Peter Ludlow: Why Is Barrett Brown Facing 105 Years in Federal Prison?

Peter Ludlow: Why Is Barrett Brown Facing 105 Years in Federal Prison?

Peter Ludlow: Why Is Barrett Brown Facing 105 Years in Federal Prison?

The reporter has already spent 300 days behind bars. His crime? Daring to investigate the highly secretive world of private intelligence and military contractors.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

Barrett Brown has spent 300 days in prison. His crime? Daring to investigate the highly secretive world of private intelligence and military contractors. Brown, a journalist with loose ties to the hacktivist group Anonymous, faces seventeen charges after helping to disseminate and document the information retrieved from the group's hack of the firm HBGary. 

Nation contributor Peter Ludlow joins Democracy Now! to untangle the web of private intelligence firms that were implicated in the hack and why they are so intent on criminalizing Brown’s reporting.

—Jake Scobey-Thal  

Read Peter Ludlow's piece, "The Strange Case of Barrett Brown" here

Time is running out to have your gift matched 

In this time of unrelenting, often unprecedented cruelty and lawlessness, I’m grateful for Nation readers like you. 

So many of you have taken to the streets, organized in your neighborhood and with your union, and showed up at the ballot box to vote for progressive candidates. You’re proving that it is possible—to paraphrase the legendary Patti Smith—to redeem the work of the fools running our government.

And as we head into 2026, I promise that The Nation will fight like never before for justice, humanity, and dignity in these United States. 

At a time when most news organizations are either cutting budgets or cozying up to Trump by bringing in right-wing propagandists, The Nation’s writers, editors, copy editors, fact-checkers, and illustrators confront head-on the administration’s deadly abuses of power, blatant corruption, and deconstruction of both government and civil society. 

We couldn’t do this crucial work without you.

Through the end of the year, a generous donor is matching all donations to The Nation’s independent journalism up to $75,000. But the end of the year is now only days away. 

Time is running out to have your gift doubled. Don’t wait—donate now to ensure that our newsroom has the full $150,000 to start the new year. 

Another world really is possible. Together, we can and will win it!

Love and Solidarity,

John Nichols 

Executive Editor, The Nation

Ad Policy
x