Ruppert's article is so vicious in its scope that it makes us out to be literal demons for simply questioning the circumstances surrounding Gary Webb's death.We will continue to exercise our first amendment right to ask questions in pursuit of one thing, the truth. Just as we did in the deaths of Princess Diana and Dr. David Kelly.
Alex Jones' Rebuttal To Allegations Made By Michael Ruppert Concerning Gary Webb's Death
Prison Planet | December 21 2004
An article written by Michael Ruppert concerning the funeral of Gary Webb contained a number of allegations directed towards Alex Jones. Here is our response to those allegations.
HISTORY
1) Firstly it is important to note our past experience with Mike Ruppert. In March 2003 Mike Ruppert stated that he had "indirectly confronted" Alex Jones over "outright fabrications regarding Patriot Act II." Alex Jones has never heard from Mike Ruppert on this issue nor has he been contacted by anyone else who heard or saw Ruppert in speech or print "indirectly confront" Alex over his analysis of Patriot Act II. The analysis of the Patriot Act II (available at
http://www.infowars.com/print_patriotact2_analysis.htm) has been seconded by
hundreds of newspapers and government watchdog groups. It won second place at the Project Censored Awards for 2004 out of 25 places.
Ruppert also made the implication that Alex was a racist by taking Alex's comments out of context. Ruppert highlighted a discussion during an interview with lawyer Stanley Hilton. Alex was attacking racist white America rather than promoting it. As the following quote proves,
Caller: "They're going after the Arabs now, but next, next it's going to be, guess what? The white people."
Stanley Hilton: "Yeah well the Arabs are not really Muslim fanatics as is presented, as I said earlier from the eyewitnesses, these people are more interested in Playboy than the Koran."
Alex Jones: "Well let me just say this, I don't come up with this comment out of nowhere. I look at the FBI training manuals, I have them on tape, I have them on video. When I say 'white people' I want racist white America that goes 'oh yeah, Bush, kill them Arabs, kill them.'...you know, it's acceptable to have radio promos where it goes 'look at them camels run, look at them ragheads' - that's on national radio - that type of racism is acceptable and I think it's disgusting."
Listen to the interview for yourself here.
Ruppert also labelled Stanley Hilton to be anti-Semitic despite the fact that Hilton had previously defended a Jewish San Quentin prison guard
who filed an anti-Semitism suit against his prison.
The full details of this are posted here.
2) Ruppert states,
"Many credible activists and journalists - including this writer - have been previously burned by Jones' hyperbole, salacious sensationalism and eagerness to play loose with and even fabricate facts in the past. But this travesty is beyond the pale; beyond redemption."
Mike Ruppert was a regular guest on Alex Jones' show until he vehemently attacked Alex and implied he was a racist as is detailed above. Alex, known for refusing to in-fight, tried to act like a gentlemen in that, while being baffled at the fact that Ruppert had suddenly turned on him, he quietly stopped contacting Ruppert and didn't have him on as a guest again. How and when Alex 'burned' Ruppert is incomprehensible to Alex. The only attacks have been coming from Ruppert's direction. Alex doesn't even think about Ruppert and barely even checks his website once a month.
Before Ruppert's first attack Alex respected Mike to the point that Mike told Alex not to interview Delmart Vreeland because he was a likely disinfo agent. Alex took Mike's advice but was subsequently baffled to see Mike run a six month investigation of Vreeland where he advocated his evidence as factual.
GARY WEBB
3) Ruppert states,
"Jones has a large syndicated and internet radio show for which he claims a listening audience of "millions". Strange that he could not reach out into his vast empire to have someone in the Sacramento area check just a few facts before he published and sent his garbage out straight to Webb's family."
Firstly, at no point did Alex Jones or any of his staff send any material, be it printed or otherwise, to any family member of Gary Webb. This is an outright falsehood. In actual fact Ruppert admits to handing material to Webb's family himself! This reminds us of an old Marxist intimidation tactic, accuse others of what you do.
If Ruppert cares so much about hurting the family's feelings, and believes that this information would do so, why is he personally handing it to them and then wrongly accusing us of doing the same? He states this in the same article; does he think we wouldn't notice it?
Alex is known for not attacking other people. Unlike Ruppert, he has no history of doing so. And yet the sheer venom of Ruppert's article implies that we're psychologically stomping on widows and grieving family members.
Secondly, as soon as Alex Jones learned of Gary Webb's death the first people he contacted were his sources who knew Gary Webb, Cele Castillo, Ricky Ross and Chico Brown. Alex took the obvious first step of contacting those who may have known whether Webb was likely to have committed suicide.
