Progressive Media Resources Group

http://consortiumnews.com/2014/10/31/petraeus-spared-ray-mcgoverns-question/

Petraeus Spared Ray McGovern’s Question
October 31, 2014

Exclusive: New York City police arrested ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern to prevent him from attending a public event where he planned to pose a pointed question to retired Gen. David Petraeus, another sign of how much U.S. neocons love democracy, writes Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, who was arrested by New York City police on Thursday night to prevent him from attending a speech by retired Gen. and ex-CIA Director David Petraeus, told me the day before that he was planning to ask a question during the Q-and-A.

McGovern, who writes regularly for Consortiumnews.com, compared his goal in New York to his famous questioning of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Atlanta in 2006 when McGovern pressed Rumsfeld on false statements he had made about Iraq’s WMD and ties to al-Qaeda.

[center][/center]
But the 75-year-old McGovern was blocked from entering the event at the 92nd Street Y, was roughly put under arrest, and was held overnight in jail. He described his ordeal in an interview with RT, saying “I was warned as soon as I got to the ticket-taker, ‘Ray, you’re not welcome here.’”


Screenshot of New York City police arresting ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern outside a speech by retired Gen. and ex-CIA Director David Petraeus. (Via RT.com)

McGovern, who was suffering from a shoulder injury, said he was caused sharp pain by being forcefully handcuffed. “If you’ve seen the footage, you can see me screaming in pain as they try to pin my left wrist around behind my back,” McGovern told RT.

<>

COMMENTS:

Zachary Smith on October 31, 2014 at 11:53 pm said:

In an effort to learn more about this event I went to Google News. First thing I noticed was that I could see no newspapers with the story. NONE. A specific search for the NYT and Washington Post turned up empty. Being even more curious, I found a list of Top 50 conservative web sites. Fox, and the others — no mention whatever in the top five...