by
Bowie V. Ibarra
In my past life in Austin, Texas, I had the privilege of having my 'reality expanded' by some great dudes in the ATX public access scene in the early '00s. Chris Athanas and Jeff Contreras were two of the biggest names in the public access scene, with There4IAm and RealityExpander two of the top shows on the channel. One of the folks that they brought to the attention of the Austin alt-news crowd was Mike Ruppert.
Mike was a former police officer with LAPD and began his investigative career after confronting former CIA head John Deutch about his allegations of witnessing CIA complicity in drug trafficking.
Chris and Jeff booked Mike to speak in Austin only weeks after 9-11. And what was great about the guy was his style of reporting. Remember, this was during the rise of Alex Jones, a fantastic, yet fiery advocate for the truth. Mike's style, on the other hand, was a cool contrast to Jones. Mike approached everything from an almost scientific point of view, relying on hard facts over facts coupled with wild speculation. I even took a picture with the guy, who was super cool.
Mike allegedly commited suicide in April 2014. Being such an outspoken and facts-driven journalist, I can't help but think something more nefarious occurred.
But in the end, he was a great voice in the alt-news community, and he will be missed.
RIP Mike.
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