u.today
On Aug. 15, prominent right-wing journalist Mike Cernovich tweeted to his 691,800 followers that U.S. President Donald Trump, who’s currently running for re-election, would have his vote if he commuted Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht:
“If Trump commutes the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, he’ll have my vote!”
A glimmer of hope for the #FreeRoss campaign
Ulbricht, who founded the now-defunct dark web bazaar that played a significant role in driving Bitcoin’s early adoption, received a double-life sentence (plus 40 years) back in May 2015 after having 144,000 BTC seized by the FBI.
“Dread Pirate Roberts” has now spent almost seven years in a maximum-security prison, reading Iain Banks and exposing the vulnerabilities of the Maker protocol among other things.
Last December, Ulbricht also received support from prominent conservative commentator Charlie Kirk who said that he was outraged by “over-prosecution”:
“The more I learn about Ross Ulbricht and his over-prosecution the more outraged I am about this total miscarriage of justice.”
In her heartfelt op-ed published by The Arizona Republic in February, she writes that Trump’s words about giving criminals a second chance, recalling the case of former federal prisoner Alice Marie Johnson who was pardoned by the President back in 2019:
“Days earlier, his campaign aired a Super Bowl ad highlighting the inspirational story of drug offender Alice Marie Johnson, whose life sentence he commuted. President Trump’s heart for giving a second chance to people like Alice ― who have made a mistake but are rehabilitated ― fills me with hope.”
“A lack of vision”
Despite supporting Trump on many issues, Cernovich slammed the POTUS for his “lack of vision” after the former lashed out at Bitcoin in the infamous tweet.
Earlier this year, as reported by U.Today, the journalist was collecting Bitcoin donations to turn his “Hoaxed” documentary into a full season podcast.
His project is meant to shed light on the lies perpetrated by America’s mainstream media on both sides of the political aisle.