This morning, Chelsea Manning stepped from prison into a world so completely different from the one she knew when she was imprisoned for leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks.
Private First Class Bradley Manning stole 251,000 State Department documents, many of them secret international embassy reports. Manning smuggled the security documents out on a CD labeled “Lady Gaga.” Manning was bitter after a breakup with his boyfriend.
Manning, smuggled the information out of a secure facility on a CD. Never before had a superpower lost control of such vast amounts of sensitive information.
In April 2014 a Kansas judge allowed Manning to change his name to “Chelsea.”
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning poses for a picture in a wig and lipstick. (AP)
Obama commuted Chelsea Manning’s sentence today from 35 years to 7 years.
The perpetrator largest breaches of classified material in US history will be a free woman in May!
Just a few hours after having been released from military prison for leaking classified government documents to WikiLeaks, ex-U.S. Army private Chelsea Manning tasted freedom once again and celebrated this in a tweet, which read: “First steps of freedom!!” Attached to the tweet was an image of her feet in a pair of black, low-top Converse sneakers.
The tweet was sent at 9:50AM.
In a statement following her release, Chelsea said:
“After another anxious four months of waiting, the day has finally arrived. I am looking forward to so much! Whatever is ahead of me is far more important than the past. I’m figuring things out right now, which is exciting, awkward, fun, and all new for me.”
Chelsea Manning (29), formerly Bradley, was released from Fort Leavenworth in Kansas after serving 7 years of what was to be a 35-year sentence.
First steps of freedom!! 😄https://t.co/kPPWV5epwa#ChelseaIsFree pic.twitter.com/0R5pXqA1VN
— Chelsea Manning (@xychelsea) May 17, 2017
