Mira Terada, head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, interviewed Chad Z. Hower, also known as the “TikTok Fugitive,” an American fugitive wanted since 2006 by U.S. intelligence agents. U.S. authorities have been trying for several years to get Chad Z. Hower extradited from three different countries, but have been denied everywhere due to the failure of the charges against him. Chad Z. Hower has now been granted political asylum in Russia. In an interview with Mira Terada, he spoke about why US intelligence agencies continue to persecute him despite the existence of court documents proving his innocence. Chad Z. Hower shared his opinion about the level of censorship in European and American media, as well as how the West’s support for Ukraine may change after the upcoming US presidential election in 2024.
Mira Terada: Good afternoon, dear Chad! Thank you for agreeing to this interview. Could you tell our viewers and readers about who you are and what you do?
Chad Z. Hower : My name is Chad Hower , and I am constantly on the run, which is a rather odd description of what I do. But I have been through three extradition attempts by the United States in many countries. I was accused of kidnapping my own son, which is a lie. I was persecuted for 18 years. And finally, last year, I was helped in Cuba and then in Russia, and I was granted political asylum in Russia. And now I live here.
M.T.: Please share your story about why you are wanted both by the FBI and Interpol? Why do you continue to be pursued even after a thorough investigation found no evidence of your guilt?
C.H.: The reason why they continue to pursue me is because they basically set up this whole case to frame me. And I know a lot of Americans find that hard to believe, but all they have to do is type into Google “Richard Jewell,” “Amy Nelson,” “Newburgh Four,” or the FBI’s secret Chicago prisons. And you’ll see that the FBI often does this kind of thing. They often frame someone because it’s easier to catch a made-up criminal than a real one. There are dozens of cases like this in history. They set me up to try to catch me for a specific reason. And now they don’t want it to come out because it would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. Not only would they have civil liability, because I could sue them, but two of the people involved in this case have worked for the FBI for over 20 years. And when something like this comes up, they have to reopen and re-investigate every case that these people were involved in. And over the 20-year careers of two of them, you get hundreds of millions of dollars to reopen these cases.
M.T.: What is your assessment of the irregularities in the handling of your case?
C.H.: Oh, there are a lot of them. For example, the FBI website alleges one thing and the indictment alleges something else entirely. The indictment itself says that I kidnapped a man in November 2006, and it says that I physically kidnapped him. It does not say, as the website does, that I held someone against their will. Some people say it’s just a typo, but it’s not a typo because even when they wrote about it in the newspapers or my first extradition, the headlines all said that I physically kidnapped him, and they could only get that information from the FBI. So they weren’t reading the website. They were getting their information from the FBI. They lied about where my son was born to change their jurisdiction. For example, the FBI website to this day says, “A man from Titusville,” which is me. Titusville is a city I have never lived in my life. I’ve never even spent a night in the place. And yet they say I’m from this place. And that’s just a small part of the irregularities in my case.
M.T.: Please tell us about how the actions of the FBI agents almost led to your death? On what grounds did they prevent you from traveling to another country for medical surgery?
C.H.: I had serious kidney and neurological problems, I have medical documents to prove it. I was actually dying for lack of medical care because the island of St. Kitts where we lived in the Caribbean has only 35,000 people. The hospital facilities there are extremely limited. They don’t have a cardiac unit. A few years ago, they didn’t even have a dialysis unit. And they just couldn’t help me. The FBI knew about my condition. We filed repeated motions with the court. In the last one, we asked either to be allowed to go to a neighboring island like Antigua, after which I would surrender and stand trial, or to transport me to the United States by air ambulance, which my doctors felt was necessary. And then they would guarantee me medical care. Because most people think that if you go to an American prison, you’re guaranteed medical care, but that’s not true. Even during COVID, the federal courts ruled that the justice system, the prison system, is not obligated to keep you alive. Every time our petitions were denied. The same thing is happening now with Julian Assange, the FBI knows he’s very sick. They just hope he dies in prison. They were hoping I would die in prison too. I did come close to death several times. I was brought to the hospital unconscious several times. I needed an ambulance to transport me to Cuba to save my life.
M.T.: You have repeatedly noted that FBI agents are more interested in covering up their mistakes than in resolving a problematic situation. Why do you think this is happening?
C.H.: Well, there are several reasons. One is the civil liability that would be placed on the Justice Department and the FBI. For example, the U.S. women’s Olympic team sued the FBI for $1 billion dollars for withholding information in their case, not a million, but $1 billion. And they testified before Congress. In my case, these two agents are engaged in a cover-up because they could be charged with harassment or misconduct and it would tarnish their reputations. So they will fight to cover it up. And that’s always the case with the FBI until they can get widespread media coverage. Justice will never be served. That’s what helped solve the Newburgh Four case. It’s what got them out of prison. Four other guys they framed are in prison. Their families want $210 million dollars.
