The NYPD Is Investigating This Giant Bust Of Edward Snowden Erected In A Brooklyn Park
The Huffington Post | By Christopher Mathias
Posted: 04/06/2015 1:56 pm EDT Updated: 4 hours ago
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2805772/images/n-SNOWDEN-STATUE-large570.jpg)
The New York City police department says its Intelligence Division is investigating a giant sculpture of National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden that was installed in a Brooklyn park early Monday morning.
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2805764/thumbs/o-SNOWDEN-STATUE-570.jpg?7)
A group of unidentified artists wearing yellow construction vests erected the 100-pound, bronze patina bust atop a stone column at the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park before dawn Monday. On the bottom of the column, capital letters spell out Snowden's name in a font similar to one often used on war memorials.
The artists, with the condition that they wouldn't be identified, allowed Animal New York to tag along and film the covert installation of what they call "Prison Ship Martyrs Monument 2.0."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7rAhEpft5g
"Fort Greene's Prison Ship Martyrs Monument is a memorial to American POWs who lost their lives during the Revolutionary War," the group told Animal in a statement. "We have updated this monument to highlight those who sacrifice their safety in the fight against modern-day tyrannies. It would be a dishonor to those memorialized here to not laud those who protect the ideals they fought for, as Edward Snowden has by bringing the NSA's 4th-Amendment-violating surveillance programs to light. All too often, figures who strive to uphold these ideals have been cast as criminals rather than in bronze."
(For more on the artists that erected the statue, head over to Animal New York.)
Mashable reports that as of 11:55 a.m. Monday morning, the "Snowden" part of the monument had been removed by the Parks Department, and a video posted to Vine at 12:12 p.m. shows unidentified officials placing a tarp over the sculpture.
tweet here with picA Parks department spokeswoman told The Huffington Post only that "the erection of any unapproved structure or artwork in a city park is illegal" and that the department is "looking into" removing the monument. An NYPD spokesperson told HuffPost that the department is aware of the situation and an investigation by the Intelligence Division is under way.
It's been nearly two years since Snowden, a contractor working in NSA facilities, leaked classified documents showing the United States' widespread government surveillance programs. He then fled to Russia, where he's been living in exile ever since.
On Sunday, HBO aired an interview with Snowden by comedian John Oliver. The pair talked about the NSA's ability to intercept "dick pics," and what it's like for Snowden to be unable to return to the United States, where he could be prosecuted for treason.
"I do miss my country," he told Oliver. "I do miss my home. I do miss my family."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/edward-snowden-statue-brooklyn-park-nypd_n_7011834.html
I wish this was true. :)
Quote from: Pimander on April 07, 2015, 01:43:50 PM
I wish this was true. :)
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSX7qOZFCzlgOAQktUQsZqQItDDZibTR_agkddmAC4uu1gcGS1A)
I guess the government is not pleased about you knowing they like to peek your "stuff" :D
QuoteEdward Snowden Explains How The Government Can Get Your 'Dick Pic' During Interview With John Oliver
Quote"The good news is that there's no program named the 'dick pic' program. The bad news... they are still collecting everybody's information, including your dick pics," Snowden said while stifling a chuckle.
"If you have your email somewhere like Gmail hosted on a server overseas or transferred overseas or anytime it crosses outside the borders of the United States, your junk ends up in the database," Snowden added.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/edward-snowden-john-oliver-dick-pic_n_7008330.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/edward-snowden-john-oliver-dick-pic_n_7008330.html)
Full interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEVlyP4_11M
QuoteThere are very few government checks on what America's sweeping surveillance programs are capable of doing. John Oliver sits down with Edward Snowden to discuss the NSA, the balance between privacy and security, and dick-pics.
Quote from: RUSSO on April 08, 2015, 04:30:56 AM
I guess the government is not pleased about you knowing they like to peek your "stuff" :D
The NSA have in fact been a problem for a very long time; at least 30-40 years now. It's just that prior to Edward Snowden coming along, it was only those of us who resemble Mel Gibson's character from the film
Conspiracy Theory who were actually aware of them.
