War on Journalism: US seizes Scott Ritter's Passport

[Kryztian]

It seems that a major priority of the U.S. government is to imprison, prosecute, deny basic rights to, and even murder anyone engaged in relating the disturbing truths of what is really happening. Now they have attacked an American who has served with distinction in the Marine Corps and who has continued to patriotically serve the interest of his country with his intelligent and dissenting opinions.

US seizes Scott Ritter’s passport
The RT contributor was stopped from visiting Russia
https://www.rt.com/news/598711-us-se...ters-passport/

The US State Department has seized the passport of former Marine and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, he told RT on Monday.

Ritter was on his way to Russia for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) when he was pulled off the plane and had his documents confiscated.

“I was boarding the flight. Three [police] officers pulled me aside. They took my passport. When asked why, they said ‘orders of the State Department’. They had no further information for me,” Ritter told RT. “They pulled my bags off the plane, then escorted me out of the airport. They kept my passport.”

Ritter is a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer, who later served as the US and UN weapons inspector in Iraq. He is also a RT contributor, writing about international security, military affairs, Russia, and the Middle East, as well as arms control and nonproliferation.

He most recently visited Russia in January, spending time in Chechnya, Moscow and St. Petersburg, among other places.

The most recent post on Ritter’s Telegram channel put the Clooney Foundation for Justice on notice for its alleged crusade against “Russian propagandists.”

“Here I am. In your face. If telling the truth about Russia makes me a propagandist in your book, then I accept the title,” he wrote. “Bring it on. I’ll school you on the First Amendment.”

“You have zero concept of what free speech is. Try and arrest me and you’ll find out. In spades. It’s war,” he added.
https://www.rt.com/news/598711-us-se...ters-passport/

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/FiorellaIsabelM/status...47620036960445

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/mazzenilsson/status/1797755514631393376

[Bill Ryan]

Judge Napolitano, who was also due to fly to Saint Petersburg today to attend the International Economic Forum (SPIEF), reported at the start of his quickly-scheduled interview with Alastair Crooke that he had been obliged to cancel his trip due to matters beyond his control, very shortly before he was due to board his flight.

He explained nothing about what had happened, and seemed to be aware that it was wise for him to say very little about this. If he too had had his passport seized (or had been told that it would be seized if he tried to travel to Russia), this would explain the strange incident perfectly. It would also explain how come Judge Napolatino, knowing the law and legal process as he does so very expertly, would have chosen to say nothing about this at all on the day that it had happened, maybe anticipating legal actiom.

Here's the video, in which his statement of the cancellation of his trip is right at the very start. (The rest of the conversation with Alastair Crooke is the very highest quality, as it always is.)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=yL9Cap-l61Q

Unless someone like Judge Napolitano himself has been quickly urging Scott Ritter to also say little or nothing (or nothing more!), we might expect Scott to say a GREAT deal more about this in the coming days. It has all the hallmarks of quite an important incident.


Edit to add:

I've been reading the hundreds of comments on the RT article. Here are two of them:

• Rejoice the world, you're witnessing the greatest democratic events from the most democratic country in history, not only Ritter but Judge Napolitano as well.

