Chelsea Manning, born Bradley Edward Manning, is a former US Army soldier convicted of violating the Espionage Act in July 2013 after leaking hundreds of thousands of classified and unclassified military documents to WikiLeaks, including videos of airstrikes in Baghdad (2007) and Afghanistan (2009).

Manning was dishonorably discharged from the army, as well as sentenced to thirty five years’ imprisonment. The most serious conviction, Aiding the Enemy, could’ve resulted in the death sentence for Manning. However, she was found not guilty.

Manning chose to enlist in 2007, in hopes of earning a college education through the GI Bill.

While enlisted, she was diagnosed with gender identity disorder after asking her supervisor to place her in a masculine environment to cure inner discrepancies. Manning was sent to a discharge unit six weeks later following multiple incidents involving bullying. She then had her discharge revoked and went back to basic training, from where she moved up. Manning later began a relationship with Tyler Watkins while stationed in New York. It was Watkins who introduced Manning to the “hacking community”.

    Initially, Manning (known as Bradley) was an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2009, giving her access to an abundance of classified information, including war logs from Iraq and Afghanistan. Manning eventually confided her crimes to an online acquaintance, who promptly informed Army Counterintelligence.

Behavioral issues ultimately led to Manning’s discharge, though she was arrested later that year for her treasonous crimes. The leaked videos sparked criticism from human rights activists, as innocent civilians are shown being killed.

As a final act of clemency, former President Obama commuted all but four months of Manning’s remaining prison sentence this past Tuesday, following two suicide attempts by Manning made in the last year from the men’s military prisons she has been held in since 2010, first in solitary confinement, then in general population. Obama also granted pardon to James Cartwright and Andre Huggins.

Snowden, however, will continue to live out his exile in Russia, having not been granted clemency from the former president. Many were thrilled at the commuted sentence granted to Manning, claiming this very well may have saved her life. Manning has been able to maintain a Twitter account and a support website from prison as well.

This executive decision has prompted much controversy, especially given Obama’s denunciation of WikiLeaks’s role in hacking our most recent election of Donald Trump. Manning’s sentence is now set to expire May 15 of this year.