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Pvt. Chelsea Manning released after 7 years in prison

Posted at 5:36 AM, May 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-17 08:16:54-04

Pvt. Chelsea Manning was released from a Kansas military prison after serving seven years of her 35-year sentence for leaking classified government materials to WikiLeaks.

The transgender soldier was freed from Fort Leavenworth around 2 a.m. on Wednesday in accordance with former President Barack Obama's decision to grant her clemency in his final days in office.

The former intelligence analyst in Iraq acknowledged leaking the materials, saying she wanted to expose what she considered to be the U.S. military's disregard of the effects of war on civilians.

She was known as Bradley Manning before transitioning in prison.