Arrest of Govt Critic and Journalist Max Blumenthal Signals Escalation in
War on Alternative Media
The SWAT-style raid on the home of government critic and journalist Max
Blumenthal signals a new level of escalation in the US governments war on
dissent.
by Alan Macleod
November 01st, 2019
By Alan Macleod
Max Blumenthal, the editor of independent media outlet The Grayzone, was
secretly arrested on October 25 in a SWAT-style morning raid on his
Washington D.C. home. He was held in D.C. Central Detention Facility for two
days incommunicado, without the ability to communicate to the outside world,
having been refused a phone call. He claims to have been shackled by his
hands and ankles for some time and kept in a series of cages and cells.
Blumenthal was arrested on a five-month-old assault charge stemming from an
incident that took place during the D.C. Venezuelan Embassy siege.
A Venezuelan opposition supporter, Naylet Pacheco, claims that Blumenthal
kicked her in the stomach several times during a conflict between the
embassy protectors and supporters of opposition leader Juan Guaído, who
proclaimed himself President of Venezuela in January. At the time of the
incident, The Grayzone was publishing a series of investigative reports and
news updates that contradicted the Trump administrations narrative, noting
how much of the supposedly grassroots uprising, was, in fact, funded by
Washington and exposing the corruption and violent tactics of opposition
members. The warrant for the charge had initially been rejected. It was,
however, revived later without Blumenthals knowledge.
If the government had at least told me I had a warrant I could have
voluntarily surrendered and appeared at my own arrangement. I have nothing
to fear because Im completely innocent of this bogus charge, he said.
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.
A War on Dissent
When asked for comment, political comedian and TV show host Lee Camp told
MintPress News that this was the latest example of the government trying to
silence dissenting opinion and controlling the media:
This is the continued descent into a fascist state. When the US government
is arresting journalists in dramatic fashion clearly because their reporting
is threatening to the power elite, then what else can one call it?
Corporate media largely applauded U.S.-backed regime change efforts in
Venezuela, refusing to even call them a coup and instead preferring to
frame them as a peoples uprising, taking the same line as the Trump
administration that they claim to resist. Many of those same media outlets
have also begun to partner with the government in a stated effort to fight
fake news. The primary consequence of which has been to undermine and reduce
the reach of alternative media, a vital counterweight to the corporate
message. In response to a call to arms in the Washington Post, algorithm
changes to Facebook, Google, YouTube, Bing, and others have led to
independent news sites being de-ranked, disincentivized, and sometimes,
deleted.
Despite his ordeal, Blumenthal has still been treated better than others who
ran afoul of the U.S. government. Chelsea Manning is still held in prison,
Edward Snowden is in exile, while Julian Assange, whose condition in
solitary confinement is deteriorating, faces a highly uncertain future. On
Assange, mainstream media largely applauded his April arrest, describing it
as a long overdue (Washington Post) and satisfying (Saturday Night Live)
detention of an anti-American (National Review) narcissistic (Washington
Post) Internet Troll with an outsized view of his own importance (the
Times) leaving his voluntary confinement (the Daily Beast) to finally
face justice (Daily Mail) for his indisputable crime (New York Times).
The Embassy Siege
The Trump administration refused to recognize the results of the January
2019 elections that awarded Nicolás Maduro another term in office. Instead,
it announced its support for self-appointed President Juan Guaído as the
rightful head of Venezuela. This, despite the fact that Guaído has never
stood for the office and that over 80 percent of the country didnt even
know who he was. Following Guaídos self-declaration of his presidency, the
Trump administration demanded that all Venezuelan diplomats leave the United
States, so those in Venezuelas Washington D.C. embassy formally invited
peace activists to enter and protect the integrity of the building.
Just as Guaído attempted to take the presidential palace in a coup attempt
in April, supporters of the far-right anti-President tried to storm the
Venezuelan embassy in D.C., an event closely covered by The Grayzone, and by
MintPress News Alex Rubenstein, who was amongst those invited to protect
the building. Rubenstein detailed how the attackers attempted siege and
intimidation tactics to the embassy protectors out and enjoyed the tacit
support of the local security services, who refused to protect the embassys
territorial integrity, a serious diplomatic violation.
