Brandon Wayne Bryant (born November 18, 1985, in Missoula, MontanaLanAnn Bryant) is an American whistleblower. From 2006 to 2011 he was a camera operator (sensor operator) of unmanned drones of the United States Air Force. His job was targeted killing.
On December 10, 2012, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported about Bryant, his former work and his post traumatic stress disorder.Nicola Abé: Träume in Infrarot, December 10, 2012, spiegel.de (in German)Dreams in Infrared - The Woes of an American Drone Operator, by Nicola Abé, December 14, 2012, spiegel.de
He gave his testimony to an expert council of the United NationsJeremy Scahill, Glenn Greenwald: The NSA’s Secret Role in the U.S. Assassination Program. February 10, 2014, theintercept.com and to the German Parliamentary Committee investigating the NSA spying scandal.„Deutsches Vertrauen ausgenutzt“, October 14, 2015 tagesschau.de (in German)Anna Biselli: Live-Blog aus dem Geheimdienst-Untersuchungsausschuss: Brandon Bryant, Frau K. und Renate Leistner-Rocca, netzpolitik.org (in German)Friedhelm Greis: Heavy Metal für die Menschenjäger, October 15, 2015 golem.de (in German)John Goetz, Antonius Kempmann, Christian Baars: Bundesregierung schon länger informiert? November 6, 2015, tagesschau.de (in German) Jesselyn Radack is his lawyer.
In April 2015 Brandon Bryant gave his first public keynote 'Inside the Predator' on the drone-system and his experience as a drone operator at the conference 'DRONES: Eyes from a Distance', the opening event of the Disruption Network Lab in Berlin, Germany.Disruption Network Lab: DRONES: Eyes from a Distance, April 17, 2015
In 2015 the Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler and the German section of the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms awarded Bryant with the Whistleblower Award.Marie Wehrhahn: US-Whistleblower spricht in Karlsruhe, October 16, 2015, ka-news.de (in German)
In November 2015 the theatrical play Ramstein Airbase: Game of Drones premiered at Staatstheater Mainz. Brandon Bryant is a central character and was played by Denis Larisch.Katharina Hölter: Weltpolitik im Theater: Ramstein, Drohnen und eine Marilyn (in German) . November 27, 2015 saarbruecker-zeitung.de
In May 2016 the Norwegian documentary filmer Tonje Hessen Schei produced the documentary Drone – This Is No Game!.Drone , website with trailer in portal dronethedocumentary.com Drone pilots Brandon Bryant and Michael Haas are shown as examples of how the CIA recruits video gamers and trains them to kill by remote control. An earlier version of the film won awards at several festivals in 2015. At the Bergen International Film Festival it won the "Best Documentary Award“ and the "Human Rights Award“. At the Cinema for Peace Foundation in Berlin it won the award as "Most Valuable Documentary of the Year“. At the San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival the team that made the documentary won the "Amnesty International Award“.Preisgekrönte Dokumentation „Drone – This Is No Game!“ (in German) bundeswehr-journal.de
References