Jeremy Hammond

Jeremy Hammond, born in 1985, is a controversial Chicago, Illinois political activist, self-professed anarchist, freegan and convicted hacker who has been involved in anti-war and anti-globalization causes as well as digital rights and free software movements. He has helped produce several zines and websites for his various hacking and activist groups, most notably founding the hacker website hackthissite.org. He was recently convicted for the theft of approximately 5000 credit card numbers with intent to defraud and distribute. For this, he was sentenced to twenty four months in prison, a $5250 fine, and three years of supervised release during which he may not participate in any hacking or anarchist communities, either physically or online.

History

In Summer 2004, during a Pride parade, Jeremy Hammond and two others were arrested on North Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois. During the court proceedings, it came to the attention of those involved that Jeremy was in possession of a video which would exonerate him while implicating others. Upon a meeting of the three defendants, they came to a consensus that they would not hand over the tape to the judge. During the time between his arrest and conviction, Jeremy began showing the video at parties, even though he was asked not to. Right before the conviction of the Halsted Three, Hammond turned over the tape and broke consensus. His decision put those who were not involved with the case in jeopardy; and though no one was directly harmed by the video, it did show unmasked anarchists from the Chicagoland area and provided a focal point for police investigations since. This earned Mr. Hammond the status of snitch.^{[citation needed]}

Protest Warrior

On March 19, 2005, Hammond's apartment in Chicago was raided by FBI agents who seized his computers, written records and various electronic media. He was eventually arrested and charged with felony-level offenses relating to computer hacking and credit card fraud, arising from the 2004 intrusion into the website belonging to the activist group Protest Warrior. Hammond took a list of approximately 5000 credit card numbers and was involved in a scheme to use these stolen numbers to make donations to humanitarian and charity groups. Though he had these numbers in his possession for a number of months, he never went through with the scheme. An informant contacted Protest Warrior and told them about the hack. They then contacted the FBI. The District Attorney and the FBI charged Jeremy with 2.5 million dollars in damage ($500 per credit card), following guidelines for "intent to use" even though no damage was actually done.

Sentencing

With his court appointed attorney's recommendations, Hammond eventually entered a "blind plea" of guilt without any plea bargain. At his sentencing hearing on December 7, 2006 he claimed that he was motivated by "political rivalry" and not personal gain. Although the judge said Jeremy had a "special gift", he also said that Jeremy "used poor judgment" and that "all 19 year olds are idiots". The judge said he believed that Jeremy "probably wouldn't" have used the credit cards, but based the sentencing on a "30% chance" that something may have triggered him to use them eventually. He took 30% of the $2.5 million dollars and used that figure for the sentencing guidelines. Hammond was sentenced to 24 months in prison and 3 years' probation during which he may not participate in Hackthissite.org or Anarchist activities. No restitution was awarded to the victims for the potential damages alleged by the prosecution. Although the District Attorney Brandon Fox and the FBI tried to incarcerate Jeremy at his sentencing hearing for "violating bail by failing two recent drug tests and being arrested on disorderly conduct charges", the judge gave Jeremy until January 3 2007 to check himself in, to let him spend the holidays with his family at his father's request. Jeremy reported as schedueled to begin his sentence at the medium security federal prison in Greenville, Illinois on Jauary 3, 2007. [1]

Other Activism

Along with several other activists, Jeremy was arrested in Toledo, Ohio while enroute an anti-Nazi rally on December 11, 2005. They were detained for various charges, including contempt of court. Jeremy and many others have had their names, addresses and phone numbers released on a racist website after their arrests. These charges were eventually dropped, and Jeremy along with others are now involved in a lawsuit against the city and police for wrongful arrest.

In addition to helping organize and participating in dozens of anti-war and anti-capitalist actions in Chicago and around the country, he has helped found and/or provide material assistance to other related political activist projects. He has volunteered and helped organize hacktivist workshops at Dai5ychain Community Computer Lab, has helped maintain activist living co-ops, has cooked, served, and hosted food not bombs activities, has organized public games of Urban Capture the Flag, and more.

All these projects are considered by some as detrimental to the activist networks and groups in the Chicago area as well as all over the United States because of Jeremy's disregard towards the security of others. His "sustainable living co-ops" have been havens for rapists, their enablers, abrasive and abusive individuals in the past. Jeremy has been known to randomly run out into the intersections of the neighborhoods where he lives and block them off with bucket drums and flags. These actions have also been subject to criticisms of the activist community, as they make anarchism look like something silly and reckless, and not the social movement it really is.

Security Risks

In the three years since his arrest and conviction in the Halsted case and the two years since his first brush with the FBI, Jeremy has shown no remorse or respect for those involved in the Chicago activist networks he was once a part of. Repeatedly, he has forced others into situations where they feel uncomfortable or failed to tell people about his history with the law. It is highly suggested that people not communicate with Jeremy Hammond while he is in or out of prison, as he is regarded as a snitch and security risk by both the Anarchist Black Cross Network and many Chicago activists. ^{[citation needed]}

External links

News articles

Websites put together by Hammond and the HTS/Hackbloc collective

'hack this zine'

Electronic Civil Disobedience Journal TXT PDF
Notes from the Hacker Underground TXT PDF
Digital Contraband TXT PDF
Ammo for the Info Warrior TXT PDF