Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks, is alive and well, despite rumors of her death circulating online. Manning, who came out as a transgender woman in 2013, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for espionage and other offenses, but had her sentence commuted by former President Barack Obama in 2017. She was released from prison in May of that year, after serving seven years behind bars.
Who is Chelsea Manning and what did she leak?
Chelsea Manning was born as Bradley Manning in Oklahoma City in 1987. She joined the Army in 2007 and was deployed to Iraq in 2009 as an intelligence analyst. There, she had access to classified databases that contained military and diplomatic information. In early 2010, she began downloading and copying massive amounts of material, starting with 400,000 documents pertaining to the Iraq War.
She smuggled the data out of her base on a CD marked “Lady Gaga” and uploaded it to her personal computer. She then contacted WikiLeaks, an online platform that publishes secret information from anonymous sources, and sent them the material.
The documents that Manning leaked to WikiLeaks included videos of U.S. airstrikes that killed civilians, including two Reuters journalists, in Iraq and Afghanistan; 251,287 U.S. diplomatic cables that revealed candid and often embarrassing assessments of foreign leaders and policies; and 482,832 Army reports that detailed the daily events of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The leaks exposed the brutality and corruption of the U.S. military and its allies, as well as the lies and cover-ups of the U.S. government and its diplomats. They also sparked global debates and protests about the ethics and legality of the U.S. involvement in the Middle East and beyond.
She said she leaked the documents out of a sense of duty and love for her country, hoping to spark public awareness and discussion about the realities of war and diplomacy. She also said she had a female gender identity since childhood and wanted to be known as Chelsea Manning.
However, U.S. officials and many critics denounced her actions as treasonous and dangerous, claiming that she put lives and national security at risk. She was arrested in May 2010, after an online acquaintance, Adrian Lamo, reported her to the authorities.
Profile Overlook
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Chelsea Elizabeth Manning |
| Birth date | December 17, 1987 |
| Birth place | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Occupation | Activist, whistleblower, writer |
| Military service | U.S. Army, 2007-2010 |
| Leaks | 400,000 Iraq War documents, 91,000 Afghanistan War documents, 251,287 U.S. diplomatic cables, and other classified material to WikiLeaks in 2010 |
| Arrest | May 2010, by U.S. military authorities in Iraq |
| Charges | 22 offenses, including espionage, theft, computer fraud, and aiding the enemy |
| Conviction | July 2013, by a military court-martial |
| Sentence | 35 years in prison, reduced to 7 years by commutation |
| Release | May 2017, from Fort |
| Source | Wikipedia- @Chelsea_Manning Instagram- @xychelsea87 Homepage- Newsunzip |
What happened to Manning after her arrest?
Chelsea Manning was charged with 22 offenses, including aiding the enemy, which was the most serious charge and could have resulted in a death sentence. She was held in solitary confinement and subjected to harsh treatment at a military prison in Virginia, before being transferred to another prison in Kansas.
She pleaded guilty to 10 of the charges in 2013, admitting that she violated the law but denying that she intended to harm the U.S. or its interests. She was convicted of 17 of the original charges and amended versions of four others, but acquitted of aiding the enemy. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison, the longest sentence ever imposed for a leak of classified information in U.S. history.
She came out as a transgender woman shortly after her sentencing and requested hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery. She sued the Department of Defense, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), for denying her medical treatment for her gender dysphoria. She also attempted suicide twice and went on a hunger strike to protest her conditions. She eventually received hormone therapy in 2015 and was approved for surgery in 2016. She also changed her legal name to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning.
In January 2017, in one of his last acts as president, Obama commuted Manning’s sentence to seven years, citing her remorse, her cooperation with the investigation, and the excessive nature of her punishment. He said that she had served a “tough prison sentence” and that “justice has been served”. She was released from prison on May 17, 2017, after serving nearly seven years of her sentence.
What has Manning been doing since her release?
Since her release, Chelsea Manning has been living as a free woman and an activist. She has been outspoken about her views on politics, human rights, technology, and the media. She has also written articles and op-eds for various publications, such as the New York Times, the Guardian, and Medium. She has given speeches and interviews at various events and platforms, such as the Nantucket Project, the New Yorker Festival, and Democracy Now. She has also been active on social media, especially Twitter and Instagram, where she has millions of followers.
Manning has also faced some challenges and controversies since her release. In March 2018, she was barred from entering Canada due to her criminal record. In September 2018, she was invited to be a visiting fellow at Harvard University, but the invitation was rescinded after backlash from some faculty members and former CIA officials. In March 2019, she was jailed for contempt of court for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange.
She said she objected to the secrecy and coercion of the grand jury process and that she had nothing more to say than what she had already said during her court-martial. She was released in March 2020, after the grand jury expired, but was ordered to pay $256,000 in fines.
Chelsea Manning has also attempted to run for public office. In January 2018, she announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate in Maryland, challenging the incumbent Democrat, Ben Cardin. She ran on a platform of radical change, calling for the abolition of prisons, the military, and the police, and the protection of civil liberties, human rights, and the environment. She also criticized the establishment and the mainstream media for being corrupt and complicit in the status quo.
However, she faced criticism and hostility from some voters, politicians, and pundits, who questioned her motives, qualifications, and loyalty. She also struggled with fundraising and campaigning, and received only 5.7% of the vote in the primary election in June 2018.
Is Manning dead?
Manning is not dead, despite rumors and hoaxes that have circulated online. In December 2020, a fake news website published an article claiming that she had died of a drug overdose in her apartment in Maryland. The article was widely shared on social media, but was quickly debunked by fact-checkers and Manning herself, who posted a video on Twitter showing that she was alive and well. She also urged her followers to be careful of misinformation and disinformation online.
Chelsea Manning has also faced death threats and harassment from some online trolls and haters, who have targeted her for her gender identity, her political views, and her actions as a whistleblower. She has reported some of these incidents to the authorities and has sought legal action against some of her attackers. She has also expressed her gratitude and appreciation for her supporters and allies, who have stood by her and defended her.
She is currently 36 years old and lives in Bethesda, Maryland. She continues to be an advocate and a voice for the marginalized and the oppressed. She also continues to face legal challenges and uncertainties, as the U.S. government has appealed her sentence commutation and has sought to revoke her benefits as a veteran. She has said that she is prepared to fight for her rights and her freedom, and that she hopes to inspire others to do the same.
Chelsea Manning is a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks in 2010, exposing the atrocities and corruption of the U.S. military and its allies, as well as the lies and cover-ups of the U.S. government and its diplomats. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison for espionage and other offenses, but had her sentence commuted by former President Barack Obama in 2017.
