See this. As Jeremy was inspired by Chelsea Manning, so may each of us be inspired by Jeremy to do what is ours to do at this most critical moment in human history, no matter the consequences.
Anonymous Hacktivist Jeremy Hammond’s Court Statement Upon Being Sentenced to 10 Years In Jail
November 16, 2013
Good morning. Thank you for this opportunity. My name is Jeremy Hammond and I’m here to be sentenced for hacking activities carried out during my involvement with Anonymous. I have been locked up at MCC for the past 20 months and have had a lot of time to think about how I would explain my actions.Before I begin, I want to take a moment to recognize the work of the people who have supported me. I want to thank all the lawyers and others who worked on my case: Elizabeth Fink, Susan Kellman, Sarah Kunstler, Emily Kunstler, Margaret Kunstler, and Grainne O’Neill. I also want to thank the National Lawyers Guild, the Jeremy Hammond Defense Committee and Support Network, Free Anons, the Anonymous Solidarity Network, Anarchist Black Cross, and all others who have helped me by writing a letter of support, sending me letters, attending my court dates, and spreading the word about my case. I also want to shout out my brothers and sisters behind bars and those who are still out there fighting the power.
The acts of civil disobedience and direct action that I am being sentenced for today are in line with the principles of community and equality that have guided my life. I hacked into dozens of high profile corporations and government institutions, understanding very clearly that what I was doing was against the law, and that my actions could land me back in federal prison. But I felt that I had an obligation to use my skills to expose and confront injustice–and to bring the truth to light.
Could I have achieved the same goals through legal means? I have tried everything from voting petitions to peaceful protest and have found that those in power do not want the truth to be exposed. When we speak truth to power we are ignored at best and brutally suppressed at worst. We are confronting a power structure that does not respect its own system of checks and balances, never mind the rights of it’s own citizens or the international community.
My introduction to politics was when George W. Bush stole the Presidential election in 2000, then took advantage of the waves of racism and patriotism after 9/11 to launch unprovoked imperialist wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. I took to the streets in protest naively believing our voices would be heard in Washington and we could stop the war. Instead, we were labeled as traitors, beaten, and arrested.
I have been arrested for numerous acts of civil disobedience on the streets of Chicago, but it wasn’t until 2005 that I used my computer skills to break the law in political protest. I was arrested by the FBI for hacking into the computer systems of a right-wing, pro-war group called Protest Warrior, an organization that sold racist t-shirts on their website and harassed anti-war groups. I was charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the “intended loss” in my case was arbitrarily calculated by multiplying the 5000 credit cards in Protest Warrior’s database by $500, resulting in a total of $2.5 million.My sentencing guidelines were calculated on the basis of this “loss,” even though not a single credit card was used or distributed — by me or anyone else. I was sentenced to two years in prison.
While in prison I have seen for myself the ugly reality of how the criminal justice system destroys the lives of the millions of people held captive behind bars. The experience solidified my opposition to repressive forms of power and the importance of standing up for what you believe.
When I was released, I was eager to continue my involvement in struggles for social change. I didn’t want to go back to prison, so I focused on above-ground community organizing. But over time, I became frustrated with the limitations, of peaceful protest, seeing it as reformist and ineffective. The Obama administration continued the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, escalated the use of drones, and failed to close Guantanamo Bay.
Around this time, I was following the work of groups like Wikileaks and Anonymous. It was very inspiring to see the ideas of hactivism coming to fruition. I was particularly moved by the heroic actions of Chelsea Manning, who had exposed the atrocities committed by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. She took an enormous personal risk to leak this information — believing that the public had a right to know and hoping that her disclosures would be a positive step to end these abuses. It is heart-wrenching to hear about her cruel treatment in military lockup.
I thought long and hard about choosing this path again. I had to ask myself, if Chelsea Manning fell into the abysmal nightmare of prison fighting for the truth, could I in good conscience do any less, if I was able? I thought the best way to demonstrate solidarity was to continue the work of exposing and confronting corruption.
I was drawn to Anonymous because I believe in autonomous, decentralized direct action. At the time Anonymous was involved in operations in support of the Arab Spring uprisings, against censorship, and in defense of Wikileaks. I had a lot to contribute, including technical skills, and how to better articulate ideas and goals. It was an exciting time — the birth of a digital dissent movement, where the definitions and capabilities of hacktivism were being shaped.
I was especially interested in the work of the hackers of LulzSec who were breaking into some significant targets and becoming increasingly political. Around this time, I first started talking to Sabu, who was very open about the hacks he supposedly committed, and was encouraging hackers to unite and attack major government and corporate systems under the banner of Anti Security. But very early in my involvement, the other Lulzsec hackers were arrested, leaving me to break into systems and write press releases. Later, I would learn that Sabu had been the first one arrested, and that the entire time I was talking to him he was an FBI informant.
