Watch Live: U.K. Police Surround Ecuador Embassy Where Assange Seeks Asylum

Authorities have threatened to enter embassy to arrest WikiLeaks founder.

It's the middle of the night in England and U.K. authorities have surrounded Ecuador's Embassy, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been seeking asylum. Ecuador officials have said England has threatened to arrest Assange regardless of Ecuador's decision, which they've said they will anounce Thursday.

Occupy activists have a live stream here where the action can be watched.

Oh, and you have no idea what's going on, you should be keeping track of our 24/7 news feed!

UPDATE: The stream is currently offline and replaying its earlier footage.

UPDATE: Here's a new live feed. There's really no activity, however. Police are on the scene, but they aren't doing anything but keeping guard.

Comments

[joshua corning]

I don't think Assange should go to jail.

That being said him falling would probably be good for the cause of exposing government secrets.

A self obsessed drama whore gets in the way.

In fact it was only a day or two go when some reason writer was complaining about how he could not access Assange's site...even though the information was available on torrent sites.

[Apatheist ?_??]

He should go to jail if he actually raped somebody. At a minimum he should face trial for it. I say this as someone who supports what wikileaks does.

[Hyperion]

This guy has pissed off a lot of powerful people, like the Clintons I believe if I am not mistaken. You really don't think that just maybe the accusations against him are contrived?

[joshua corning]

You really don't think that just maybe the accusations against him are contrived?

They are...but I don't think it is some CIA plot.

More like a plot of a couple of left wing crazy Swedish feminists.

That said if some crazy Swedish feminists wanted me to get an HIV test before they fuck my brains out I would probably get that done. Law or no Law.

[RyanXXX]

But he didn't actually rape somebody, and everyone fucking knows it. Read about the case.

[joshua corning]

"rape"

I wonder what kind of time a person servers in Sweden for not taking an HIV test and lying about it?

[RyanXXX]

^Obviously such a grave crime merits extradition to the U.S. and life in Guantanamo, JC

[joshua corning]

Don't know if my sarcasm came across very well.

To be specific I do not think lying about an HIV test is rape.

I assumed that as a given. Perhaps it was not.

Also it is odd that British authorities are willing to toy with an international incident over it.

A buck says the Swedes are not getting Assange for extradition if the Brits ever get a old of him.

[RyanXXX]

I got the sarcasm. I was saying that the reaction is so overblown that no one can honestly think it has anything to do with the "charges" against him

Storming an embassy over a guy who lied about an HIV test?

[SIV]

If Moynihan still worked here he could answer any and all questions about Sweden.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

Is this the new "when Postrel was here?" Close enough - I'm drinking! And it's not even 9:00am - this is a good day!

[Hugh Akston]

I'm sure this is standard procedure for suspected rapists in the UK.

[RyanXXX]

To storm the embassy and take Assange by force (or even the threat of force) would be pure barbarism on the UK's part. Hope Ecuador doesn't back down - call the fuckers on their bluff and make them reveal themselves as savages in front of the entire world.

Iran's storming of the American embassy (which, frankly, had way more justification than the hypothetical British storming of Ecuador's) rightly resulted in international condemnation and demotion to "pariah" status. It just isn't done among civilized countries

[cmace]

The British passed a law that said it was OK to storm an embassy.

That makes it OK. Retroactively it's ok for the Iranians to storm our embassy.

BAD PRECIDENT.

[cmace]

I heard persons on the uStream saying that Assange was not there.

The British Cops were very retrained.

[cmace]

restrained

[wef]

Thug state in action.

Ecuador is too weak and will back down.

Footnote to this is that Argentina is chuckling.

[Proprietist]

Was going to say that it would be the ultimate middle finger to the UK government if he were sitting in Buenas Aires next week instead of Ecuador.

[RyanXXX]

Can you imagine if China had stormed the American embassy to arrest that blind activist earlier this year? The same people pulling this shit right now would have been screaming about China's appalling act of war against all civilization.

[Archimedes]

Assange is a hero.

[joshua corning]

SOCK PUPPET BE SILENT!!!

[Archimedes]

Assange and Wikileaks set out to show how governments act. Many did not listen. Will a desperate display of force get through to critics?

[joshua corning]

OK sock puppet I will play along.

Assange is like Michele Bachmann and her association with the tea party. He hitched himself to star for his own fame and aggrandizement.

He is no more a hero then he is a bond villain...more like a leach with a 100$ hair cut in a euro-trash suit.

[mad libertarian guy]

Except that wikileaks has exposed some very nasty shit for the world to see.

Either you are for transparency, or you aren't. No one has to like him as a person, but to ignore or downplay what he has done because he's a douche is bullshit.

[joshua corning]

wikileaks, or something very like it, would have existed without Assange.

In fact with the climategate emails I recall Assange trying to insert himself as central to their release when in fact he had nothing to do with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W17dW_aJEwU

at 1:16 he claims "We released over 10 years worth of Emails." This is complete bullshit. I had a copy of those emails before Assange and wikileaks even knew they existed. The hacker posted a link to them on a bunch of different skeptic blogs. That was how it was released. I know cuz that is where I got them. Assange had jack shit to do with it.

