Dallas journalist Barrett Brown convicted in the UK on charges related to the “KILL COPS” banner

On Friday, almost six months after his arrest by British police, Dallas-born journalist Barrett Brown was convicted of “causing alarm and distress.”

“The illegal pirate kingdom of Great Britain has deemed it appropriate to find me guilty of causing ‘alarm and distress’ to its emotionally fragile police force,” Brown said of the observer. “Rather than adding to the already extensive list of documented irregularities that have accompanied this case from the start, I just want to point out that the English are a disgusting and annoying people that we should have dealt with after we were through with Germany.”

Brown is an award-winning journalist and media critic associated with the Anonymous hacktivist movement. In 2012, he was charged with hacking the Stratfor intelligence company; That year the FBI also ransacked his home and his mother’s. Brown was eventually sentenced to 63 months in federal prison.

Earlier this year Brown was targeted by British authorities after he was shown holding a banner at a London protest. The two-part sign originally said “COPS KILL”, but the words were later changed to “KILL COPS”.

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Right-wing journalist Andy Ngo tweeted a photo of Brown with the banner, and the Metropolitan Police Federation also shared a tweet with the picture.

The exposed man in the middle holding the “Kill Cops” banner at the far left London protest is #antifa-Associated Barrett Brown. He’s incited violence before and also tweeted about building an Ashli ​​Babbitt statue that could be used for target practice. https://t.co/qDNMczFsrX pic.twitter.com/YWIczSBrBX

– Andy Ngô ️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) April 4, 2021

In May, Brown was arrested on a canal boat and charged with public order offenses and incitement. After Brown bailed him out, he was caught by immigration officials for also exceeding his visa.

UK law enforcement officials argued that the “KILL COPS” banner that Brown held would virtually traumatize any officer who came across or knew about it, Brown told the observer this summer.

In the week leading up to his November 5 trial, Brown tweeted that the most serious charges against him were dropped. If convicted of “excitement or alarm allegations,” he would face a fine, he wrote.

On Thursday, Brown tweeted the time and place of his trial.

“Long live George Washington,” he added.

Long live George Washington

– Barrett Brown (@BarrettB) November 4, 2021

Brown wrote on Friday that the courts had convicted him, with Ngo as a prosecution witness, of “causing ‘alarm and distress’ to the British police”. When a Twitter user asked what the fine was, he replied, “They want me to pay taxes on every tea that comes to Boston. J / k is £ 1,200 “(about $ 1,600).

The British courts in connection with the prosecution witness @MrAndyNgo, found me guilty of raising “alarm and distress” to the UK police for helping clear someone’s banner at the #KillTheBill Protest.

My answer is imminent.

– Barrett Brown (@BarrettB) November 5, 2021

About 30 minutes after he announced the conviction, Brown posted again.

“Napoleon 4ever”, he wrote.