Ruppert implies that Alex sits in an armchair all day making up stories. Alex is known nationally for his bold physical activism. Alex has infiltrated Bohemian Grove, been arrested on the order of George W. Bush, attended Urban Warfare drills, helped build a memorial church for those that died at Waco, and helped build a veteran a new home in Texas. Alex has appeared on 20/20, Good Morning America, Court TV, 60 Minutes, Vanity Fair, Jay Leno, UK Channel 4, BBC, Sky One, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, New York Times, Washington Post etc etc. We only list these names because Ruppert likes to brag how big he is and marginalizes us as internet trailer trash. Talk about stereotypes, is everyone from Texas trailer trash?
Alex Jones was the first to talk about government involvement in the 9/11 attacks. He broke the news two months before the attack even happened. He is recognized by many to be the grandfather of the 9/11 research movement which makes him a routine target of the establishment.
4) Ruppert lambasts the questioning the notion that Gary Webb shot himself in the head twice. Whether or not you believe it is plausible that a man can shoot himself in the head twice the fact is that Gary Webb's work had made him a target of many vengeful individuals in high places. Therefore it is prudent to simply ask the question and not just blindly accept the official version of events. Who wouldn't ask questions? If Alex Jones or the majority of people who are in this dangerous field were killed in similar circumstances we would expect the same questions to be asked. Police routinely conduct homicide investigations if only to rule out foul play. We do not feel that it is an insult to Gary Webb's family members to raise questions as to the true cause of his death. In one of our articles we highlighted a case in 2001 where the verdict was changed from suicide to murder after detectives and coroners concluded that a woman had been shot in the head twice.
5) Original reports suggested Gary Webb had used a shotgun to kill himself. Ruppert says that the clarification that a handgun was used came partly as a result of "the hysterical rumor mongering and unbridled publishing coming from the activist-progressive community. " And yet in the same paragraph Ruppert himself admits that he had suspected a shotgun was used. Our original contention that a shotgun was used came from Ruppert via Cele Castillo! So Ruppert was our source for the shotgun story! And for that we apologize!
6) In his article Ruppert states that this website had carried a headline which read "CORONER's INITIAL FINDING: GARY WEBB's DEATH CONFIRMED AS SUICIDE / NEW EVIDENCE BEGINS TO INDICATE GARY WEBB WAS MURDERED MOST LIKELY CIA OPERATIVES HE WAS GETTING READY TO EXPOSE AGAIN / WEBB SPOKE OF DEATH THREATS AND SEEING 'GOVERNMENT PEOPLE' LURKING AROUND HIS HOME / WAS HE ANOTHER DANNY CASOLERO?! - by Alex Jones & Paul Joseph Watson."
In no instance did we use this as a complete headline. In no instance did we use the lines "MOST LIKELY CIA OPERATIVES HE WAS GETTING READY TO EXPOSE AGAIN" or "WAS HE ANOTHER DANNY CASOLERO?!"
Ruppert's next attack is to claim our ignorance by the fact that we can't even spell Danny Casolaro.
The only articles which appeared on our website which mentioned Danny Casolaro were from other websites, and the links are clearly there to indicate this, check through our archived headlines to verify this or Google cache. In the page snapshot Ruppert links to, no mention is made of Danny Casolaro.
We carry articles every day from newspapers around the world. In every case, the source is clearly stated; we do not claim to have written every article we post on the website.
Again, this is a result of total fabrication or error on Ruppert's part. Again and again in the article Ruppert lauds himself as the paragon of research and journalistic integrity and yet he has made reference to something which wasn't even written by us.
He combines four different headlines from four different stories, and puts our name on the bottom of it. He has to know what he's doing or it's the creme de la creme of sloppiness.
At no point is 'Alex Jones' mentioned as the author of this and yet Ruppert attacks Jones on the grounds of spelling mistakes in articles he didn't even write. Who's responsible for sloppy research now?
7) Over the course of the past week there have been literally hundreds of articles from numerous different sources raising questions about Webb's apparent suicide. Why is Ruppert so insistent on attacking us as if we're the only people asking questions? Michel Chossudovsky's Global Research website, which Ruppert eulogizes on his links page as carrying "first rate analysis of economic, political and historic events in the new World War" also carried an article very similar to our own. Numerous other websites which are sympathetic to Mike Ruppert's work did the same. Why target us?
8) In his article Ruppert bashes the LA Times for their inconsiderate obituary which discredited Gary Webb. By attacking us in the same article Ruppert links us in with the establishment media, when it is Ruppert who agrees with the establishment media that Webb committed suicide. We're the focus of all the angst when we are questioning the death which the establishment media says is a suicide.
9) In his article Ruppert says that former DEA agent Cele Castillo was unaware of the claim being made on the broadcast that Ricky Ross had stated that in the last year Gary Webb had told him that he had seen men climbing on the side of his house. Cele Castillo was interviewed for 2+ hours on the Alex Jones Show at the same time as Chico Brown and Kevin Booth. Chico simply stated that Gary in the past had told him that he had been harassed and followed by government types.
