you'll se it is not. It is a remidner of Texas law, and again, Barrett is speaking to someone that he in effect agrees with. Barrett is replying to this tweet:
(From) @_DantalionAll sounds good except for absence of part where I beat shit out of you for being annoying, yes
Which is nothing special, but you'll note that @_Dantalion isn't in jail for talking violent on Twitter. It's kids' stuff. What Topiary and other Brits may find amusing about all this is the accompanying video, which shows Barrett as an avergae Texan, shooting a shotgun. (It's called "If only all of Rome had just one neck") What is frustrating is that half of America has posted videos of itself shooting things and generally preparing to defend themselves, which while ridiculous to most of the rest of the world, is still a right they adhere to dearly.
Barrett actually tweets this the same day:
YES LESBIAN EROTICISM PROMPTS ME TO KILL RANDOM CIVILIANSS THANKS FOR INQUIRY SIGNED BARRETT
But this confession that he is a murderer does not make it into the indictment, which is strange, as this is just the sort of thing that could lead to a lengthy lockdown.
g) @_Dantalion Not mad at you, mad at #FBI @AaronBarr which I've got taken care of now anyway lol e-mail hacks pastebin.com/12crnMjP
Again, this must be key to the case that is being devised against Barrett, and feel free to follow the Pastebin link. The FBI obviously did, and found it to be of shocking quality.
Despite the stack of lack of evidence that Barrett is a killer (barring his own confession), September 8th 2012's tweets have to be among the strangest and lamest in this case. Doubtless you know more about this than I do, and can see why this guy needs 20 yrs behind bars, but I am open to anyone's explanations of just WTF this is about.
In the meantime, I am going to continue to study these pastes for evidence of threat, and wonder why, of all the revolutionaries in the USA, they picked on Barrett Brown.
