“WikiLeaks: treat incitement seriously or expect more Gabrielle Gifford killing sprees.”

www.twitlonger.com...

twitter.com...

WIKILEAKS PRESS RELEASE
10 Jan 2010, 10:15 PM EST

Wikileaks today offered sympathy and condolences to the victims of the Tucson shooting together with best wishes for the recovery of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Giffords, a democrat from Arizona's 8th district, was the target of a shooting spree at a Jan 8 political event in which six others were killed.

Tucson Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, leading the investigation into the Gifford shooting, said that "vitriolic rhetoric" intended to "inflame the public on a daily basis ... has [an] impact on people, especially who are unbalanced personalities to begin with." Dupnik also observed that officials and media personalities engaging in violent rhetoric "have to consider that they have some responsibility when incidents like this occur and may occur in the future."

WikiLeaks staff and contributors have also been the target of unprecedented violent rhetoric by US prominent media personalities, including Sarah Palin, who urged the US administration to “Hunt down the WikiLeaks chief like the Taliban”. Prominent US politician Mike Huckabee called for the execution of WikiLeaks spokesman Julian Assange on his Fox News program last November, and Fox News commentator Bob Beckel, referring to Assange, publicly called for people to "illegally shoot the son of a bitch." US radio personality Rush Limbaugh has called for pressure to "Give [Fox News President Roger] Ailes the order and [then] there is no Assange, I'll guarantee you, and there will be no fingerprints on it.", while the Washington Times columnist Jeffery T. Kuhner titled his column “Assassinate Assange” captioned with a picture Julian Assange overlayed with a gun site, blood spatters, and “WANTED DEAD or ALIVE” with the alive crossed out.

John Hawkins of Townhall.com has stated "If Julian Assange is shot in the head tomorrow or if his car is blown up when he turns the key, what message do you think that would send about releasing sensitive American data?"

Christian Whiton in a Fox News opinion piece called for violence against WikiLeaks publishers and editors, saying the US should "designate WikiLeaks and its officers as enemy combatants, paving the way for non-judicial actions against them."

WikiLeaks spokesman Julian Assange said: "No organisation anywhere in the world is a more devoted advocate of free speech than Wikileaks but when senior politicians and attention seeking media commentators call for specific individuals or groups of people to be killed they should be charged with incitement -- to murder. Those who call for an act of murder deserve as significant share of the guilt as those raising a gun to pull the trigger."

“WikiLeaks has many young staff, volunteers and supporters in the same geographic vicinity as these the broadcast or circulation of these incitements to kill. We have also seen mentally unstable people travel from the US and other counties to other locations. Consequently we have to engage in extreme security measures.”

“We call on US authorities and others to protect the rule of law by aggressively prosecuting these and similar incitements to kill. A civil nation of laws can not have prominent members of society constantly calling for the murder and assassination of other individuals or groups.”

More examples:

www.peopleokwithmurderingassange.com...

Interesting and true piece.

Yeah, unfortunately that incitement rhetoric is and has been primarily generated by Congress.

Not this poor lady, but if one wants to get to the root of so very much anger and feelings of helplessness, it's the actions of our US government that have caused them.

I hope she's fine, and feel terribly for the deaths of the innocents.

Events such as this could conceivably get this entire nation sideways inadvertently in a hurry.

The left lives by violent rhetoric, they have been trying to intimidate people for years.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1abea5269593.png[/atsimg]

Here are some of the other sickening quotes that incite violence towards them:

www.peopleokwithmurderingassange.com...

JOHN HAWKINS

(Far-right blogger)

"Julian Assange is not an American citizen and he has no constitutional rights. So, there's no reason that the CIA can't kill him. Moreover, ask yourself a simple question: If Julian Assange is shot in the head tomorrow or if his car is blown up when he turns the key, what message do you think that would send about releasing sensitive American data?"

JOHN HAWKINS

(Far-right blogger)

"Headline: The CIA Should Kill Julian Assange"

RALPH PETERS

(U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and author)

"Julian Assange is a cyber terrorist in wartime, he's guilty of sabotage, espionage, crimes against humanity -- he should be killed, but we won't do that."

"I do not believe in leaks. I would execute leakers. They're betraying our country."