Most of the NSA's early exploits were centered around wetwork with Manchurian candidates, as previously mentioned; making inconvenient people have unfortunate accidents is one of their specialties, although I believe that they generally operate domestically, whereas it is the CIA who do the same thing overseas. Before they went completely rogue, they possibly also did some work with the OpenBSD project, or so I read.
From my observation, either the FBI or the Secret Service are the highest level organisations which the American government uses, when they want to keep their persuit of someone at least marginally within the law. The intelligence community being involved is generally an indication that the gloves have been taken off, and there is not going to be even a pretense of due process.
The NSA have no genuine governmental or institutional oversight of any kind that I know of. They do completely what they like, and what they like generally translates as maintaining American hegemonic imperialism. From what little I've read about them, it tends to be difficult to tell where they end and the CIA begins, although most indications have pointed to the NSA being both more secretive, and considerably worse than the CIA in moral and spiritual terms, if that is even possible.
Suffice it to say that they are bona fide complete monsters (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CompleteMonster). When the Buddha cautioned protecting your mental health by maintaining a state of indifference towards the wicked, the NSA are the sort of people who he was talking about at the time. The only people they benefit, are those in government, or the members of the corporatocracy who profit from American neocolonialism. Everyone else is potentially in their crosshairs; and the claim that they remotely exist for the benefit of the American civilian public, would be absolutely hilarious if it did not cause such tragedy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/14/edward-snowden-bust-nypd_n_7065936.html?utm_hp_ref=arts
Artists Behind Edward Snowden Bust Ask NYPD To Give Them Back Their Art
AP | By JENNIFER PELTZ
Posted: 04/14/2015 5:49 pm EDT Updated: 3 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) — The mysterious artists who planted a bust of Edward Snowden on a Revolutionary War monument now want to free their sculpture from police custody and display it again, saying it was intended as a thought-provoking "gift to the city."
The artists are applying for permission to show parkgoers their likeness of the former National Security Agency secret-leaker, their lawyer, Ronald Kuby, told police in a letter Tuesday. In the meantime, a Manhattan gallery wants to show the sculpture next month.
"We feel the piece would offer a great deal of good" and reflect the city's history as a home for free thinkers if exhibited through a temporary art-in-parks program, the artists — who have kept their identity secret — said in a statement Tuesday.
Police said they're holding the sculpture while investigating its unauthorized, dark-of-night appearance April 6 in Fort Greene Park; it was removed within hours. Deputy Chief Kim Royster wouldn't comment on the status of the probe but noted that police may return confiscated property after investigations conclude.
The 4-foot-high, 100-pound, fiberglass-reinforced cement bust of Snowden, who is living in exile in Russia after divulging secret U.S. government collection of phone records, turned up on a monument that honors American captives who died on British prison ships during the Revolutionary War. The three artists say they considered the bust "a gift to the city" that could spur discussion about American ideals, values and heroes.
Parks officials and police didn't see it that way.
"The object was erected in the park without permission or authority," Royster said in an email.
The city Parks Department didn't respond to a request for comment on the artists' bid for permission to display the sculpture in future.
Parks activist Geoffrey Croft feels the bust deserves a place in the city's public space, regardless how viewers may feel about Snowden.
"New York City has a long, storied history of art and dissention," said Croft, who heads NYC Parks Advocates, a nonprofit group.
After all, the "Charging Bull" statue that has now become a symbol of Wall Street was an artist's surprise, deposited overnight outside the New York Stock Exchange in 1989. City officials ultimately accepted it and installed it nearby.
For now, downtown Manhattan gallery Postmasters hopes to show the Snowden bust next month.
"It's a very interesting effort and gesture," both in its subject and its unauthorized unveiling, said co-founder Magdalena Sawon.
She doesn't know who the artists are, she said.