For the first time since his reporting on the National Security Agency’s global surveillance programs made Edward Snowden a household name, Glenn Greenwald plans to return to the United States.
Greenwald, who lives in Rio de Janeiro, intends to head to New York City on Friday to accept the prestigious Polk Award for outstanding journalism. He will share the award with Laura Poitras, Barton Gellman and Ewen MacAskill, all journalists who have also reported on the Snowden leaks.
Greenwald told the Huffington Post he wants to attend the ceremony because “certain factions in the U.S. government have deliberately intensified the threatening climate for journalists.”
“It’s just the principle that I shouldn’t allow those tactics to stop me from returning to my own country,” he told HuffPost.
When the Polk winners were announced in February, Poitras, who lives in Berlin, said she wasn’t sure she felt safe to travel to the U.S, but HuffPost reported that she will attend the ceremony with Greenwald.
Several public figures in America have suggested that Greenwald deserves to be punished along with Snowden.
Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said last year that Greenwald should be prosecuted for his reporting. Earlier this year, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-NY) accused Greenwald of selling stolen material.
