a case of the yellow peril stereotype

Abagond

Wen Ho Lee (1939- ), an American physicist who worked on nuclear weapons at Los Alamos, was accused in 1999 of being a spy for China. Even though the government had no proof, they kept him in solitary confinement for 278 days. The New York Times assumed his guilt and printed his name before he was even charged.

The government in trying to prove his guilt :

• Carried out 1,000 interviews worldwide.
• Tried to trick him into giving secrets to a (fake) Chinese military official.
• Searched the county dump from end to end.
• Searched his house and those of his family.
• Searched all the computers he used.
• Questioned him over 20 times.
• Gave him a lie detector test. When he passed, the FBI told him he failed to shake him into signing a confession. He refused.

Lee spent over a million dollars to defend himself in court against the government.

Thirteen…

View original post 384 more words