The Berkshires Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) chapter protests, in the strongest terms, the indictment of Julian Assange by the U.S. Justice Department under President Trump.
This indictment poses grave threats to freedom of the press, not only in the U.S. but around the world. The charging document would potentially criminalize numerous activities at the core of investigative journalism.
Assange and WikiLeaks, in 2010, published hundreds of thousands of documents and diplomatic cables revealing numerous war crimes and other acts of corruption by the United States. The indictment is intended to ensure that the truth about crimes of US imperialist militarism remain hidden from the public by criminalizing any reporting using source material that is not approved by the government.
The publication by WikiLeaks of U.S. military and diplomatic cables in 2010 was just as much an act of journalism as the publication by the Washington Post of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. The Berkshire DSA believes that Freedom of the press is at stake.