Ed Snowden Helps A Reporter Having A Seizure While Interviewing Him Remotely

from the wait,-what? dept

Wed, Jun 11th 2014 1:29pm — Mike Masnick

Here's a bizarre story. A German reporter, Julia Prosinger, spent a week in the NYC offices of the ACLU with Ben Wizner, one of the key lawyers working with Ed Snowden. There, she reports about the Robot Snowden that is set up in the ACLU offices, allowing Snowden to "hang out" with ACLU folks any time he wants (assuming people are around). You may have seen the robot Snowden on stage at TED, but apparently Snowden is still using a version of that thing that's just kept at the ACLU's offices, allowing him to zoom around and talk to folks. They're even talking about having more Snowdenbots around the globe so he can pop in virtually wherever he wants.

But, that's not the craziest part of the story.

It's that during the interview with Prosinger, she happens to have a seizure, and Snowden apparently both talks Wizner through what to do and calms Prosinger as she comes to.

Suddenly, during the attempt to explain German, I faint. I wake up, my head lies bedded on a sand bag, my body is in the recovery position. A calm voice is coming from the screen. “The first fits are always the worst,” Snowden says. I am lucky: Snowden is not only a patriot or traitor, he is also an epileptic. He instantly recognised what was happening to me. He tells me that he was only diagnosed when he was 23 years old. When he fled the US a little more than a year ago, he told his employer that he had to go away for a few weeks for treatment for his epilepsy. Then Snowden apologises for making me look at the flickering screen, it had triggered the fit, he says.

Ben Wizner brings a glass of juice. He is moved. He has been travelling for a year, because Snowden is stuck in Russia. He speaks where Snowden doesn’t have a voice. For a year now he has literally been Snowden’s right-hand man.

He just followed Snowden’s advice via Skype and stopped me from falling against the metal filing cabinets in his office. “That’s Ed how I know him. The empathy, the clear voice, the care,” says Wizner.

Of course, now we wonder how Mike Rogers will spin this into more evidence of Snowden being a Russian spy...

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: ben wizner, ed snowden, julia prosinger, reporters, robot snowden, robots, seizure, telepresence
Companies: aclu

34 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

S. T. Stone, 11 Jun 2014 @ 1:47pm

Watch Snowden spin this as an instance of being a "live-saver" instead of the man who instigated this brutal assault of an American citizen.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mike Rogers' Little Buddy, 11 Jun 2014 @ 1:51pm

Russian Mind Probe
Snowden probably caused the seizure while trying to use some kind of subliminal Russian mind probe.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 1:54pm

Re: Russian Mind Probe
The linked article says he knew what caused it. It was triggered by the flickering screen.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 1:55pm

was a good story
until the cheap shot that is the last line !
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 1:57pm

Re:
Watch Alex Jones say false flag operation.
Watch Fox News say Benghazi.

Please elucidate exactly who instigated this brutal assault, (hint - it was not Snowden). I imagine you would rather take the easy way out and shoot the messenger.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 1:59pm

Re: Re:
You seem to have missed the implied /s at the end there...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:01pm

Re:
You mean Rogers will spin it that way, right? From everything we've seen from Snowden, he wouldn't have even brought it up and had the reporter not told her story, we would have probably never heard about it. Now compare that to Rogers who goes on the network news practically every Sunday to bash Snowden and make unsubstantiated allegations against him. Now, which one looks like the narcissistic asshole to you?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:04pm

Re: was a good story
Rogers deserves all the cheap shots that are taken at him after all the cheap shots he's taken.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
FM Hilton, 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:12pm

Wait until Rogers hears this!
Oh, the hell with the heroic act that Snowden did; that he has the ability to talk to anyone anywhere in the world via a 'robot' will make everyone in the NSA crazy.

"He's everywhere! Where in the world is Snowden? When will he strike again?"

Looks like the trailer of a conspiracy movie, doesn't it? But seriously, the more I read about him, the more I see the upright moral and decent man who just happens to be the most wanted man by the US Government.

They're going after the good guys now. Sad.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Superman, 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:32pm

Cape
Can we get his Justice League cape delivered in Russia?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
sorrykb (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:37pm

Re: Cape
Superman asked:
Can we get his Justice League cape delivered in Russia?
Don't know about delivery in Russia, but I think the Snowbot at the ACLU office should definitely get a cape.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:38pm

Re: Wait until Rogers hears this!
Perhaps we will be lucky and Rogers will have an aneurism.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Baron von Robber, 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:39pm

Re: was a good story
There is no such thing as a cheap shot in regards to Rogers.

