Home Run for Julian

The father and brother of award-winning Australian journalist Julian Assange toured the United States in June 2021, calling on the U.S. government to drop its prosecution and finally let Julian come home.

John and Gabriel Shipton’s #HomeRun4Julian tour began in Miami on June 6 and included several stops on both coasts and throughout the Midwest before concluding in the nation’s capital, at the National Press Club and the Department of Justice.

Assange’s family members met with activists, press, and policymakers to raise awareness of the importance of protecting whistleblowers and journalists, and to advocate for the release of Julian Assange.

Ongoing playlist of event videos
&
Press coverage highlights from the tour

Miami
Video: Panel event
hosted by Jen Perelman
Milwaukee
Videos: John & Gabriel Shipton
meet supporters at the
Sunburst Sculpture
Boston
Video: Julian wins
2021 Sacco-Vanzetti Award
Madison
Interviews: WORT
Radio & The Progressive
New York
Video: Roger Waters, Chris Hedges,
Aaron Maté, Randy Credico
Minneapolis / St Paul
Videos:
Panel with local journalists
Rally at Highland Park Picnic Pavillion
Philadelphia
Video
: John & Gabriel Shipton at
the First Amendment monument
Denver
Videos:
Press Conference &
State Capitol rally
Washington D.C.
Video: Marianne Williamson,
Chip Gibbons, & Ryan Grim
Oakland
Videos: Rally with Alice Walker,
Noam Chomsky, Dan Ellsberg
Online panel
Video: Separating Fact from Fiction
Fidel Narvaez, John Kiriakou & Ray McGovern
Los Angeles
Video: Panel
Marjorie Cohn,
Stephen Rohde, Jody Armour
Columbus, OH
Video:
Statehouse rally
Washington D.C.
Video:
Cornel West joins
John & Gabriel Shipton
Chicago
Video: Kevin Gosztola, Jerome
McDonnell, Chris Geovanis,
Flint Taylor
Photos:
Last stop: Rally at the
Department of Justice

Washington D.C.

Cornel West & Ryan Grim join John & Gabriel Shipton
at the National Press Club

Full transcript here


Rally at the DOJ with Max Blumenthal, Anya Parampil,

Ben Norton, Randy Credico, & many more


Los Angeles

Panel with Marjorie Cohn, Stephen Rohde, Jody Armour

Rally in west Los Angeles


Oakland

Rally with Alice Walker & new video statements from
Daniel Ellsberg & Noam Chomsky

Pentagon Papers whistleblower
Daniel Ellsberg

Statement from Noam Chomsky


Denver

Press Conference

Rally at the State Capitol


Minneapolis / St. Paul

Rally at the Highland Park Pavilion

Free Speech, Freedom of the Press, and the Fight for Economic and Racial Justice

A panel of local independent journalists in conversation with Julian Assange’s father and brother at the East Side Freedom Library


Madison

Interview with WORT Radio (beginning at 43:21)

WORT 89.9FM Madison · How America Arms Gangs and Cartels + #FreeAssange

Interview with The Progressive magazine


Milwaukee


Chicago

Rally with Kevin Gosztola, Jerome McDonnell, Chris Geovanis, Flint Taylor


Columbus, Ohio

Ohio Statehouse, June 14, 2021

Washington D.C.

Panel discussion: John & Gabriel Shipton, Marianne Williamson, Ryan Grim & Chip Gibbons

Busboys & Poets, June 13, 2021

Jefferson Memorial

With Grayzone reporter Max Blumenthal

Jefferson Memorial, June 13, 2021

Online Panel: Separating Fact from Fiction

John & Gabriel Shipton, Fidel Narvaez, John Kiriakou, & Ray McGovern

Online, June 13, 2021

Philadelphia

First Amendment Monument

June 11, 2021

New York City

Reception for John & Gabriel Shipton with Roger Waters, Chris Hedges, Aaron Maté, & Randy Credico

The People’s Forum in New York City, June 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/DefenseAssange/status/1403563938122506243

Boston

Julian Assange presented with the 2021 Sacco-Vanzetti Social Justice Award

Community Church of Boston, June 9, 2021
John & Gabriel Shipton speak with former presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein, in Boston. June 9, 2021

Miami

Panel event hosted by Jen Perelman, with Mara Shlackman, Scott Luxor, and Nicolas Davies

Earth ‘n’ Us Farm, June 6, 2021

Press Clippings

NBC: Family of Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Rally for His Freedom in Oakland

Gabriel Shipton, Assange’s brother, said dropping the extradition request could help the Biden Administration re-establish the idea that the United States is on a “moral high ground” when confronting overseas authoritarian states.