Kevin Booth related live on air to Cele the interview he had done the night before with Ricky Ross in which Ricky made the statements about government types at Webb's home. A partial correction that we need to note is Ricky Ross said government men climbing on his house rather than down a pipe on the side of his house. Kevin Booth was simply paraphrasing the prison interview which was aired in full the next day and can be heard here.
This is radio where we talk three hours a day, fifteen hours a week and so yes, you can nitpick on small semantic points all day. But here's a point of logic that must be dealt with. On the night of December 20th Cele Castillo told Alex Jones in response to the Ruppert hit piece, "either you trust Ricky Ross or you don't trust him and Gary Webb did trust him and based a lot of his reports on what he said." This directly contradicts Ruppert's claim that Gary Webb would not be happy with Ricky Ross being described as one of his 'primary sources'. It's part of the public record that Gary Webb went to bat for Ricky Ross in court and covered the case. Ross was his central source.
Cele Castillo told Alex Jones that clearly yes; he was on the show and heard Kevin Booth talk about the Ricky Ross interview, heard Chico Brown talk about the threats to Webb. All we were doing less than 24 hours after we learned that Webb had died was discussing the possibilities. Cele went on to say, "we all need to be on the same page, this is just plain bad." He said to Alex, "do you know that Martin Sheen quote from Platoon?" 'We didn't fight the enemy, we fought ourselves and we were not the enemy'.
Cele went on to state that it was completely reasonable for all of us to be asking the question, was Gary Webb murdered? Two gunshot wounds in a suicide is rare. Michael Ruppert in his piece that should be studied at the FBI academy in Quantico as a model of COINTELPRO, links to our Gary Webb page that by Wednesday the 15th had the entire Cele Castillo/Chico Brown/Kevin Booth interview posted on it. If he wanted to know what Cele had said, all this former police officer who brags that he's from a family of intelligence agents had to do, was link through and listen to it.
Gary Webb thought Ricky Ross was a good source of information, he thought Cele Castillo was a good source of information and that's why we interviewed them. For this, Alex Jones has been burned at the stake as Satan incarnate.
Cele Castillo went on to say he doesn't understand why Mike Ruppert was so convinced that the Colonel Sabow case was a murder but is so ready to dismiss even the question of it concerning Gary Webb.
10) Alex Jones comments....
"It is clear that Mr. Ruppert's article is meant to assassinate my character in the public arena. Several years ago I successfully defended myself in court from slanderous statements by another reckless individual and won an important victory. In that process I learned what the standard of slander and libel are. Many of the false statements in the article are the definition of pre-meditated libel meant to do harm to one's personal reputation and business, and this coming from a person who is known for constantly threatening to sue people. I am not threatening to sue Mr. Ruppert but I swear to God that if any serious damage is accrued I will defend my honor. I'm tired of being slapped upside the head, I'm sick of the bullying tactics; I'm blown away by the shoddiness of the hit piece. I'm going to endeavour to move forward exposing the unfolding police state, the globalist wars for world domination and the tyranny of evil men but the dripping relish with which Ruppert attacks me with and others had to be addressed.
Ruppert alludes to some foggy way that I've burned him. I don't know what he's talking about. He only enters my mind every few months when people call me up telling me the latest he has said about me. It seems to me that from a psychological perspective Ruppert is obsessed with attacking me but then again the landscape is littered with people that he has grappled with."
We would like to suggest to our audience that they keep this in perspective. As Cele Castillo said, we have real enemies to fight and while we are fighting each other they are laughing at us. We are playing into their hands. Stay focused on the real corruption and tyranny that we see unfolding on a global basis.
Unlike the mainstream media we actively seek to get the truth out. We never claim absolute 100% accuracy but our motives are crystal clear and our intentions pure.
Alex's show is a vehicle for all sides of the political spectrum to get issues out in the open, issues that are purposefully buried by the establishment media cartel that Ruppert claims to oppose. We aim to stand up for the little guy, for humanity. And yet Ruppert attacks us on the very foundation of truthseeking, asking basic questions and obtaining straightforward answers.
Ruppert's article is so vicious in its scope that it makes us out to be literal demons for simply questioning the circumstances surrounding Gary Webb's death.
If the evidence clearly indicates that Gary Webb committed suicide we will accept it. However, we do not under any circumstances feel that such a judgement can be made so quickly and with so little independent verification.
Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to Gary Webb's family. In no way do we feel pursuing the truth is an insult to Gary's memory. In fact, it's the highest form of praise and respect.
We will continue to exercise our first amendment right to ask questions in pursuit of one thing, the truth. Just as we did in the deaths of Princess Diana and Dr. David Kelly.
We will continue to push for a full homicide investigation and keep our eyes and ears open for any new evidence concerning the tragic death of Gary Webb.
Original: Alex Jones' Rebuttal To Allegations Made By Michael Ruppert Concerning Gary Webb's Death