American journalist Barrett Brown, who is serving over five years in prison for his links to the hacktivist collective Anonymous, had his email suspended for a year after he contacted a journalist about potential wrongdoing by the Bureau of Prisons.
Brown found out about the restriction an hour after contacting the journalist and was told his access was restricted for a full year until April 2016, without explanation. Brown had also been in contact with Glenn Greenwald from The Intercept about the possibility of writing for the publication before his email account was restricted. Brown is investigating filing a grievance.
While speaking to a supervisor on April 3, Brown was told he lost his e-mail privileges because he was “using it for the wrong thing”.
Barrett Brown was arrested in September of 2012, on charges of aggravated identity theft and trafficking in stolen data related to involvement with the so-called “hactivist” group Anonymous.
Barrett Brown has never actually been accused of taking part in any kind of theft. Instead, he posted a web link… inside a internet chat room. The link led to a cache of hacked information, including credit card numbers. And that led to the charges, unfairly in the eyes of his supporters. After some protracted proceedings,
Barrett Brown actually pleaded guilty last month to some lesser charges — aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice, along with a charge related to threats he made against an FBI agent in a YouTube video he posted online. He was sentenced to 63 months in prison, just over 5 years which he is now serving in at the Fort Worth Federal Correctional Institute in Fort Worth, Texas and that is where we reached him.
