Military:
Chelsea Manning goes free after seven years in prison for giving classified material to WikiLeaks.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pvt. Chelsea Manning, the Army soldier who was sentenced to 35 years in a military prison for giving classified materials to WikiLeaks, said Wednesday that she’s excited about what lies ahead, just hours after she walked free after serving seven years behind bars.
“I’m figuring things out right now — which is exciting, awkward, fun, and all new for me,” Manning, 29, said in an emailed statement hours after being released from a lockup at Kansas’ Fort Leavenworth.
Manning later took to social networking, posting photos of her lunch — “So, (I’m) already enjoying my first hot, greasy pizza,” she declared of the slice of pepperoni — and her feet in tennis shoes, captioning that her “First steps of freedom!!”
Manning’s immediate plans, including living arrangements, remained unclear. Manning tweeted after then-President Barack Obama granted her clemency in January that she planned to move to Maryland, where she has an aunt. Manning originally comes from Crescent, Okla.
“After another anxious four months of waiting, the day has finally arrived,” Manning said in Wednesday’s statement. “I am looking forward to so much! Whatever is ahead of me is far more important than the past.”
Manning, who is transgender and was known as Bradley Manning before she transitioned in prison, was convicted in 2013 of 20 counts, including six Espionage Act violations, theft and computer fraud. She was acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.
Manning, a former intelligence analyst in Iraq, has acknowledged leaking the materials, which included battlefield video. She said she wanted to expose what she considered to be the U.S. military’s disregard of the effects of war on civilians and that she released information that she didn’t believe would harm the U.S.
Critics said the leaks laid bare some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets and endangered information sources, prompting the State Department to help some of those people move to protect their safety.