About
Barrett Brown is a writer and founder of the intelligence contracting industry wiki Project PM.[1] Brown has often been treated as a spokesperson for the ad-hoc group of Internet known as Anonymous by several news media outlets.
Online History
In April of 2000, Brown began writing for America Online’s features department, where he remained employed for the next four years. In April of 2007, he began writing freelance for the satirical news publication The Onion. In August of 2009, he began contributing articles to the news site True/Slant and The Huffington Post. On March 25th, 2010, an article by Brown was published on The Huffington Post,[2] which reported that the United States government was planning to destroy the online leak publication site WikiLeaks. On March 4th, 2011, Brown was quoted in an article on The Tech Herald[4] about Anonymous defense of Bradley Manning, in which he was referred to as “a self-styled spokesperson for Anonymous.” On March 23rd, D Magazine[5] published an article titled “Barrett Brown is Anonymous,” which described Brown as a ex-heroin addict and former Internet troll who had become passionate about hacktivism.
Operation Cartel
On October 6th, 2011, YouTuber MrAnonymousguyfawkes uploaded a video to YouTube featuring a man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask ordering the Mexico-based International drug cartel The Zetas to release a member of Anonymous that had been taken captive. The man in the video threatened to expose the personally identifiable information of individuals linked to the cartel if their captive was not set free (shown below).
On November 3rd, Gawker[8] published an article by staff writer Adrian Chen, which referred to Brown as "Anonymous’ informal spokesman. The article went on to quote Brown who claimed hackers had compiled a list of 75 collaborators with the Zetas, which were planned for release as payback for the kidnapping of an Anonymous member in Veracruz. The following day, D Magazine[6] reported that Operation Cartel had been halted by Anonymous after the Zetas threatened to kill 10 people for each outed collaborator.
Arrest
On March 6th, 2012, Brown announced via Twitter that his apartment had been raided by the FBI following the LulzSec founder Xavier Monsegur (a.k.a. Sabu) was pressured into giving up information about Anonymous members.[9]
My apartment was raided this morning by the FBI. Feds also came to another residence where I actually was. Sabu is a traitor. #Anonymous
— Barrett Brown (@BarrettBrownLOL) March 6, 2012
On September 12th, Brown uploaded a video to YouTube in which he threatens to destroy FBI agent for harassing his mother (shown below, left). The same day, YouTuber raincoaster uploaded a video featuring a Tinychat video session in which Brown can be heard being arrested in the background (shown below, right). On September 13th, The Huffington Post[10] reported Brown was arrested for threatening an FBI agent.
On January 30th, 2013, the Dallas Observer[11] reported that Brown was being charged with concealing evidence, threatening an FBI agent and disseminating information, for which he could face up to 100 years in prison. On the following day, Vice[12] published an article about Brown’s indictments, noting that the concealing evidence charge was linked to Brown pasting a link to a document containing stolen credit card numbers into an IRC chat room.
Search Interest
External References
[1]Wayback Machine – Project PM
[2]The Huffington Post – CIA State Department Apparently Acting on Plan to Destroy Wikileaks
[3]Little Green Footballs – McCain accuses me of planning violent attacks
[4]The Tech Herald – Anonymous plans defense for Bradley Manning
[5]D Magazine – Barrett Brown is Anonymous
[6]D Magazine – Barrett Brown vs The Zetas
[7]Chron – Online hackers threaten to expose cartels secrets
[8]Gawker – Spokesman says anonymous will use
[9]Gizmodo – Anonymous Reacts to Sabus Betrayal of Lulzsec
[10]The Huffington Post – Barrett Brown Arrested
[11]Dallas Observer – Barrett Brown Found Competent to Stand Trial
[12]Vice – Why is Barrett Brown Facing 100 Years in Prison
[13]Encyclopedia Dramatica – Barrett Brown