Thoughts on Gary McKinnon
The news that British-based computer-hacker Gary McKinnon may be facing up to 70 years in a U.S. prison (or, worse still, in Guantanamo Bay) for hacking 97 American military and NASA computers between 2001 and 2002 as he searched for secret information on UFOs, is unfortunate.
Earlier this year, Gary lost his first appeal against extradition to the States in a High Court Hearing. And what may be his last appeal to ensure he stays a free man (or at least that he doesn’t serve a sentence in a U.S. jail) will be heard in February. And if that fails, his only hope is an appeal to the British Government’s House of Lords.
Now, Gary surely realized that he wouldn’t get away with hacking into the classified files of the U.S. Government. But, to me at least, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime - at all. Okay, he did hack the U.S. military on a large scale, and in doing so he set himself on the path to inevitable arrest. And an arrest, in a case like this, is likely to result in some form of punishment.
But 70 years in Guantanamo for searching for UFO data? Come on! He’s no terrorist. The unfortunate fact is that Gary - if convicted and sentenced - is likely to become a convenient scapegoat and pawn in a far bigger picture. Here will be the chance for official authorities to use Gary as an example, to throw him in jail for the rest of his natural life, and then send out the message to others: “Do something similar and this will be your fate, too. For the remainder of your entire life.”
The main reason why I suspect that authorities are so keen to throw the book at Gary and make an example of him, is because a decade ago a similar tactic was used against a Welsh man named Matthew Bevan, who I interviewed extensively for a chapter in my recently published “On the Trail of the Saucer Spies” book. And the earlier tactic failed - which is why I suspect steps are being taken to ensure that Gary’s case doesn’t similarly collapse.
Matt’s case eerily parallels that of Gary. He, too, hacked into U.S. military computer systems in search of data on crashed UFOs, and claimed to have found evidence of anti-gravity style research undertaken at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Like Gary, Matt was arrested. Similarly, Gary has been accused of damaging U.S. computer systems; and it was claimed that Matt had altered data contained on the systems he penetrated.
The big difference, however, is that Matt’s case collapsed when U.S. Intelligence refused to provide to the British judge at Bow Street Magistrates Court (where the case was held) firm evidence of the damage that Matt had caused. With no evidence provided, the judge suggested that the prosecution should think long and hard about whether or not they wanted to proceed.
The prosecution did think long and hard and decided to drop the case; Matt was a free man.
It seems, however, that steps have been taken - by pushing to have him extradited and tried in the U.S. - to ensure that Gary doesn’t walk away equally as free as Matt Bevan.
At the very least, Gary should be allowed to serve his time in a British prison. Indeed, it’s certain that even if he walks free, Gary will not attempt something like this again - ever.
But, it’s that convenient scapegoat/pawn angle that will, I suspect, be Gary’s downfall.
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Dec 14 2006 
December 15th, 2006 at 6:51 am
This situation is rife with all the factors in place to focus in on the twin issues of accountability and, most importantly..secrecy as it applies to a democracy. His quest was benign if one considers the alternatives. If it were not him, then eventually someone else would have attempted to scale the electronic wall, where they keep the UFO pieces in the puzzle palace. The stance of denial and covert research in a democracy is like baiting a hook to catch fish. If one does not respect the rules of this game and is caught, then if one considers for a moment that if secrecy is an intentional veil, over the truth, then as an ethical issue, shame on those who practice a double standard. One has to ask themselves, what is there to protect in that policy of UFO government secrecy? Is truth a matter of private ownership, especially when the owner makes the rules for establishing this game? I hope this potential trial speaks truth to power. Perhaps this is too much to ask. Under the new Military Justice rules of this game, perhaps he will be shuttled off to a dungeon somewhere in equally apt and perverse secrecy.
December 15th, 2006 at 7:58 am
Very good points.
I suppose we wait and see what his outcome will be in a few months from now.
December 15th, 2006 at 11:03 am
This is the kind of case you wish could just be made to go away. On the one hand you wish the Justice Department would recognize the intent vs. non-intent here and scale down their agenda for what should be done in regard to Gary McKinnon, and, on the other hand, you’d like to seize McKinnon by the shirt collar and shake him till his teeth rattled and yell “You FOOL ! What did you THINK was going to happen?” at him. Computer geeks, often full of their own private passions, often think breaking into various sites is like some little GAME.
Like its Dungeons & Dragons or something. But it is no game and the powers that be are prepared to come down hard on transgressors. In the post 9/11 age..and the current Litvinenko era of seemingly retro-SMERSH type operations…we must understand that this world is still a VERY dangerous place and governments ARE going to “cover their backsides”.
Nick, you know yourself how much “messing with” you received while working on “Bodysnatchers In the Desert”, and you weren’t trying to breach maximum security sites. You are therefore in a very good position to see how far Gary McKinnon stuck his neck out for this. Steven Greer and Stan Friedman and others play it a lot safer…and wiser…by going the long, hard road through FOI and informants. McKinnon tried a big-time short-cut and had the hammer dropped on him because of it.
This is regrettable. I really feel for the guy and understand what a part the
“enthusiastic geek” factor played into this. They just don’t “see” the danger until it rears up and bites them.
Lets all hope this “eases up” once it all comes out in court.
Bill
December 15th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Bill
Totally agree. McKinnon surely knew that if you hack into the files of any government, they are going to come after you.
Hacking government computers in not a game: it’s just asking for big, big trouble.
But the problem for him is the timing. The fact is that if 9-11 hadn’t happened, McKinnon would not be facing extradition to the US and 70 years in Guantanamo. It really is that simple.
Unfortunately for him, what should have been a less severe conviction will be blown up way out of proportion and he’ll be the convenient scapegoat to hold up and the government will say to its enemies: “You think you can hack us? This is what will happen to you too. From now on, if anyone hacks us, we’ll have you extradited from your own country. Your own government will give you up and we will decide your fate, not your fellow countrymen.”
Had 9-11 not occurred, Mckinnon would have been tried in a British court (after all, his crime was committed in Britain - not the US!), he probably would have got a couple of years in a British jail, or maybe parole, or a fine, or even just community service.
Or he may have ended up with the charges dropped, just like Matthew Bevan a decade earlier.
Unfortunately, in the “age of terror” everyone who does anything against the government is potentially going to be treated the same way and subjected to the most severe punishment, when in his case his punishment should not be on almost an equal par with someone who flies aircraft into buildings.
December 18th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
He exposed blithe incompetency and shallow disregard of our security on the backs of billions of dollars spent to secure same. He performed a service; they should let him go with a cash award and the thanks of a grateful nation.
Alien View
U F O M a g a z i n e
December 19th, 2006 at 5:44 am
Or perhaps make him Director of Homeland Security.