Conservative Bloggers Face SWAT-ing Attacks
Top conservative blogger Ali Akbar and the organization National Bloggers Club are facing threats and intimidation tactics by those who oppose their viewpoint.
But Akbar and the National Bloggers Club got some much-needed good news: American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) will defend their free speech rights.
“Free speech is under attack,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ. “Conservative writers are now facing threats against themselves, their families and their livelihood merely because they’ve aggressively investigated the history and funding of radical liberals. The ACLJ has a long history of successfully defending free speech, and we look forward to defeating this latest attempt to threaten and intimidate conservatives into silence.”
The tactics used against the bloggers is an illegal and dangerous strategy known as SWAT-ing, which includes making false 911 calls to send police to the homes of bloggers, claiming a crime has occurred.
Personal attacks leveled at Akbar have included the online posting of photographs of his mother’s home and threats of lawsuits for publishing factual information about radical liberals and their wealthy donors. Akbar is president of the National Bloggers Club, which is a coalition of conservative bloggers who reach hundreds of thousands of readers.
“I’m grateful for the support of the ACLJ and I’m confident we’ll defeat any and all legal challenges to our fundamental right to free speech,” said Akbar. “We will not be deterred in our quest for the truth.”
The ACLJ’s representation of Akbar comes as Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) is calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the SWAT-ing cases to see if federal laws have been violated. In a letter to Holder, Chambliss wrote: “Any potentially criminal action that incites fear, seeks to silence a dissenting opinion and collaterally wastes the resources of law enforcement should be given close scrutiny at all levels. Regardless of any potential political differences that may exist, threats and intimidation have no place in our national political discourse.”
The ACLJ has promised to aggressively defend the constitutionally protected free speech rights of Akbar and his organization.
