Manchester, NH – Edward Snowden will appear via video link as a featured speaker at a New Hampshire convention of libertarian activists.
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The Valley News reports (http://bit.ly/1RUCFLK) that the former National Security Agency contractor will participate in a 30-minute discussion and Q&A at the New Hampshire Free State Project’s convention in Manchester in February.
The Free State Project describes itself as an effort to recruit “liberty-loving people” to move to New Hampshire. The group says it is trying to recruit 20,000 people who agree that a government should act to protect people’s rights.
Snowden leaked millions of documents about government surveillance to a United Kingdom newspaper in 2013. He has been living in Russia under a grant of asylum and faces charges in the U.S. for leaking details of the once-secret program.
Free State Project President Carla Gericke confirmed the speaking engagement at their Liberty Forum, which runs from Feb. 18-21. She said the topic has yet to be decided.
“He’s a really insightful and brilliant man,” she said. “From our perspective, we’re really excited to give him a platform.”
Gericke said Snowden doesn’t deserve to be labeled a “traitor.”
“I think what he did was incredibly courageous and brave,” she said, comparing Snowden’s disclosures with those of Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers.
Snowden was the subject of a 2014 Academy Award-winning documentary called “Citizenfour,” which chronicles his work with Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald and filmmaker Laura Poitras to reveal the secrets.