STEVE GILL

(Right-wing Nashville radio host)

"Folks like Julian Assange should be targeted as terrorists. They should be captured and kept in Guantanamo Bay, or killed."

RUSH LIMBAUGH

(Right-wing radio talk show host)

"Back in the old days when men were men and countries were countries, this guy would die of lead poisoning from a bullet in the brain."

"This guy Assange could have been stopped, come on, folks. People have been shot for far less than this."

"(laughing) Ah, folks, even Greg Palkot of Fox News interviewed Assange, which means that Roger Ailes knows where he is. Ailes knows where Assange is. Give Ailes the order and there is no Assange, I'll guarantee you, and there will be no fingerprints on it."

WILLIAM KRISTOL

(Editor of the Weekly Standard)

"Why can't we act forcefully against WikiLeaks? Why can't we use our various assets to harass, snatch or neutralize Julian Assange and his collaborators, wherever they are?"

G. GORDON LIDDY

(Former White House Adviser, talk show host)

"This fellow Anwar al-Awlaki – a joint U.S. citizen hiding out in Yemen – is on a 'kill list' [for inciting terrorism against the U.S.]. Mr. Assange should be put on the same list."

DEROY MURDOCK

(Columnist for National Review)

"If convicted, [Bradley Manning] should be placed against a wall and executed by firing squad. (If extradited here, Assange deserves the same sendoff.)"

JOHAN GOLDBERG

(Editor-at-large of National Review Online)

"I’d like to ask a simple question: Why isn’t Julian Assange dead? ...Why wasn’t Assange garroted in his hotel room years ago? It’s a serious question."

DONALD DOUGLAS

(Blogger, Right Wing News)

"I won't think twice if Julian Assange meets the cold blade of an assassin, and apparently a significant number of others don't care for the guy."

SARAH PALIN

(Former US Vice Presidential Candidate)

"Julian Assange should be targeted like the Taliban"

THOMAS FLANAGAN

(former advisor to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper)

"I think Assange should be assassinated, actually. (laughs) I think Obama should put out a contract or use a drone or something…. I wouldn’t feel happy, uh, unhappy, if Assange disappeared."

BOB BECKEL

(FOX News commentator)

"A dead man can't leak stuff...This guy's a traitor, he's treasonous, and he has broken every law of the United States. And I'm not for the death penalty, so...there's only one way to do it: illegally shoot the son of a bitch."

ERIC BOLLING

(FOX News commentator)

"[Assange] should be underground -- six feet underground. ... He should be put in jail or worse, hanged in a public forum."

And the list just goes on and on and on........ absolutely sickening, never realised there were this many.....

If any of those death threats had been made toward a high ranking politician, there would be an investigation under way. Some animals are more equal than others.

Yes, that's all absolutely true. Violent rhetoric has been proven to kill..
Vicky

nice find OP and true indeed. unfortunately, the rule of law won't apply.
unless that rule is determined (insert deity here) law.

Wow that's a pretty powerful statement I'm going to read again when I'm more awake, They should know...having been targets themselves.

Oh and STOP L vs R BS right now! Incitement FROM anyone AGAINST anyone is WRONG. Got it? Propagating it is not good. Fighting back in kind is leading us to disaster.

What's so hard to understand here? This was to those here attempting to perpetuate more of the same, threefold. You know who you are...posting the same picture in at least a dozen threads today alone so far to attempt to "fight back" against what you clearly view as a personal attack on you and which is clearly making you too angry to take a step back and see the obvious.

Wow...If Wikileaks is soooo good at getting unbiased information then why are they continuing to spread a false political narrative unconnected to Loughner?

One good thing about this tragedy, true colors are showing.

reply to post by projectvxn


What is the false political narrative being spread by wikileaks?

My take on the article... a sheriff points out the potential dangers of violent rhetoric. In turn wikileaks points out the large amount of violent rhetoric being released toward their group. What am I missing?

reply to post by JohnnyTHSeed


You must have missed the title...It's all big n' stuff...

"WikiLeaks: treat incitement seriously or expect more Gabrielle Gifford killing sprees."

There is no equivalence to what these politicians have said about Wikileaks and Julian Assange and what happened to Congresswoman Gifford and 20 other people.

