Many journalists covered the huge funeral this month of Iran leader Ali Khamenei who was killed in the initial United States and Israel joint attack on Iran that started the ongoing Iran War. Among the reporters from America, Max Blumenthal of The Grayzone was singled out by the US government for harassment and the seizure of his phones upon his return to his home country.
Why? The apparent reason is that Blumenthal’s coverage related to Iran and the war has strayed too far from the US government’s preferred narratives. Blumenthal has also been critical of several of the US government’s other foreign interventions. In short, Blumenthal has refused to become a propagandist for US intervention and military aggression against Iran.
Read here a Monday report from The Grayzone about the nasty “welcome home” the US government’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) gave Blumenthal after his international flight arrived at Dulles Airport in Virginia following his trip to Iran.
This sort of singling out of journalists who seek to present information outside the parameters preferred by US government higher-ups flies in the face of the freedom the First Amendment is supposed to protect.
The action taken against Blumenthal brings to mind the June of 2024 prevention of independent political commentator Scott Ritter from travelling to Russia via the CBP’s confiscation of Ritter’s passport at the airport before he could take his outbound flight, followed up a couple months later by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation searching Ritter’s home and seizing more than two dozen boxes of items from Ritter’s home. Talking with reporters outside his home shortly after the search and seizure occurred, Ritter stated:
There’s no doubt that I’m being targeted because of statements I’ve made about U.S. policy in Ukraine. I’m being targeted because I have made an effort to try and improve relations between the United States and Russia to bring about arms control to bring about peace.
Ritter has continued with his public, independent analysis of US foreign policy, and so likely too will Blumenthal, despite the adverse efforts of the US government. Yet, in America, individuals should not have to suffer government persecution for exercising their right to communicate. Plus, actions like those taken against Blumenthal and Ritter threaten to prevent or temper the independent communication that other individuals may otherwise have pursued. Ritter expressed this concern to reporters outside his home after it was searched, stating:
This has a chilling effect on free speech, the idea that you have a free speech right in America but when you execute in a manner that the U.S. takes exception to and they launch a search warrant, that’s an intimidation factor.
In America, the people are supposed to be able to criticize government actions freely and to report speculation and facts about which the government and certain special interests would rather people not be aware. This is a fundamental freedom protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. It also serves as an important check to help ensure that government power can be limited and directed in response to exposure and critical commentary regarding its exercise.
Blumenthal and Ritter have been heroes of free speech, providing Americans and people across the world with information that powerful interests would rather see suppressed. It is a terrible violation that the US government is attacking them for taking this action and, in so doing, discouraging other Americans from similarly exercising First Amendment rights.
