Gary McKinnon is shown at a news conference in London on January 15, 2009.
October 16th, 2012
09:36 AM ET
UK blocks extradition of Pentagon hacker
By Laura Smith-Sparks
The UK government Tuesday blocked the extradition of computer hacker Gary McKinnon to the United States to face trial for what the U.S. government says is the biggest military computer hacking of all time.
Home Secretary Theresa May said McKinnon's Asperger syndrome and depressive illness meant "there is such a high risk of him ending his own life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with his human rights."
Gary McKinnon has admitted to breaking into computers at NASA and the Pentagon but says he did so to find out if the U.S. government was covering up the existence of UFOs.
The 46-year-old has fought a decade-long battle against extradition.
@natlsecuritycnn on Twitter
He looks like he should have been hired by Peter Jackson to play an elf character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The Pentagon should be paying him, not trying to jail him.
What a surpise! For one time the right-wing thugs in Washington didn't get their way! And this from Great Britain at that!!!
Wait, is this a green light to grope the uk electronically?
Bless
Donn your tin hats in recognition of his spirit of truth, uh, maybe we should give him a job