Anonymous was also involved in the early stages of Occupy Wall Street. I was regularly participating on the streets as part of Occupy Chicago and was very excited to see a worldwide mass movement against the injustices of capitalism and racism. In several short months, the “Occupations” came to an end, closed by police crackdowns and mass arrests of protestors who were kicked out of their own public parks. The repression of Anonymous and the Occupy Movement set the tone for Antisec in the following months — the majority of our hacks against police targets were in retaliation for the arrests of our comrades.
I targeted law enforcement systems because of the racism and inequality with which the criminal law is enforced. I targeted the manufacturers and distributors of military and police equipment who profit from weaponry used to advance U.S. political and economic interests abroad and to repress people at home. I targeted information security firms because they work in secret to protect government and corporate interests at the expense of individual rights, undermining and discrediting activists, journalists and other truth seekers, and spreading disinformation.
I had never even heard of Stratfor until Sabu brought it to my attention. Sabu was encouraging people to invade systems, and helping to strategize and facilitate attacks. He even provided me with vulnerabilities of targets passed on by other hackers, so it came as a great surprise when I learned that Sabu had been working with the FBI the entire time.
On December 4, 2011, Sabu was approached by another hacker who had already broken into Stratfor’s credit card database. Sabu, under the watchful eye of his government handlers, then brought the hack to Antisec by inviting this hacker to our private chatroom, where he supplied download links to the full credit card database as well as the initial vulnerability access point to Stratfor’s systems.
I spent some time researching Stratfor and reviewing the information we were given, and decided that their activities and client base made them a deserving target. I did find it ironic that Stratfor’s wealthy and powerful customer base had their credit cards used to donate to humanitarian organizations, but my main role in the attack was to retrieve Stratfor’s private email spools which is where all the dirty secrets are typically found.
These intrusions, all of which were suggested by Sabu while cooperating with the FBI, affected thousands of domain names and consisted largely of foreign government websites, including those of XXXXXXX, XXXXXXXX, XXXX, XXXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXXXXX, XXXXXXX and the XXXXXX XXXXXXX. In one instance, Sabu and I provided access information to hackers who went on to deface and destroy many government websites in XXXXXX. I don’t know how other information I provided to him may have been used, but I think the government’s collection and use of this data needs to be investigated.
The government celebrates my conviction and imprisonment, hoping that it will close the door on the full story. I took responsibility for my actions, by pleading guilty, but when will the government be made to answer for its crimes?
The U.S. hypes the threat of hackers in order to justify the multi billion dollar cyber security industrial complex, but it is also responsible for the same conduct it aggressively prosecutes and claims to work to prevent. The hypocrisy of “law and order” and the injustices caused by capitalism cannot be cured by institutional reform but through civil disobedience and direct action. Yes I broke the law, but I believe that sometimes laws must be broken in order to make room for change.
In the immortal word of Frederick Douglas, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
This is not to say that I do not have any regrets. I realize that I released the personal information of innocent people who had nothing to do with the operations of the institutions I targeted. I apologize for the release of data that was harmful to individuals and irrelevant to my goals. I believe in the individual right to privacy — from government surveillance, and from actors like myself, and I appreciate the irony of my own involvement in the trampling of these rights. I am committed to working to make this world a better place for all of us. I still believe in the importance of hactivism as a form of civil disobedience, but it is time for me to move on to other ways of seeking change. My time in prison has taken a toll on my family, friends, and community. I know I am needed at home. I recognize that 7 years ago I stood before a different federal judge, facing similar charges, but this does not lessen the sincerity of what I say to you today.
It has taken a lot for me to write this, to explain my actions, knowing that doing so — honestly — could cost me more years of my life in prison. I am aware that I could get as many as 10 years, but I hope that I do not, as I believe there is so much work to be done.
Stay strong and keep struggling.
Jeremy Hammond is a hacktivist sentenced to ten years in prison for hacking into Stratfor, obtaining emails and account info on 860,000 subscribers, including credit card info on 60,000 people.
0 thoughts on “Convicted Hacker Jeremy Hammond’s statement to the court”
It would be easy to assume that actions such as these ( civil disobedience ) are heroic and necessary but they are futile when one considers the inherent value of such a soulless system…..a soulless society.
I work for some very powerful people ( they operate from a place of benevolent intelligence ). Twenty five years ago I was told to leave this society as it would cause the death of my children; Emotional, Spiritual, Mental and Physical. They told me that there is no inherent value in a system that holds hostage so many souls. Our current system is one that takes emotional, physical, mental and spiritual hostages. In such a vicious and cruel system there is no value therefore protesting or disobeying such a soul suppressing system is unnecessary.
