Assassination TIME: Sr. journalist ‘can’t wait’ to justify drone strike that will kill Assange
The unethical and legally questionable statement made by TIME magazine’s senior national correspondent has been met with a barrage of criticism. Although Michael Grunwald deleted the comment and apologized, WikiLeaks is still pushing for his resignation.
The scandal was sparked by a Twitter post on Grunwald’s account which stated that he is eager to write an article on Julian Assange’s execution by a drone.
WikiLeaks tweeted that they have sent a letter to the publication
demanding Grunwald’s resignation. They have said that the
magazine must show that journalists calling for the murder of
other journalists is “never acceptable.”
We have written to TIME magazine to ask for Michael Grunwald's resignation https://t.co/X8Rf3TN5MY
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 18, 2013
.@TIME must show that journalists calling for the murder of other journalists, or, indeed, anybody, is never acceptable. @TheTinaBeast
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 18, 2013
The tweet, which has been deleted by the author, said, “I
can't wait to write a defense of the drone strike that takes out
Julian Assange.”
Don't worry, @MikeGrunwald, deleter of history, your support for the assassination of #Assange has been archived: http://t.co/Wek5dquJ0j
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 18, 2013
@MikeGrunwald I am informed you tweeted to the world, that you cant wait to defend the extra judicial murder of my son Julian #Assange.
— Christine Assange (@AssangeC) August 18, 2013
Following the post, Twitter exploded with harsh criticism of both Grunwald and TIME magazine.
@wikileaks@TIME This should, at the very least, disqualify @MikeGrunwald from writing about Wikileaks for Time.
— Julian Gonzalez (@julianjg) August 18, 2013
@wikileaks@TIME Isn't TIME magazine part of the problem and not the solution. Perhaps sensible people should boycott them and not buy.
— peter yallouros (@peteryallouros) August 18, 2013
Grunwald responded to the criticism by saying that the original post was a “dumb tweet” and deleting it.
Meanwhile, TIME has released a statement saying that Grunwald's views do not represent those of the publication.
“Michael Grunwald posted an offensive tweet from his personal Twitter account that is in no way representative of TIME's views,” the statement read. “He regrets having tweeted it, and he removed it from his feed.”
Fair point. I'll delete. @rober1236Jua my main problem with this is it gives Assange supporters a nice safe persecution complex to hide in
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) August 17, 2013
It was a dumb tweet. I'm sorry. I deserve the backlash. (Maybe not the anti-Semitic stuff but otherwise I asked for it.)
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) August 18, 2013