My guess is he had little or nothing to do with other leaks he is supposedly central to.

He is nothing more then a piece of shit glory hog.

[Cytotoxic]

Except that wikileaks has exposed some very nasty shit for the world to see.

Like what? All I've seen are some interesting tidbits and incompetence on the part of US policy. Otherwise the Wikileaks were mostly reassuring in that the USG does not come across as really evil.

[Archimedes]

And your take on Bradley Manning?

[wef]

Mr. Archimedes, you do not have any idea what you are talking about.

[RyanXXX]

I don't know Archimedes' history here, and you guys are responding to him like he's a troll, but what's been done to Manning is horrifying

[joshua corning]

I think he is a regular poster who is spoofing a left wing troll.

My random guess would be that he is John.

[Archimedes]

John is too busy trolling himself

[Archimedes]

Fill me in, wef!

[joshua corning]

If he released the information he is a hero.

If not then what the government is doing to him is travesty and a horrible injustice.

[mad libertarian guy]

I don't know about "hero", but this is definitely the first thing you've said that has any semblance of intelligence.

[Old Mexican]

British Threat on Ecuador Is Illegal

by Michael S. Rozeff, August 15, 2012

Britain threatened Ecuador concerning Assange. But the threat is illegal because it conflicts with a treaty that Great Britain signed. Here's the threat: "Under British law we can give them a weeks' notice before entering the premises and the embassy will no longer have diplomatic protection," a Foreign Office spokesman said.

But the United Kingdom signed the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in 1963. It states in Article 31 that "The authorities of the receiving State shall not enter that part of the consular premises which is used exclusively for the purpose of the work of the consular post except with the consent of the head of the consular post or of his designee or of the head of the diplomatic mission of the sending State."

It's really a sad day for international cooperation and order when Great Britain stoops so low as to undermine (break) a convention that has been hundreds of years in the making in order to lay their hands on Assange and ship him off to Sweden.

[Archduke PantsFan]

Our Streets are now safer!

[Old Mexican]

"What part of intellectual property don't you understand?"
"The 'property' part, you economics ignoramus."
"OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" - said the Queen of Hearts.

[Cytotoxic]

They were essentially defrauding customers. The state performing its correct role.

[califernian]

I love this guy. I wish he would reveal more secrets.

[Elizabeth II]

So long as I am your Queen, treason shall never go unpunished. Ser Ilyn, bring me his head!

[RyanXXX]

Why can't we rule ourselves again?!!

KING IN THE EMBASSY!! KING IN THE EMBASSY!!

[Cytotoxic]

Assange. What a douche. The British government. What evil. The Ecuadorean government. What...more evil.

[AlmightyJB]

What's the Ecudorean's play on this?

[NebulousFocus]

Sex, Lies and Julian Assange

[NotSure]

Some people here say Assange an attention seeker, a douche bag, etc. Since when did any of this justify how the governments of Britains and Sweden are basically being America bitch.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

I suspect that some of them are American Exceptionalists who are rationalizing the trampling of international law and custom in the hopes that Assange will end up being waterboarded at Gitmo. Then they can wave their big foam "#1" fingers and shout "USA! USA! USA!".

[joshua corning]

I suspect that some of them are American Exceptionalists

I prefer manifest destiny over American Exceptionalism.

You see the consequences of your strawman manifests itself as a destiny of me exposing you for a liar and an idiot.

As far as I can tell I am the only one here shit talking Assange...I also made fun of the rape charge as not being anything like rape and pointed out that it seemed a little extreme for the UK to cause an international incident because he lied about taking an HIV test.

You are chasing phantom neo-cons that only exist in your small mind.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

Yes, because nobody on the right called for him to be tried for treason or killed outright. I just imagined that.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

It was famous leftists, like Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee.

[joshua corning]

Nice goal post moving.

The somebodies being discussed were: "Some people here say Assange an attention seeker, a douche bag"

and then you made claims about those same people:

I suspect that some of them are American Exceptionalists

So in other words you were making bullshit comments about me..as in the only one here calling Assange drama whore.

Then i called you on it and so like a coward change the subject to be about fucking Palin and Huckabee.

Pathetic.

[joshua corning]

Some people here say Assange an attention seeker, a douche bag, etc.

I am pretty sure I was the only one saying that...

Also I have condemned the actions of the UK and Sweden.

Strawman much?

[TangaBooo]

lol that some pretty funny stuff dude. WOw.

http://www.Anon-at.tk

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

The British had better think this over carefully.

Actions have consequences. I know that some on the Right like to believe that this rule doesn't apply to the U.S. government or its junior partners. They're wrong.

[joshua corning]

I know that some on the Right like to believe that this rule doesn't apply to the U.S. government or its junior partners.

I am pretty sure once the UK gets its dirty paws on Assange they will be handing him over to Hilary Clinton.

The left is no strangers to stepping on people's heads with jackboots.

In fact this really is not a left/right thing....more like a "fuck you! we are government!" thing.

[joshua corning]

I wonder if Roman Polanski ever visited Sweden or the UK?

Assange lied about taking an HIV test!!! RAPE!! Call out the swat team!!

Polanski anal raped a 13 year old.... Lets put him in the finest hotels.