• It seems that Judge Andrew Napolitano was also removed from the plane.

~~~

The more I think about this, the more shocked I am and the more serious an incident this seems to be.




Further edit to add:

Larry Johnson, who did fly to Saint Petersburg for the SPIEF and is already there, wrote this on his blog:

Judge Napolitano, despite reports to the contrary, was not removed from the flight. He had received news earlier in the day that required him to cancel the trip with Scott, but Scott’s plans were unaffected (until the Homeland Security dudes showed up). So, the Judge and his producer scrambled around and I did my normal 11am EST appearance.

[Satori]

Lawfare does not even come close to describing what we are witnessing. Lawlessness and utter disdain and hatred for humanity and, in turn, anyone who stands up against tyranny and speaks their mind, which speech and thought is deemed to be contrary to the tyrants’ narrative, is silenced by any means whatsoever.

We are in the endgame. There is no tie. There is no participation trophy. There is no appeal. Winner takes all.

[Bill Ryan]

Larry Johnson made a concise, clear, and firm 9-minute statement about this on his own YouTube channel an hour ago. He states that what was done was slam-dunk illegal, and he explains why.

Why was Scott Ritter's passport seized?

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=gzMJVj60Hqc

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
“Is this done under the First Amendment to the US Constitution or the Fourth?” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova asked sarcastically, commenting on ex-US intelligence officer Scott Ritter's removal from his flight to Russia and the confiscation of his passport.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees, among other things, non-interference with the freedoms of speech and assembly, while the Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and detentions.

Earlier today, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and Sputnik contributor Scott Ritter told Sputnik that US Customs and Border Protection officers seized his passport “by orders” from the State Department as he boarded his flight, preventing him from traveling to Russia for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.


https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1797739259807342874

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/RT_com/status/1797717516547944733

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
❗️US State Department forced Scott Ritter off plane headed to Russia and confiscated his passport

“As I was boarding my flight out of New York I was pulled aside by three CBP officers, who seized my passport. When asked why, they said orders of the State Department. No further information was provided. My bags were removed from the flight, and I was escorted out of the airport,” the former US Marine intelligence officer told Sputnik.

Ritter was slated to participate in the annual St.Petersburg International Economic Forum as a guest speaker.


https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1797735051968544847

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
Ex Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter was forced off plane headed to Russia.

What is known so far:
- Ritter said that Customs and Border Patrol officers seized his passport by “orders of the State Department”
- The analyst was scheduled to address the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) as guest speakers
- This year the forum will take place from June 5-8

“Little Blinkie's utter mediocrity/imbecilic pettiness now in day-glo for the whole planet to see: preventing Scott and Judge Nap from boarding a plane in NYC to attend the St. Petersburg forum,” veteran geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar wrote on his Telegram channel.

According to Scott Ritter, former judge Andrew Napolitano canceled his flight to Russia for different reasons unrelated to Ritter's removal from the plane.

"He was unable to travel for completely different reasons that have nothing to do whatsoever... He had to cancel for other reasons, not because of this," Ritter clarified.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1797729936423149959

[Bill Ryan]

Live now, Scott Ritter with Judge Napolitano:

Scott Ritter : On My Way to Russia I Met Big Brother.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=lOsW84wYdzg

[BMJ]

What's next for the Judge & Scott possibly bogus charges that would tie them up in court for years, financially ruin them and place a huge amount of stress on their professional & personal lives all in an attempt to muzzle their outspoken opinions against the cabal, you can see the direction this is taking.

[ExomatrixTV]

• US Seizes Scott Ritter’s Passport To Prevent Travel To Russia:

Scott Ritter's passport was confiscated at the airport as he was traveling to Russia. Biden present ceasefire agreement to both Israel and Hamas but neither side is accepting yet.

Source: https://www.rumble.com/video/v4x28ru/?pub=ir01b

[ExomatrixTV]

• RT contributor Scott Ritter pulled off plane to Russia by US State Department:

The US State Department has seized the passport of former Marine and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, as he was on his way to Russia for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Ritter was pulled off the plane and had his documents confiscated. We discuss this with Michael Rectenwald, former NYU Professor and author of Google Archipelago.

• rumble.com/c/RTNews

[Michel Leclerc]

Mexico. Venezuela. Russia.

[ExomatrixTV]

SCOTT RITTER: "The United States is at war with Russia. It's time to be honest about this. The United States is at war with Russia! Now, what is Russia going to do about that? And that's the question that should scare every single person on this planet, Russian, American, and European alike."

• source

[Vicus]

Kremlin calls US ‘an enemy’ for first time 5 Jun, 2024

Dmitry Peskov previously referred to Washington and its allies as “unfriendly states” or “opponents”


Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred to the United States as an “enemy” while speaking to reporters on Tuesday, in an apparent hardening of rhetoric between the two countries.

It remains unclear if the use of the word signals an official policy change, as the spokesman had previously argued that only President Vladimir Putin can make such decisions.

