Jeremy Hammond confesses from jail ‘I hacked into govt to expose truth’
Jailed United States hacker and a cult hero for some, Jeremy Hammond has confessed that he hacked to expose the naked truth about governments ‘I hacked into the government websites to expose the truth’. He added that hacking government websites is all he ever wanted to do. When asked what was the reason for his utter contempt for government, he said he is worried about the invasive power states have with computer technology and justified his actions by the need to expose the truth and confront justice.
Who is Jeremy Hammond
Jeremy Hammond is a 29 year old political activist and computer hacker from Chicago. He was convicted and sentenced in November 2013 to 10 years in Manchester Federal Prison in rural Kentucky for hacking the private intelligence firm Stratfor and releasing the leaks through Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks. He is perhaps the only hacker in the world to receive such a long sentence. He will complete his first anniversary of prison sentence on 15th November, 2014.
His Mission
Jeremy has stated that his mission is to use his undeniable knowledge of computer systems and websites to bring to light the dark truths that the governments hide from us. He believes it is laughable that he could be seen as a threat to national security because of his actions. “I mean, I didn’t kill anybody,” he said an interview with the AP.
He says he realizes the power he holds and the countries hold with computer. “If I was capable of doing these things on my own, what about a well-financed team that trained for years?” he asked the interviewer.
He also said that he would often get a high after breaking into the impregnable defences of some high profile websites.He says he was more like wow, I can do this. He says, “I was like damn man, this is crazy.” “From the start, I always wanted to target government websites, but also police and corporations that profit off government contracts,” he told AP. “I hacked lots of dot-govs.”
Role model for hacktivist world wide
Jeremy is often hailed as a hero in the hacktivist community for the zeal with which he took on the most powerful country in the world and exposed some dirty laundry in the open . Jeremy, who hails from Chicago, has been a hacktivist for over a decade and during this time he has been in and out of prison for sticking to his beliefs and his, “sense of duty to take action.”
“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.”
Jeremy stated in a video, released on the day he was incarcerated on November 15, 2013 which can be viewed below
The interview
The Associated Press caught up with him at the Kentucky prison where he is being held. “This is the nicest room in the place,” he said, when speaking with in a drab cinderblock visiting room about how and why he did what he did. Prison authorities barred cameras and recorders, citing security. When asked why not take legal means to expose the truth he wanted, he said“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.”
Resource : Associated Press
