The whistleblower website WikiLeaks posted a tweet on Monday stating that a “cat burglar” had tried to gain access to Ecuador’s embassy in London where Julian Assange is holed up.
16 mins ago at 2:47am a “cat burgler” scaled the side wall+window of the Ecuadorian embassy in London; fled after being caught by security.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 22, 2016
“Security was scrambled at the London building sparking international concern Assange was the target of the intruder,” Express reported.
WikiLeaks did not suggest the intrusion was an attempt to kill Assange, who is wanted by Sweden in connection with “sex crimes” and widely condemned by the political class in America for the release of US diplomatic cables, DNC emails and other data.
Assange has received death threats in the past.
Hillary Clinton strategist Bob Beckel said Assange is a traitor and somebody should “illegally shoot the son of a bitch.”
Fox News commentator and leading neocon Bill Kristol called for the wholesale destruction of WikiLeaks and the neutralization of Assange. “Why can’t we use our various assets to harass, snatch or neutralize Julian Assange and his collaborators, wherever they are? Why can’t we disrupt and destroy WikiLeaks in both cyberspace and physical space, to the extent possible? Why can’t we warn others of repercussions from assisting this criminal enterprise hostile to the United States?” he said in December 2010.
Sarah Palin didn’t suggest Assange should be assassinated but said he should be “pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders,” many of whom are assassinated by CIA drones.
The Washington Times declared Assange to be a “puerile, self-absorbed narcissist” who is no different than terrorists who are routinely targeted for elimination.
Thomas Drake, an expert on electronic eavesdropping, told RT in 2012 that the United States is “extremely angry” over the leaks and there are “those at high levels in this country” who “have called for a death warrant” against the Australian.
“Believe me, if the US get its hands on him – they’re going to do everything they can to put him away for as long as they can – or worse,” Drake warned.
Despite the threats against Assange and the publicly expressed animosity of politicians and news commentators, it is unlikely the United States or its intelligence agencies are actively seeking to assassinate a man attempting to gain asylum and hiding out in a foreign embassy.
If the CIA wanted Assange dead, they would have assassinated him prior to seeking refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
It is more likely that the United States will play a waiting game.
Earlier this month, José Ayala Lasso — an influential Ecuadorian foreign minister and the first UN Human Rights Commissioner — urged the country to end its asylum of the WikiLeaks co-founder.
Following the DNC leak, Lasso wrote in the newspaper El Comerico that allowing Assange to “influence political activities” with the release of over 20,000 emails has adversely affected the country’s image.
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