Friend,

For years we have warned that the persecution and incarceration of Julian Assange established a dangerous precedent for the criminalization of journalism.

While Assange was finally freed this year, we see the rotten fruit of that campaign emerging in the recent, unjustifiable arrest of independent journalist Richard Medhurst.

Medhurst is a dual Syrian-British citizen and one of the foremost independent journalists covering the genocide in Gaza. He has been a powerful advocate for Palestine and a relentless truthteller. Last week he was arrested for his journalism under the UK’s Terrorism Act – an unbelievably dangerous law passed in the Tony Blair era of enlightened liberalism. Increasingly this law has been wielded to silence journalists and whistleblowers.

But we’ve seen this movie before, haven’t we?

Aside from Assange – who was targeted by four different American presidents – the arrest of Richard Medhurst bears all the hallmarks of Obama’s record-breaking persecution of whistleblowers and journalists using our country’s century old Espionage Act.

It’s also not the first time the UK targeted journalists under this draconian law – but Medhurst’s arrest is particularly egregious.

Just before he was taken into custody, Medhurst publicly criticized the Terrorism Act and its use in silencing dissent over Israel’s atrocities in Gaza. A few hours later he boarded a flight back home to the UK, and was arrested on arrival.

“They arrested me—not detained—they arrested me under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act of 2000 and accused me of allegedly 'expressing an opinion or belief that is supportive of a prescribed organization,' but wouldn't explain what this meant.”

Richard Medhurst

The same class of liberal elites who stood on the DNC stage last week in Chicago proclaiming themselves the “party of freedom” and welcoming an “era of joy” also aided and abetted Barack Obama’s war on journalists and whistleblowers.

In fact, in one of his last acts as president mere days before handing the reins of power over to Donald Trump, Barack Obama signed Executive Order 12333 speedrunning the distribution of mass surveillance data collected by the NSA to the FBI, DEA, and Homeland Security.

Facism is alive and well in America, and it has a welcome home in both major parties.

There is only one antidote with a path to the White House on the ballot this November, and it’s the growing people-powered anti-war, anti-genocide, pro-worker, pro-planet movement behind this campaign.

I am calling on Prime Minister Starmer to drop this egregious case against Richard Medhurst and join me in a pledge to end the war on journalists and whistleblowers perpetrated by both our countries.

With RFK Jr formally suspending his campaign last week, the field has narrowed and the choices are clear.

Millions of voters watched the spectacle in Chicago last week and remain unimpressed with the empty promises of a party that couldn’t find 2 minutes to welcome a Palestinian American into their “big tent.”

They listened as Kamala Harris pledged a militant crackdown on asylum seekers at the border and maintaining our military powers as “the most lethal fighting force in the world” – promising unlimited, unconditional weapons for a genocidal apartheid state.

These voters are looking for alternatives, and we need to reach them.

Time is shorter than you think. The first votes in this election are already happening as absentee ballots have been distributed for many states. Pennsylvania and other states begin early voting in just a few weeks, and soon the dye will be cast.

This is our moment. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to jump in and propel this campaign forward, we need you right now.

In solidarity and gratitude,

Jill