[psunavy03]

No, he violated a trust given to him, he deserves to be in jail, and if he had an ounce of moral character he'd come back and face trial like a man.

Unlike the movies there aren't secret death squads out to get him, just a courtroom where he can face the consequences of his actions like an adult.

Instead, he's hiding out playing the victim in a country that's actively genociding Ukrainians to a degree beyond anything the Trump or Netanyahu administrations can be accused of.

Even if you believe the law is unjust, MLK Jr still had the balls to go to jail for what he believed.

[Larrikin]

Who actually cares if the government can't perform a show trial? He did his duty by getting the information out there

The current administration is actively engaged in corruption everyday. Snowden did the right thing and had the knowledge to know he would never get a fair trial. It's too bad he had to end up somewhere like Russia but the world is still better off with him there and alive than being assassinated like MLK Jr. If anything there should be a Gofundme to get him pardoned since all it takes is cash.

[SamDc73]

He violated the trust of whom? The government who was violating the trust of the American People?

And as for Russia, he didn’t flee there by choice; he got stranded because the U.S. government revoked his passport mid-transit, He was there for a transit and hit final destination was Ecuador ...

[alex1138]

What you said takes 5 minutes to research, too. But the party line by idiots and currently in-the-CIA people like approved mouthpiece Bustamante say "Well, he fled to Russia"

[lern_too_spel]

He fled to China by choice and gave them plenty of documents about Chinese targets, some of which are in the article we are discussing.

The government wasn't violating the trust of the American people. If you ask about the single illegal domestic data collection program in the leak (phone metadata collection) and how it was used (to find associates of surveilled foreign agents working against the national security of the U.S.), you will find that most people don't care.

[throawayonthe]

lololol sure

more seriously, the difference is he's not doing protest via civil disobedience like MLK Jr, he's a whistleblower

working for an organization like the NSA, the only moral thing you can do is realize your error and bail tf out

[alex1138]

You forget the security-state apparatus has secret courts and secret laws

It may not be a fair trial. He's always stated his willingness to undergo a fair one

[psunavy03]

That's not how any of that works. Criminal trials are public record and there are no such things as secret laws.

[timschmidt]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Foreign_Intellig...

[vunderba]

Why are you assuming he'd get a public trial at all? In the current state of unchecked authoritarianism, he'd just as soon be disappeared to a "Homan Square".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homan_Square_facility

[LargoLasskhyfv]

https://freedom.press/issues/fact-checking-hillary-clintons-... use reader view, https://archive.is/gamZ8 or whatever.

Also related because of Julian Assange: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/1842885/wikileaks-ci...

vs. (Yeah. Sure...): https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/hillary-clinton-julia...

[reorder9695]

Would you not also say that the US government violated a trust given to them at the time? The government has such an imbalance of power compared to one person that it's only fair to hold them to a higher and much more stringent standard. Except wait no, they're often held to a much lower standard compared to the average Joe.

[dmantis]

Why not putting NSA officers to the jail first? Can't they "face a fair trial like a men" for illegal spying program?

[raxxorraxor]

Quite rich. A moral character would have ignored the mass surveillance and escalated internally? This is plainly stupid and dangerously naive on many levels.

[asacrowflies]

He is a hero and a true patriot and an excellent litmus test to out people like you.

[protocolture]

>No, he violated a trust given to him

He had 2 conflicting trusts, one from the people and one from the government. He chose to honor the people over the government, which is why there's so many bots in this thread who seem very angry with him.

If you read his autobio he was raised with very conservative beliefs, the issue was unlike most conservatives he wasn't able to ignore those beliefs in the furtherance of the state.

>Instead, he's hiding out playing the victim in a country that's actively genociding Ukrainians to a degree beyond anything the Trump or Netanyahu administrations can be accused of.

He would come back if you guys let him. Its not like he has a long list of safe places to go.

>Even if you believe the law is unjust, MLK Jr still had the balls to go to jail for what he believed.

I vastly prefer my anti authoritarians out of jail living their best life with their ~300 kids somewhere in the south of australia.