Douchebaggery overload…
Julian Assange has thanked Australia for its support of his — and WikiLeaks’s — cause but called on Americans to tone down political rhetoric, saying those who incite violence should be charged with incitement to murder. . . .
In the one page statement, Mr Assange also offered sympathy and condolences to the victims of the Tucson shooting on behalf of WikiLeaks, together with best wishes for the recovery of US Representative Gabrielle Giffords.
The Democrat from Arizona’s 8th district was the target of the shooting spree in which six others, including a nine-year-old girl, were killed.
He also quoted Tucson Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, who is leading the investigation into the shooting, who said that “vitriolic rhetoric” intended to “inflame the public on a daily basis . . . has [an] impact on people, especially who are unbalanced personalities to begin with”.
Mr Dupnik also observed that officials and media personalities engaging in violent rhetoric “have to consider that they have some responsibility when incidents like this occur and may occur in the future”.