Radio silence from Corporate Media
The dramatic story of a SWAT team bursting into a dissident journalists
home, bundling him into a car and holding him incommunicado for days appears
not to have interested either corporate media or professional press freedom
groups like Reporters Without Borders or the Committee to Protect
Journalists. When pushed for comment, the US Press Freedom Tracker excluded
this case on a technicality, stating:
There has been exactly zero mainstream coverage or commentary of the
governments arrest of a prominent critic, meaning that for those relying on
corporate media to inform and shape their worldview, the event did not
happen. This is all the more remarkable considering Blumenthal is an
award-winning, New York Times bestselling author, comes from a
well-connected family of elite former White House insiders (his father was a
senior aide to President Clinton), and boasts a huge following on social
media.
The silence from the mainstream press contrasts the considerable attention
that the event has received in alternative media and the outpouring of
support from independent journalists. His colleagues at The Grayzone
immediately came to his defense; Aaron Maté stated:
Meanwhile, Anya Parmpil (another embassy protector) noted that she was
assaulted in broad daylight by Guaído supporters and in front of the secret
services, who did nothing to protect her.
https://twitter.com/anyaparampil/status/1189251591691558913
Many saw the action as part of a wider government campaign aimed at
silencing dissenting opinions. The establishment has declared war on
anti-imperialist journalists, declared Kerry-Anne Mendoza, Editor-in-Chief
of The Canary, There should be global outrage. Middle East specialist
Jonathan Cook agreed, claiming it was the latest example of the growing
crackdown on independent journalism. Electronic Intifadas Ali Abunimah
offered his support to Blumenthal, decrying the U.S. governments clear
retaliation and intimidation tactics.
Others criticized the mainstream press reaction to the arrest of a
prominent critic of the U.S. government. Mark Ames, the founder of the
Moscow-based outlet the eXile, noted that Blumenthals treatment reminded
him of the worst of Russia, except for the fact when opposition
journalists like Ivan Golunov were arrested, even the Putin-friendly press
decried it. Meanwhile, journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin offered a
thought experiment, tweeting:
In fact, a similar event did happen in Venezuela; earlier this year
freelance American journalist Cody Weddle was detained and deported by
Venezuelan authorities. The incident made worldwide headlines, for example,
in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Reuters and the Guardian,
and drew immediate condemnation from Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights
Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists, highlighting the selective
outrage of the corporate press and the human rights industry.
A History of Violence
Blumenthal is uncompromising in his position regarding the accusation:
This charge is a 100 percent false, fabricated, bogus, untrue, and
malicious lie, he declared. It is clearly part of a campaign of political
persecution designed to silence me and The Grayzone for our factual
journalism exposing the deceptions, corruption and violence of the far-right
Venezuelan opposition.
Far from the wholesome image they enjoy in much of the press, the Venezuelan
opposition has a long and exceptionally violent history of attacking
political opponents, including journalists. Their many campaigns to oust
President Maduro from power have included beheading innocent passers-by and
roasting Afro-Venezuelans alive in the street in an attempt to terrorize the
population into surrender.
After reporting on this violence in 2017, journalists Abby Martin and Mike
Prysner were the subject of a viral fake news campaign that claimed they
were informants gathering information on the opposition for the secret
police. They received dozens of death threats as part of a campaign in
Venezuela to find and lynch them. The two escaped unharmed but others were
not so lucky. TeleSurs Adriana Sivori was shot in the back by the same
opposition movement while wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet marked
press. Meanwhile, journalists for the Globovisión network were covered
with gasoline by far-right protestors who attempted to set them on fire.
This warm welcome is extended to those in the press who the U.S.-backed
opposition feel will not present them as positively as corporate media does.
These incidents were not mentioned, let alone condemned, by human rights or
press freedom groups, indicating, as does the Blumenthal arrest, that some
consider the right to free speech as dependent on who is doing the talking
and what they are saying.
Filmmaker Dan Cohen described Blumenthals treatment as a blatant attempt
to stifle and suppress The Grayzones reporting on the U.S. attempts to
overthrow the Venezuelan government, adding, Everyone who cares about press
freedom in the US should speak out against this.
Judging by their silence, very few in the mainstream media do.
Feature photo | Graphic by Claudio Cabrera
Alan MacLeod is a MintPress contributor as well as an academic and writer
for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. His book, Bad News From Venezuela:
Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting was published in April.