Washington’s refusal to allow former US marine, UN weapons inspector and RT contributor Scott Ritter to travel to St. Petersburg was “the latest manifestation of the rabid campaign to prevent US citizens from interacting with the Russian Federation” – which would only be “understandable” if it was somehow related to his former intelligence status, Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.

“We are now an enemy country for them – much like they are for us,” Peskov said, while acknowledging that restrictions applying to former intelligence officers, especially on travel "to a hostile country,” are common across the world.

The Kremlin previously called the United States and other Western countries that have supported and armed Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow as “unfriendly states” or “opponents.”

The shift in language follows Washington’s decision to let Kiev use American-supplied weapons against targets inside Russia, beyond what the US considers Ukrainian territory.

In March, Peskov noted that Moscow objects to US officials who insult President Putin, but that in general there is “no anti-American sentiment” in Russia. He expressed hope that “sooner or later the realization that the peoples of America and Russia are not enemies will eventually come.”

Putin said in January that the elites of Western countries were the true enemy of Russia, while Ukraine is a mere tool in their hands.

“The point is not that they are helping our enemy, but that they are our enemy,” the Russian president said, arguing that the conflict between Moscow and Kiev was orchestrated by Western elites who seek to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia.

Last month, Putin reiterated that “the entire Western community is working for our enemy, dreaming about Russia ceasing to exist in its current form,” but stopped short of branding any particular Western state an ‘enemy’.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, and several other hawkish officials, have repeatedly branded Moscow’s adversaries as “enemies” over the past two years – but Peskov previously said that only President Putin can “formulate and state Russia’s official foreign policy position.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/598772-pes...-russia-enemy/

Vicus comment:

I suggest that readers from this article and whatever other subject, read please the comments from people
all around the world make about them...not as echo chamber but as global different views,to help you to calibrate your own echo chamber...

[Kryztian]

It pains me to write this post, but I think it is important that Avalonians know about this so that they can put it in perspective when they hear it next:

Scott Ritter was convicted of a sex crime with a minor in 2011 and spent just over two years in prison for it. And there was also an incident in 2001. (Please read to the end of the post, it is not as bad as it sounds at first.)

From the Times Union of Albany, New York, Dec 4, 2014
https://www.timesunion.com/local/art...se-5936227.php

... as the U.S. was preparing to invade [Iraq] in 2003, Ritter gained prominence for his contention that the country had no real weapons of mass destruction.

Later the same year, Ritter made headlines when news surfaced that he had been caught in a police sting in 2001.

Police said that he had tried to lure a 16-year-old girl — actually a Colonie undercover officer posing online — to a Burger King in Menands. That case was later adjourned in contemplation of dismissal — essentially dropped — and the record was sealed. At the time, Ritter suggested that the case was a smear campaign designed to silence him.

Note that this story did not make the news in 2001. It became a story in 2003, when he had attempted to tell the truth to the world that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.

But what got him in prison was this:

He was convicted in 2011 in Monroe County, Pa., after Barrett Township police presented evidence that in 2009 he had masturbated in front of a webcam being viewed by an undercover officer who was posing as a 15-year-old girl.

This all happened via a Yahoo site, where the minimum age to be a member was 18 years of age.

Just a few things to bear in mind here:

• If Scott Ritter actually did anything inappropriate with anyone under 18 years of age, it is not known. In both cases, the "victims" were undercover police doing sting operations which sound a lot like entrapment.
  
  
• News "stories" like this, which happen frequently, and where no one was actually hurt, usually warrant no more than a paragraph or two in a few local papers. But this story was widely covered, and even made the New York Times. The Times usually keeps most of it's stories behind paywalls, but they continue to make this one free for public consumption.
  
  
• While the New York Times has gone out of it's way to tell us about the sexual "crimes" of a peace activist, it has been either been silent or barely touched on Joe Biden's alleged rape of Tara Reade, his daughter Ashley's diary, and his "creepy" public behavior with teen aged girls where he strokes their hair and tells them they aren't allowed to date boys until they are 18. Nor does the NY Times tell you about the alleged rape of Juanita Broadderick by Bill Clinton or about Clinton's trip to Jeffrey Epstein's island of sex trafficked children. It seems pretty clear that if you are promoting peace in the world, the NY Times is going to exploit whatever crimes you have but it you are a war monger, it is going to whitewash them.
  

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Kryztian (here)
It pains me to write this post, but I think it is important that Avalonians know about this so that they can put it in perspective when they hear it next:

It was all a big set up. He's made a full video all about it, which I believe I posted somewhere on the very long WW3/Ukraine thread. I'll try to dig it up and post it here.

Edit to add:

Scott tells the whole story here starting at 11:25.

https://rumble.com/v372y6p-exclusive-scott-ritter-forcefully-rebuts-pedophilia-lies-part-1.html

Scott Ritter Forcefully Rebuts "Pedophilia" LIES (Part 1)

Source: https://www.rumble.com/video/v34hjjf

[Satori]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Live now, Scott Ritter with Judge Napolitano:

Scott Ritter : On My Way to Russia I Met Big Brother.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=lOsW84wYdzg

Bump, bump, bump. This is a true must interview. Spread the word now as if your life depended on it. Because it does.