“They often get Assange thrown back in their faces,” Shipton said. “‘Look at what you’re doing to Assange, how could you confront us on our human rights or press freedoms?’ We’ve seen this with the Russian ambassador to the U.K.”

Noam Chomsky, renowned linguist and historian, said [dropping] the charges Assange faces [is] not sufficient, and he should instead be honored for his service of releasing information that has been extremely valuable to the American public.

“This gross miscarriage of injustice prolonged over many cruel years should be ended at once. Julian Assange should not only be free, but should be accorded the great respect that he originally deserves for his contributions,” Chomsky said.


The Independent: ‘We’re feeling the momentum’: Julian Assange family says Reality Winner’s release raises fresh hope

(Getty Images)

“We’re feeling the momentum really build here, with the press that we’re getting, with all the people we’re getting speaking on our panels, and with this action in the DoJ,” Gabriel Shipton, 39, told The Independent, from Columbus, Ohio, after events in New York and Washington DC. “I think we’re feeling the momentum, and hopefully there’s a change.”


Fox News: ‘An Innocent Man Not Able To See His Family’: Julian Assange’s Father, Brother Speak Out On His Imprisonment


Milwaukee NPR: Julian Assange’s Father And Brother Visit Milwaukee To Promote Their Request To President Biden

20210619_101906_HDR.jpg
Gabriel Shipton (Photo by Chuck Quirmbach)

Assange’s family members and supporters are trying to get the Biden administration to drop its appeal of the case.

Assange’s father, John Shipton, said there are good reasons for President Joe Biden to do so.

“Well, in the first place, it’s unjust and nobody likes to be seen as being unjust. [Second] in a practical matter because the defense of the First Amendment is a principal responsibility of governments in the United States and it’s in the United States Constitution. Thirdly, it brings no credit the administration of justice in the United States. This would bring great credit to any administration that brought this persecution and prosecution to an end,” John Shipton told WUWM.

Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, said Biden has spoken in favor of preserving freedom of the press. “So, I think they should just walk the walk, and drop this case. It’d be a great message to people around the world that they’re serious about press freedom,” he said.


acTVism Munich: Julian Assange’s
Father and Brother Interview


Law & Disorder Radio: Building Support To Free Wikileaks’ Julian Assange

John Shipton speaks with Michael Smith and Heidi Boghosian about the US tour to meet supporters and raise awareness about the case.

Image
John Shipton, Julian Assange’s father
Listen here

Star Tribune: Julian Assange indictment is attack on press freedom, his father and brother tell St. Paul forum

The brother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, wanted in the United States for allegedly publishing military and diplomatic secrets, said Monday that people must know what their government is doing “if democracy is to work.”

Gabriel Shipton and Assange’s father, John Shipton, spoke Monday at a St. Paul forum sponsored by Women Against Military Madness. It was part of a monthlong 17-city tour of the United States they’re making to argue that the 17-count federal indictment against their son and brother is an attack on freedom of the press.

“Reporting truth is not a crime,” John Shipton said.


WORT Radio: #FreeAssange

Interview begins at 43:21

WORT 89.9FM Madison · How America Arms Gangs and Cartels + #FreeAssange

The Australian: ‘Slow motion murder’: family’s race to free Assange

In Washington as part of a 17-city tour to campaign for Julian’s release, his father, John Shipton, said it was “grotesque” that nations were trumpeting human rights at the G7 meeting at Cornwall, in Britain, when Julian had been imprisoned for almost 13 years for publishing evidence of US war crimes in 2010.

“It’s worse than hypocritical, it’s grotesque,” Mr Shipton said on Sunday night in the US with his son Gabriel to help convince the Biden administration to drop attempts to extradite Assange to the US, where he faces 175 years in prison.

Gabriel, a filmmaker, said Julian’s situation was “dire”. “If he doesn’t get out he will die. We’re seeing the slow motion murder of a journalist. It will take sometime for him to get back to his usual self (if he gets out),” he said.


KPFA’s Flashpoints: The Continuing Fight to Free Wikileaks Publisher, Julian Assange

Listen | Download


The Mehdi Hasan Show

(Segment starts at approximately 1:47:00)

Democracy Now: “Julian Is Suffering”: Family of WikiLeaks Founder Assange in U.S. to Demand His Release from Prison