Double life plus forty for creating a voluntaryist website. Sign the Free Ross clemency petition!
View this post on Hive: Double life plus forty for creating a voluntaryist website. Sign the Free Ross clemency petition!
In March 2020, many Steem users, including @dhimmel, migrated to the Hive blockchain in response to the hostile takeover of Steem. Please use the Hive link when sharing this post and comment on the Hive version to get in touch.
You may remember the name Ross Ulbricht. On October 1, 2013, he was arrested at the San Francisco Public Library and charged with running the Silk Road, an online free-marketplace that operated as a Tor Hidden service and used bitcoin for payment. He was convicted of money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics, receiving a double-life sentence without parole plus 40 years.
Here's a picture from a recent tweet by Ross Ulbricht captioned:
Non-violent drug offenders serving life without parole. There are many of us in here. We ask for mercy. http://freeross.org/life-sentences-for-non-violent-offenses/
Recently the Supreme Court declined to hear Ross's appeal, cementing his draconian sentence. From https://freeross.org, there were many questionable & concerning aspects to his trial:
- Fourth Amendment privacy violations, warrantless seizures of internet traffic
- Unprosecuted, unproven allegations of murder-for-hire used against Ross
- Two corrupt federal investigators (now in prison) and more hidden from the jury
- Investigation of alternate perpetrator derailed by “rogue” federal agents
- Defense cross-examination repeatedly blocked
- Defense witnesses prevented from testifying
- Proof of evidence tampering
- Proof of multiple people behind the DPR accounts
- Parallel construction and other lies used to hide NSA involvementand convict Ross
I've followed this case for a while, but was reinvigorated by @whatbitcoindid's recent interview with Ross's mother, Lyn Ulbricht. The interview aired on What Bitcoin Did Episode 27 (also on the Let's Talk Bitcoin Network).
Thanks @whatbitcoindid for this amazing podcast and raising awareness. Please start posting links to your podcasts on Steem, so we can support your work!
Sign! Help! Freedom!
Listening to the podcast was (m/s)addening. At this point, there is not much more than a glimmer of hope for Ross's emancipation. If you don't think it's just for him to be locked in a cage for the rest of his life, please sign his Clemency Petition. As I type, the petition has 48,458 signatures. To make a dent, we'll probably need at least 500,000 signatures, so please spread the word.
Bonus
Lyn has been an amazing & relentless advocate for her son. I have huge admiration for her commitment, and I know it must be hard as the legal proceedings have not gone their way. I had the opportunity to hear Lyn speak at the Crypto Shit Show II in Philadelphia (co-organized by Steemian @mikesalvi).
Her talk was through videochat. Attendees were gathered around, with Lyn's image projecting onto a brick wall:
Take what you will from this photo, but for me it symbolizes both the injustice inflicted upon the Ulbricht family as well as their strength in remaining positive and fighting on.
In related news, several members of the #steemphilly community wrote letters to Ross. Thanks @mikesalvi for chronicling this on Steem. Check out his post if you want the mailing address for Ross in prison.
Hello @Dhimmel you outstanding... I loved your blogs and I am also making blogs like you can you help me to grow my post. Thank you
nice blog @dhimmel think you deserve it i am supporting you on this and good luck buddy
this is not fair @dhimmel
I downvoted your post because it was not related to my post, and was vote seeking that did not contribute anything to the conversation. In other words, I don't want your spam in the comments when I paid good money to advertise this post and support the FreeRoss movement. Note that replying to the top-upvoted comment to give your spam additional visibility is especially flagrant.
ok its right but you can say it to me rather downvoting it it would be nicer than
Retweet even though i dont believe in the power of petitions. your democratic vote is gone after it hit the bottom of the ballot box.
I rather try to support his familiy and friends emotionally:
https://twitter.com/FreiesLeipzig/status/874274017917775872
https://twitter.com/FreiesLeipzig/status/945320751690928129
Love the pictures! Especially the first one "in front of Nikolai church where the freedom marches of Eastern Germany started in 1989".
I'm also not big into petitions, nor change.org which is pretty spammy IMO. However, I think the FreeRoss petition is perhaps an exception. As Lyn notes in the podcast, when the president commutes a sentence it's primarily a political act. Unlike the previous court preceding, which (should have been) independent from political influence, the possibility of clemency depends on influencing the right politician at the right time. Lyn seems to think (with some precedent) that have a popular petition could help grind the political gears.
✊
A double life sentence is extreme for non-violent offenders. The fact that two federal investigators on the case are now in jail themselves should be just cause to appeal this case.
You should also use the #informationwar tag. I know some friends interested in political matters, and they seem to use that tag often. Possibly reach out to more supporters.
That's right. I remember reading about this. His imprisonment did not sit well with me at all. The internet is a free place. How can one man be charged for the actions of others on the web? It doesn't make sense. The man did nothing wrong. All he did, from what the evidence had suggested, was creating a decentralize marketplace. That's it. What people trade,buy, and sell there is up to them.
Thanks for sharing this! I'm surprised Lyn hasn't made a Steemit account and have the funds go towards freeross.org.
Great idea. I'm happy to help organize this, even if the account were just to crosspost Tweets or something.
I wonder if @freeross would be willing to donate his handle. @freeross, I'd even be willing to compensate you for the trouble.
It might be worth an email to Lyn. If there was a note on the introduction post from Ross stating it was a legit account and the purpose behind it. It could end up being very beneficial for Ross. If not, it doesn't look like @freerossofficial is taken.. yet.
Thanks for raising awareness about Ross. His sentence is excessive and it's a shame that the system is trying to make an example out of him. I hope his struggle will make some headway and get the awareness that he deserves.
Some heroes don't have capes. And Ulbricht is one of them. A symbol of the free internet, and its unjust condemnation is a sign of the evil of governments.
absolutely right my friend! evil gov an da media an banks they all seek to control our lives
#endgov
It is amazing to see mother fighting for his son.
Appreciate it