Chelsea Manning Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Chelsea Manning
Manning in 2022
Born	(1987-12-17) December 17, 1987 (age 37) Oklahoma City, U.S.
Known for	Sharing government documents with WikiLeaks
Political party	Democratic
Criminal charge(s)	Sharing classified information
Criminal penalty	Imprisonment (sentence later shortened), change in military rank

Military career
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	Active duty: 2007–2010 Confinement: 2010–2017
Rank	Private (formerly Specialist)
Unit	2nd BCT, 10th Mountain Division (former)
Awards	National Defense Service Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Army Service Ribbon Overseas Service Ribbon Iraq Campaign Medal

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Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born December 17, 1987) is an American activist. She is known for sharing a large amount of secret government information with WikiLeaks. This happened while she was a soldier in the United States Army.

Manning was in prison from 2010 until 2017. Her sentence was shortened by President Barack Obama. Manning is a trans woman, meaning she identifies as female. She shared in 2013 that she has felt female since she was a child.

Early Military Service
- Sharing Information
Time in Prison
- Legal Process
Later Life and Activism
Images for kids
See also

Early Military Service

In 2009, Manning was sent to Iraq as an intelligence analyst. This job meant she had access to many secret government computer files. She was part of the United States Army.

Sharing Information

In early 2010, Manning shared secret information with WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks is a group that publishes secret documents. She told an online friend, Adrian Lamo, about what she had done. Lamo then told the Army, and Manning was arrested in May 2010.

The information she shared included:

Videos of military actions in Baghdad and Afghanistan.
Over 250,000 U.S. diplomatic messages.
Almost 500,000 Army reports from the Iraq War and Afghan War.

WikiLeaks and its news partners published this information between April 2010 and April 2011.

Time in Prison

Manning was held in different military prisons. She was first held in Virginia from 2010 to 2011. During this time, she was often kept alone, which caused concern. Later, she was moved to a prison in Kansas. There, she was able to interact with other people.

Legal Process

In February 2013, Manning admitted to some of the charges against her. Her trial for other charges began in June 2013. In July, she was found responsible for many of the charges. She was sentenced to 35 years in a military prison.

However, on January 17, 2017, President Obama shortened her sentence. She was released after nearly seven years in prison. After her release, Manning now gives speeches and talks about her experiences.

Later Life and Activism

In 2018, Manning ran for a political office in Maryland. She wanted to become a United States Senator. She ran as a Democrat against the current Senator, Ben Cardin. She received a small percentage of the votes, and Cardin won the election.

From 2019 to 2020, Manning was put in jail again. This was because she refused to speak to a special jury. This jury was looking into the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange. She was also fined money for refusing to testify.