Ron Paul Fears Edward Snowden Will Be Assassinated By Government

Ron Paul’s NSA position is not a surprise, but the outspoken civil liberties advocate has said outright that he fears NSA leaker Edward Snowden, 29, could be assassinated by the US government.

Ron Paul immediately addressed NSA leaker Edward Snowden‘s actions in a post on June 9, before expressing fears Snowden could be taken out by US government operatives after the massive leak.

In an earlier writing, Paul lauded Snowden’s bravery as well as the willingness of The Guardian‘s Glenn Greenwald to break the story, saying that the news was proof that more transparency is needed regarding programs like PRISM:

“The government does not need to know more about what we are doing. We need to know more about what the government is doing. We need to turn the cameras on the police and on the government, not the other way around. We should be thankful for writers like Glenn Greenwald, who broke last week’s story, for taking risks to let us know what the government is doing. There are calls for the persecution of Greenwald and the other whistle-blowers and reporters. They should be defended, as their work defends our freedom.”

Paul went on Fox News Tuesday to discuss the implications of Snowden’s actions, and said during his appearance that the former security contractor faces a big risk in a time where Americans have been killed on foreign soil in drone strikes without a trial:

“I’m worried about somebody in our government might kill him with a cruise missile or a drone missile … I mean we live in a bad time where American citizens don’t even have rights and that they can be killed, but the gentlemen is trying to tell the truth about what’s going on.”

Edward Snowden has been both hailed as a hero and decried as a traitor in the media, but it’s clear which side Ron Paul comes down on in that debate — Paul added:

“He’s not defecting, there are no signs of that happening … It’s a shame that we are in an age where people who tell the truth about what the government is doing gets into trouble…No, I don’t think for a minute that he’s a traitor.”

Ron Paul was also addressing suggestions Snowden may defect to another nation with information he may have when he made the comments about a possible US government assassination.