A rude Italian awakening for reporter Josh Friedman
June 8, 2018
Josh Friedman outside the location for the Bilderberg conference in Turin, Italy.
By KAREN VELIE
Some of the world’s most powerful people are attending the mysterious Bilderberg conference this week in Turin, Italy. The conference provides a secretive forum for about 120-140 world leaders in politics, finance, media and industry to discuss issues such as technological developments, free trade, Russia, populism and the “post truth” world.
For years, organizers of the Bilderberg conference have attempted to keep the location and date of the meeting a secret until shortly before the annual gathering. This year, Cal Coast Times reporter Josh Friedman was one of the first journalists to report on the location and date of the annual meeting, set to run Thursday through Sunday. He was also one of the first journalists to arrive at the location of the conference this week — at a time the venue was still undisclosed — and report on the apparent preparations for the Bilderberg meeting.
At approximately 3:45 a.m. Thursday, hours before the start of the conference, a handful of Italian police officers burst through the door of the studio apartment where Friedman is staying, pointed a gun at him while he was lying in bed and demanded Friedman give them his name and passport. Friedman complied.
Officers told Friedman they had information that a suspect for whom they were searching was inside the reporter’s flat. Later, officers said they caught the suspect at nearby location, and police informed Friedman’s landlord that they had been searching for a terrorist.
Many observers and journalists who are covering the Bilderberg meeting from the outside question the Italian police’s story. Italian police have already detained several other journalists, some multiple times, over the first two days of the gathering of western elites in Turin.
Multiple international media outlets have covered Friedman’s run-in with the Italian police. Some journalists, including a Newsweek columnist, have suggested the incident likely stems from Friedman’s reporting on the Bilderberg conference.
An image of Friedman’s apartment door following the police break-in
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