Code Pink Claims Blackwater Ex-Employee Threatened One Of Its Activists

Created: February 25, 2010 11:19 | Last updated: July 31, 2020 00:00

I didn’t see this at yesterday’s big Blackwater hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee, but another reporter friend watched this happen. Code Pink, the womens’ anti-war activist group that’s a fixture in congressional hearings, put out this press release about an incident yesterday between one of its members and Johnnie Walker, a former Blackwater employee who was involved in the May 5 2009 shootings in Kabul:

CODEPINK activist Tighe Barry was attending the hearing and was shocked about the criminal behavior of Blackwater contractors that included stealing weapons, reckless use of weapons, drinking on the job, violating rules of their contracts, defrauding the US government and disregarding local Afghan laws. “During the recess in the hearing, I spoke out about the shameful actions of Blackwater personnel that led to the death of Afghan civilians and their own fellow employees. Johnnie Walker, as he was leaving the hearing room, turned to me—within earshot of the U.S. Capitol Policeman Angel Morales–and said, “I’m gonna kill YOU.”

Barry shouted out to the police and Blackwater management, “Do you see the kind of people you hire–such loose cannons that they’d threaten me in a Senate hearing room?” Barry filed a complaint with the Capitol Police.

As I say, I didn’t witness this, but a trusted colleague claims to have seen it.

Update: I’ve corrected the headline, as I’ve been told Tighe Berry is a man. My sincere apologies for my assumption.