FREE CITIZENS NEWS FUNDED BY READERS:  Washington goons seize Scott Ritter’s passport. The international journalist who also contributes to RT was forcibly prevented from visiting the Russian Federation to attend a conference.

The US State Department has seized the passport of former Marine and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, he told RT on Monday.

The internationally acclaimed former weapons inspector was on his way to Russia to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). He was pulled off the plane and had his documents confiscated.

‘I was boarding the flight. Three state agents pulled me aside. They took my passport. When asked why, they said ‘orders of the State Department’. They had no further information for me,’ Ritter told RT. ’They dragged my bags off the plane, then escorted me out of the airport. They kept my passport.’

Ritter is a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer, who later served as the US and UN weapons inspector in Iraq. He is also an RT contributor, writing about international security, military affairs, Russia, and the Middle East, as well as arms control and nonproliferation.

He most recently visited Russia in January, spending time in Chechnya, Moscow and St. Petersburg, among other places. The most recent post on Ritter’s Telegram channel put the Clooney Foundation for Justice on notice for its crusade against Russian propagandists.

‘Here I am. In your face. If telling the truth about Russia makes me a propagandist in your book, then I accept the title,’ he wrote. ’Bring it on. I’ll school you on the First Amendment.’

‘You have zero concept of what free speech is. Try and arrest me and you’ll find out. In spades. It’s war,’ he added.