Remember, this is the asshat that literally said that if you don't know your privacy is being invaded, then it's not really being invaded!!!

How anybody can be so stupid and yet still breath is incomprehensible.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:39pm

Now that we have Snobots soon we'll be hearing about surgical drone strikes taking them out.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:44pm

Re:
Watch Wizner live safer with this life saver.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:44pm

Of course, now we wonder how Mike Rogers will spin this into more evidence of Snowden being a Russian spy...
Only dirty commies have things like "empathy" and "caring". A TRUE patriot would've swiped all the money from her purse and dumped her dying body in a nearby alley. That's the American Way. #eagles #MikeRogersFacts #evenmoreeagles
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:52pm

Snowden has a televised debate with Mike Rogers.
Rogers dies onscreen in a mysterious seizure.

Coincidence...or a deliberate attack by the NSA's escaped superweapon?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 3:06pm

Re: Re: Russian Mind Probe
Snowden deploys epilepsy-inducing robots against reporters!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 3:10pm

Re: Re:
The 'brutal assault' was the flickering screen.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Spaceman Spiff (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 3:51pm

Attack by the flickering facebot!
Gah! My granddaughter is epileptic, and though seizures are not as common now that she is in her mid-20's, they still can happen. Kudos to Snowden for saving the life of someone he is not beholden to! Screw Rogers and the rest of his ilk!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Atkray (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 4:24pm

Re: Re: was a good story
Breathing doesn't require thought.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
art guerrilla (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 4:25pm

i'm telling you...
...next election, i'm going to write-in Edward Snowden on EVERY ballot position available, from dog-catcher to senator...
AND it will be the proudest ballot i ever submitted...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 4:55pm

Re: Re: Re:
Damn, not again!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 6:19pm

Re: Re: Russian Mind Probe
"The linked article says he knew what caused it. It was triggered by the flickering screen."

Yes, that how the Russian mind probe works!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 6:36pm

What this questionable Government needs is a nation wide Snowden Write-in campaign next election. Wanna bet he wins?

Also, acquire a few hundred of the talkbots and place them in the NSA and GCHQ offices, with an image of Snowden telling them they're BAAAAAAAD boys - endlessly.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 7:38pm

assault
Flicker of around 10 Hz - 30 Hz has been known for years to trigger seizures in epileptics. I had a student go into a seizure during a video.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Whatever, 11 Jun 2014 @ 8:51pm

coming up: water walking
This guy is like god. He knows what is best for the world, he knows exactly what information will and will not cause harm, and he can even save people by remote control.

Water walking is coming up next!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 9:10pm

Re: Re: Re: was a good story
And yet, now you're breathing manually...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 10:01pm

Re: coming up: water walking
But first, your regularly scheduled attempt by Whatever to shit on everything.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Michael, 12 Jun 2014 @ 5:03am

NSA software hack causes flickering screens in an attempt to kill reporter!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Fenderson (profile), 12 Jun 2014 @ 9:53am

Re: coming up: water walking
Glad to see you've come around, even if you did let that pendulum swing a bit too far!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lanet, 12 Jun 2014 @ 6:50pm

Read!! "The Matrix Deciphered" to see how to induce fainting..
Hi. I don't doubt that the event happened. I believe that it was scripted. In fact, Snowd'Em is scripted.

His voice...is it truly his voice out of the robot, or is it electronically modified?

Read Dr. Robert Duncan's books.

Or, just go back to watching your Hollyood-DoD movies. Life is more pleasant via Hollywood.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lanet, 12 Jun 2014 @ 6:56pm

Snowden is a CIA info spigot
Anything to distract from the real RADAR, microwave, terahertz... -based weapons in use! Yeah, flickering... right! While it is true that flickering might cause brain entrainment, so can shooting someone with US military "secret" weapons that have been refined since the Second World War, used by Russians, and perfected by experimentation on US citizens since the 60s.

So, this story is a way to distract people from that story, the weapons story. They are using their "Snowden" as vehicle to distract.

Gosh, makes you just want to cry for him. Now he has a medical problem...a real tear jerker. So "vulnerable" as a disabled person... and still so very useful... at present as the CIA's info-spigot ...until he is exposed.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2014 @ 9:06pm

There should be a Snowdenbot in every household. For safety and security reasons.
[ link to this | view in thread ]