WikiLeaks staff and contributors have also been the target of unprecedented violent rhetoric by US prominent media personalities, including Sarah Palin, who urged the US administration to “Hunt down the WikiLeaks chief like the Taliban”. Prominent US politician Mike Huckabee called for the execution of WikiLeaks spokesman Julian Assange on his Fox News program last November, and Fox News commentator Bob Beckel, referring to Assange, publicly called for people to "illegally shoot the son of a bitch."

Indeed. I've heard these comments from them. And don't defend such things. I, for one, believe in the ideals of more freedom, not less, and calling for the murder of Julian Assange is absolutely wrong.

But to equate that situation with what is going on here in the States with regard to Loughner is a FALSE comparison. As of yet, NO POLITICAL MOTIVATION has been found in regard to Loughner's case and NO evidence has been found, anecdotal or otherwise, to suggest that rhetoric from either side of the American body politic had anything to do with this.

Edit to Add:
A Sherrif's function is NOT to inject his political misgivings in a situation where no facts were known to anyone, not even him. A Law Enforcement Officials FIRST priority is to calm the situation down, not rile it up with misguided political ranting on a situation not even he had a good grasp on.

That's the height of irresponsibility and the Sherrif should lose his job as a result.

reply to post by projectvxn


The political slant of the violent rhetoric is not what is being spoken out against. The violent & inflammatory nature of such rhetoric - regardless of any political content - is the subject of reproach.

reply to post by JohnnyTHSeed


By parroting a false comparison.

That's disinformation for ya...

I love these morons:
"let's kill Assange for treason" (but he's not a US citizen)
"let the CIA get him" (since he's not a US citizen he has NO rights)

There was NO treason, espionage, betrayal, top secret anything.

I never dreamed there would come a day when it would be commonplace for public officials and tv and radio personalities to call for the killing of individuals for ANY reason.

When is big bird and cookie monster going to join the war on terror?

And who is the sheriff taking his talking points from?
There was no violent rhetoric aimed at Mrs. Gifford.

Only the gun of a very disturbed young man.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Indeed.

The way the media and the body politic of this country have handled the Wikileaks debate is deplorable, childish, and dangerous.

And people wonder why some become paranoid. There has been NO objectivity in the media with regard to Wikileaks, Julian Assange(who has disappeared from the headlines), or the embassy cables that were leaked to them via PFC. Bradley Manning. And, again, instead of blaming the leaker, they blame the publisher.

There's one comparison we can make with the Loughner case, everyone blamed everything but him.

Look at any peacefull country in the world, and you will see that these types of political death threats do not happen.

The US needs to grow up. the rest of the world is sick and tired of having the US act like an adolesent. It is an embarrassment to the global community.

reply to post by shamus78


Really?

Death threats are common place to every country

Politicians do it, pundits do it, people in general do it. Death threats and political assassination have been prevalent on this planet since the first caveman leader was hit over the head by a subordinate seeking to usurp dominion over the cave.

Let's not pretend that one 1. it is a new phenomenon, and 2. that it is a strictly American phenomenon. America is very much a peaceful country. What is often overlooked is how much magnification is given to these incidents by a 24 hours "news" cycle.

One nutjob went crazy and killed 6 people in a country of 300+million people. Let's get some perspective here, this incident nor the rantings of politicos over the Wikileaks scandal is not representative of the overall American population or our way of life.

reply to post by projectvxn


project,

Where I grew up in New Zealand, we do not do death threats.

We do not do them in Australia either.

I personally have never heard of this happening amongst elected officials.

And your link mentioned France, USA and Mexico. There's a real world outside there, which does not devolve into these types of threats. Perhaps the peaceful ones are outnumbered by the violent ones. That is why I like the Pacific.

reply to post by shamus78


It's not about that.

As a matter of fact the point I was making is that most people don't engage in this sort of crap, so you and I agree there. but the fact remains that, given enough time, every country has, and/or will, see the uptick of political violence and rhetoric at some point in their history or future.

I only took exception to the allusion that the US is not a peaceful country.

reply to post by projectvxn


Oh? Cool, then I agree with you.

All it good. Catch you in chat sometime. I barely recognised you with your new avatar!

Cheers
Shane