Barrett Brown

Biography

Brown grew up in Dallas County. His father Robert, a wealthy real estate investor, was investigated by the FBI for fraud and lost the family's money; charges were eventually dropped. His parents divorced when he was seven, and he lived with his mother Karen Lancaster. Brown showed an early interest in writing, creating newspapers on the family computer while at Preston Hollow Elementary School, where he served as poet laureate.

He contributed to school newspapers and interned at weekly newspapers as a teenager. In middle school he explored online networks and read Ayn Rand. He attended the Episcopal School of Dallas through his sophomore year, founding the Objectivists Club and placing second in a national Ayn Rand essay contest. In 1998 he spent his would-be junior year in Tanzania with his father, completing high school online through a Texas Tech University program and earning college credits.

He enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin in 2000, taking writing courses for two semesters before leaving to freelance full-time. He remained in Austin freelancing, initially wanting to write humor.

In 2007 his book Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern Creationism, Intelligent Design, and the Easter Bunny, co-authored with Jon P. Alston, was published. That year he moved to Brooklyn with friends; their apartment became a hangout for marijuana dealers. He wrote columns for Vanity Fair and The Onion, and published on blogs like Daily Kos without pay.

Personal life

Brown identifies as an anarchist, believing the American government is corrupt and the people too complacent. He views Anonymous as a collective for anarchist struggles starting in 2006 and argues that hacking can spread anarchist ideas. He has described himself as an 'anarchist revolutionary with a lust for insurgency' who wanted to become famous for overthrowing things. In 2019 his Twitter account was permanently banned four times; the first three bans were overturned, and the fourth followed a tweet about Julian Assange and Erik Prince.

Brown has spoken publicly about his drug use and treatment, including methylphenidate in third grade until it made him suicidal, and later sertraline. After moving to Brooklyn he smoked crack cocaine, used heroin, and injected suboxone. He has been diagnosed with severe ADHD and depression and describes himself as a narcissist, a role he plays for comedic effect. He says he has been a drug addict since early adolescence.

In 2010 he began outpatient treatment for heroin addiction. In 2011 he stated that 'a lot of the rules don't apply to me. My heroin addiction is much different than everyone else's.' In 2012 he was still struggling with withdrawal; his mental state deteriorated, and he testified that he was going through withdrawal when he made the video for which he was convicted, and that stopping Paxil had induced a manic state. He went to rehab in 2020.

After friend Kevin Gallagher died from fentanyl and meth in June 2021, Brown's life spiraled and he accused friends of being intelligence assets. He attempted suicide in 2022. In his memoir he wrote that during opiate withdrawal one becomes highly receptive to stray enthusiasms.

Legacy

Barrett Brown's case appeared as a storyline in House of Cards season two, thanks to suggestions from his associate Gregg Housh, also an Anonymous member. NPR reported that Brown may have inspired the Mr. Robot character Elliott. According to Frédéric Bardeau and Nicolas Danet, Brown and Project PM represent a key shift in hacktivism toward more organized, focused efforts, a model that later influenced other hacker groups.