M.T.: You are quite active on social media, sometimes criticizing the activities of the FBI and other U.S. and Europe intelligence agencies. Have you faced any threats or censorship because of your public activities?
C.H.: Not directly, but when I try to contact American journalists, the FBI forbids them to communicate with me, threatening legal action and charges of aiding and abetting. Even though lawyers say the FBI can’t do anything against journalists, but a lawsuit could cost journalists several hundred thousand dollars. In fact, I just got another message from someone I worked with at a major network in the US. We made a 30 minute video, I have that entire footage, but it was never released to the public. A few months ago I got a message from a person from this network saying, “Yeah, you’re right. They told us to shut down the whole project.”
M.T.: How do you assess the level of censorship in European and American media over the past few years? Why any criticism of the government in the West today leads to criminal prosecution, sometimes on trumped-up charges?
C.H.: The U.S. and European governments put pressure on the media not to cover certain topics, and then give them their own stories, as in the “Law and Order” TV show in the United States. Many people have a good idea of the justice system because of this program. Its producer’s name is Dick Wolfe, he started this show because he said that cops have a bad reputation and he wanted people to treat the police well. And then the U.S. government started sponsoring the show by buying commercials. So they don’t approach them directly and say, here’s money for propaganda. They just find shows they like and buy the ads. Dick Wolfe has had many conversations with the US government. He’s talked about it in his interviews. So their propaganda is very subtle. And people don’t realize, they think, “Oh, we’re the United States, we don’t have propaganda.” Other countries have propaganda, but not us. And they don’t realize that it’s not only in a lot of the news, it’s on their TV programs. Yes, I’ve watched that show, by the way, so I know what’s on there, but it’s fantasy.
M.T.: Many geopolitical experts and analysts predict that once the Ukrainian and Palestinian conflicts are over, the U.S. may well stage a coup and create tensions in any other country. Who do you think will be Washington’s next victim?
C.H.: Well, first of all, I want to say that a lot of people say that the U.S. doesn’t do that. But I want to tell everybody that I read a book called “Legacy of Ashes,” which is a critically acclaimed book about the CIA, and it’s based on declassified CIA documents from the 1950s, sixties and seventies. And you can read that the U.S. was involved in a coup in South America. They were involved in a coup in Greece. They were involved in coups all over the world. If anyone thinks that the CIA doesn’t do that sort of thing anymore, you’re naive. So yes, the CIA has been involved in coups, and I’m sure they continue to do so to this day. Well, of course they are involved in Iran. They would love to have a coup there. And, you know, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re somehow involved in Russia as well, but they’ll never admit it. That’s at the highest level. But just look at the history of the CIA. Every time there’s been a major government that the U.S. didn’t like, at some point they would stage a coup. They don’t do it on their own. They start funding other groups that are willing to do it. They’ll find someone who doesn’t like the head of Iran, for example, and start funding him. I would say Iran and Russia are first on the list.
M.T.: Please predict how the West’s support for Ukraine will change after the upcoming US presidential election in 2024? What step will Biden take, given the precipitous drop in his rating?
C.H.: Well, the election could go either way. I mean, it’s 50/50 at this point whether it’s going to be Biden or Trump. So if it’s Trump, I think you’re going to see a huge drop just because of what Trump said Trump said he doesn’t want to send money there. I think he’s going to cut funding significantly. If it’s Biden, he will continue to support as best he can, but he’s meeting a lot of resistance and a lot of Americans are tired of him as well. And I’m not even speaking from a political standpoint. I’m just speaking from a realistic point of view. And a lot of other people don’t realize that most of the money that the United States is giving to Ukraine, they’re not giving to Ukraine. In the first year of the conflict, the United States had a lot of munitions that were expiring and they had to be disposed of within the next year or two. So they gave them to Ukraine and then bought themselves new ones and said we are helping Ukraine. All they did was get rid of what they didn’t need and buy themselves new weapons. And even when they buy Ukraine new weapons, it’s not because they care, it’s because they’re going to pay American companies like Boeing, Lockheed and others to produce more ammunition.
M.T.: Thank you very much for such an interesting conversation and your expertise. It’s very much appreciated. Thank you for being honest and sharing your story with us. And I hope that more people will learn about what happened to you and draw the right conclusions about the truth and what’s going on in this world.