‘First Steps of Freedom’, Chelsea tweeted from her twitter account this morning.
First steps of freedom!! ?https://t.co/kPPWV5epwa#ChelseaIsFree pic.twitter.com/0R5pXqA1VN
— Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) May 17, 2017
Chelsea Manning, a transgendered U.S. Army intelligence analyst, was imprisoned in July 2010 for violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses, after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly three-quarters of a million classified, as well as unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents.
Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, the longest ever imposed for a leak conviction. Many deemed the sentence overtly harsh, as a means to make an example out of Chelsea.
On January 17th, at the end of his term, President Obama commuted Manning’s sentence, along with 209 other commutations and 64 pardons. The former President believed that Manning’s time served, (7 years), was “sufficient punishment for the serious crimes she committed.”
Manning was released early this morning. For more on Manning’s clemency visit VICE News.
