Last week, the Liberty movement lost one of its most eloquent and courageous voices when William Grigg passed away at the far too young age of 54. William worked as a writer for The New American from 1993-2005, and was a contributor to LewRockwell.com and Antiwar.com. He also published many important articles at his Pro Liberate blog. In October 2016, William helped found The Libertarian Institute, and served as the Institute’s managing editor from its founding until his passing.
While he wrote on a variety of topics, William is best known for his writings on police brutality and police militarization. Years before modern police practices became a focus of national debate, Will was exposing how the rights—including the right to life—of innocent Americas are too often collateral damage in the war on drugs and terrorism. The liberty movement’s focus on this issue owes much to the work of Will Grigg.
What made Will so effective was that he took the time to gather the facts behind each case that he wrote about, often traveling at his own expense to interview his subjects. He then combined this mastery of detail with a powerful critique of the policies used to justify the transformation of America from a Republic to a Welfare-Warfare-Police State.
Unlike many who write on these issues, including some libertarians, Will never avoided discussing how racial minorities bear the brunt of modern police state policies. However, he never pretended that police brutality was solely a minority issue. He would not ignore certain incidents because the victim’s race did not fit the preferred narrative.
My wife Carol, myself, and all of us at Campaign for Liberty, the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, and The Ron Paul Liberty Report join Will’s many friends in sending our best wishes and prayers to his wife, Korrin, and his six children. I also join libertarians across the country in expressing gratitude for the example that Will set in how one can combine old-fashioned investigative reporting and a passionate commitment to freedom to make a real difference in the movement to reclaim our liberties.