These powerful people that I work for tell me that all we have to do is to move away from this valueless system and create one that has, at it’s foundations, inherent value to and for all living creatures.
No marching, no demands, no outrage, no self righteous indignation, no forcing our will upon the soulless who create and support such a vicious and loveless system. No bloodletting, no imprisonment, no leaving children behind to fend for themselves, no creating battle lines or divisions. Everything that we do by thought or deed is the future we create I am told and these actions ( even if thought to be valiant and right ) are the actions that future generations adopt and enact. Through these actions the future is created and a vicious circle of ‘entitlement’ is set in motion.
I am told that true visionaries create systems with a core value for all living beings. Jacques Fresco is considered a visionary by the people that I work for and he was completely marginalized by this current soulless system. He was a messenger of true change yet few found value in his vision. It is a pity.
As I have stated on your blog, Ann, I was shown that a cataclysm would befall Earth and her inhabitants. Many people who have experienced NDE’s, OBE’s and “alien” contact were shown this future reality with multiple possibilities of mitigating the damage, yet, I was told that this event would unfold as shown to me as mankind would not make the necessary mental and emotional changes needed to move us as ONE into a future deserving of the richness and reward of living a creative ( being creative has nothing to do with self gratification I am told ) life.
The powerful people that I work for have never told me an untruth. I did lose my sons physically, emotionally and mentally. One son was murdered in Iraq, one became addicted to prescribed “pain pills” ( opiates from those heavily guarded fields in Afghanistan ), and the other two are enamored of this filthy system and the material rewards it promises. What kind of human profits from the misery of others? What kind of human prescribes addictive substances to their fellow man?
I have lost my sons in more than one way. If I had heeded the admonition to take my children out of such a morally and spiritually defunct system I would not suffer watching my granddaughter navigate this destructive world without the protection of her father. I would not have to suffer the anguish of watching my grandchildren being forced to acclimate their beautiful souls to such a soulless society.
We will all suffer what is to come until and unless we simply move away from this system that takes hostages. The future requires no “sacrificial lambs”….no protesting, no marching, no anger or indignation;No moral outrage where no morality exists.
Jeremy Hammond is one of those ‘future children in the making’. Someone’s past actions created his future. How sad, how stupid.
Every thought, every action creates the future for someone else. Let us stop creating a future of suffering. It is beyond the time to move into unchartered territory…into a world that requires no messiahs or heroes.
Thank you Jamie, for this extended, heartfelt commentary. I too, am watching the culture entrance my grandchildren, even morphing theirreactions to events. At times, their expressions seem like those in cartoons, weird, exaggerated, flickering, not real. Our common predicament feels both necessary and impossible, both horrifying and heartening, depending on the day and my mood, and my ever-kaleidoscoping perspective. I aim to stay centered and open to miracles.
Dealing with ego is our lifelong challenge. To find love and forgiveness in your heart in spite of your suffering is to receive the wonderful gift of grace. It changes everything.
“When we speak truth to power we are ignored at best and brutally suppressed at worst. We are confronting a power structure that does not respect its own system of checks and balances, never mind the rights of its own citizens or the international community,” Jeremy Hammond.
Eventually all activists come to terms with ego one way or the other. Either control ego or ego will control you. The system hacktivist Jeremy Hammond is fighting is exactly as corrupt as he relates. Hammond seems to have been battered by impatience and false expectations of ego.
Contrary to Jeremy’s comments about Occupy Wall Street’s ritual dedication to nonviolence caused the movement to fade, I followed OWS closely (http://tinyurl.com/7qh28pv) and saw that it began to win the hearts and minds of a few Methodist Ministers that seemed to understand the OWS movement had effectively translated a social message, through its committed self-sacrificing Christ Consciousness into a core underlying nonviolent movement of love and grace to elevate awareness across age groups. While nearly all Methodist ministers remained frozen in fear and remained inside the security walls of their rationalized comfort zone, a few doors of progressive churches began to see the parallels of The Christ in the tactics OWS. That in itself was a huge awareness building accomplishment for the movement. OWS either directly or supernaturally seem to know how to work with the limitations of ego. This nonviolent patience in expectations for radical change is the supernatural distinction and earmark of Godly grace intuitively understood by those working closely with OWS. Its prevailing sense when felt renders the soul blissfully attuned in love and probably a good starting point as well as a safe harbor for social change. Jeremy seems to still be sailing the high stormy seas, and needs to find safe harbor once more.
The judge, Judge Loretta A. Preska, on the other hand harbors a terrible conflict (read the article linkedhttp://tinyurl.com/kw5bfop ) of interest and should have recused herself. She rendered a foolish sentence on Jeremy Hammond which does not serve the best interests of society she is sworn to protect if peaceful change is her goal.