Julian Assange dragged out of embassy and arrested

Julian Assange has been arrested by police in London after almost seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy. The WikiLeaks founder was dragged out of the embassy at approximately 10:35 am local time, 5:35 am ET.

Assange did not leave of his own free will and could be heard shouting “UK must resist, you can resist!” as he was physically moved out of the Ecuadorian embassy by several men. The arrest was livestreamed over YouTube on Russian news channel RT.

According to the WikiLeaks Twitter account, Assange was removed against his will. The organization said that an unnamed Ecuadorian ambassador “invited British police into the embassy” to arrest the bearded WikiLeaks founder. As you can see from the video, British police seemed to be smirking as he was loaded into a large police vehicle.

https://gizmodo.com/julian-assange-dragged-out-of-ecuadorian-embassy-and-ar-1833964012

World's smallest violin for @RickDeckard's butthurt.

Probably asked him to leave and he wouldn't so they decided to let the police come into the embassy and drag him out.

He looks like an end-of-the-world preacher.

He could have come out stroking his cat and won the moment.

Outrageous.

Moreno is a cowardly quisling.

US activities against freedom of the press - and their ability to arrest foreign journalists who expose their war crimes - are as Glenn Greenwald pointed out, chilling.

If @El Chup were still around I'd highlight to him how he ridiculed Assange's asylum claim back in 2010. This is the result.

Unfortunately I won't be online much over the next few days as I'm traveling but I'm sure I'll have plenty to say in due course.

Rick's going to London to bust him out!

BREAKING: They arrested the wrong man!

Cheerio! Couldn’t happen to a more grotty little arse tosser! Enjoy the clink crazy unkle Julian!

Looks to me like UK police arrested him, not US authorities.

Assange has been holed up there since 2012. How come liberal demigod Obama didn't take action to free him? After all, he greased the wheels for Bradley Manning's release.

Horosho.

Gesundheit.

Can't decide whether this clown looks more like Randy Quaid or the Mandarin from Iron Man 3 with that beard

Also, looks like @RickDeckard has gone on Twitter and gotten poetic about the whole thing:

He looks very bad.
How could you Equador ? (Because he exposed you),
How could you UK. ? Of course
You are America’s bitch and you need a diversion from your idiotic,
Brexit bullshit.

And the USA ?
This toxic coward of a President He needs to rally his base?
You are selfish and cruel.
You have taken the entire world backwards.
You are devils and liars and thieves.
And you will ROTT And WE WILL RISE


Just kidding, that was Pamela Anderson but it does kind of sound like a @RickDeckard post, doesn't it

Good. Let the little shitstain rot in prison for his crimes.

That explains the recent activity over Manning at the grand jury and putting Manning in jail for contempt of court.

It should be pointed out here that the charges relate to his failure to surrender to Swedish authorities regarding the rape charges, not his status as being wanted by the US.

It does make me wonder though why this happened now. What persuaded the Ecuadorians to change their stance?

I had read that they there was a set of rules for him in the embassy that he kept repeatedly breaking. Maybe it's related to that, unsure

That "repeatedly" is what makes me wonder. It could be he had tested the limits of their patience, but it could also be an external factor coming into play curtailing that patience, especially as the Swedish authorities have closed the case anyway.

The US probably started putting real pressure on Ecuador to hand him over to the UK so the US could request extradition from the UK.

Plus Assange was probably annoying and they had enough of him so they decided to just be done with it. No sense in pissing off the US when the guy is annoying you as well.

https://apnews.com/7e2e8f41ced246c6a584b92ec7416c9a

And the mouth breathers argue our involvement in international institutions never gets us anything.

Good point.

I think @Zombie hit on it. They never did really say what Chelsea manning was supposed to be testifying about because it was a secret FISA thing from what I remember. I bet it had something to do with assange and the US finally has put something into motion against him. From what I understand the bullshit rape charges were dropped. It would also make sense that the US having criminal charges against him would be able to make a better case for him to be brought here instead of set free.

I was wondering what the sudden problem was with manning being her thing was so long ago, but it seems they are trying to get assange on hacking charges related to that old case. That would make sense that they would need manning's testimony against him.

I wonder if Assange will be Brextradited with or without a deal in place. Might take years.

There’s stories out there that say he had some of the worst hygiene you can imagine and wouldn’t shower for days and that he smeared his own shit on the walls of the embassy

Amazing, what a hero

I don't see what hiding out in the Ecuadoran embassy got him, other than that he's spend 7 years locked up and still has to face the music for the charges against him.

He’s been in solitary for seven years. Pretty solid breakdown.

I'm sure he'll have a top-notch defense and will portray himself as a prisoner of war and a martyr for truth & justice. And there will be plenty of anti-American activists who will cheer him on.

Unless the statute of limitations is up.

I don't think the statute of limitations applies if (1) you've already been charged and (2) you're evading prosecution.