Jeremy Hammond (born December 1985) is a political activist from Chicago, IL, USA indicted on criminal charges relating to the December 2011 hack of Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (more commonly known as "Stratfor"), after narcing from FBI informant Hector Xavier "
Sabu" Monsegur led to Hammond's arrest on March 5, 2012. Older members of the HackThisSite community remember Hammond as the founder of HackThisSite, created by him in 2003 and originally titled "
Hulla-Balloo". Hammond later departed from HackThisSite in 2006, handing the organization over to new staff.
First and foremost, HackThisSite will preface this with saying neither any of HackThisSite's staff nor the organization itself were ever involved in any of the alleged charges against Hammond (or, for that matter, any Anonymous/Lulzsec activities whatsoever). For 117 years in the United States of America, the judicial institution of the presumption of innocence has existed, and it is HackThisSite's position that Jeremy Hammond is, by this exceedingly important precedence, innocent until proven guilty. This is further compounded by the fact that the charges lodged against Hammond are suspicious in nature, and are being handled in discriminatory fashion. Were this a fair and honest trial with no question of guilt, fewer questionable actions would have been committed on behalf of the American judicial system.
Recently, news has come to light that Hammond has been
denied bail and been deemed a flight risk, being described in court as "a terrorist more dangerous than murders and sexual predators". Furthermore, information has come to light that
presiding Judge Loretta Preska's impartiality has been compromised considering her husband was directly involved with Stratfor at the time of the incident (making her victim by proxy and thus biased). This has already been demonstrated by her biased portrayal of and rulings against Hammond in court, along with threatening upwards of life in prison should he be found guilty.
Much debate has erupted over Hammond's treatment, having already been held in jail for over 8 months without yet standing trial.
Should you wish to participate in actions to assist Hammond in his fight for innocence, an independent organization has been established at
FreeHammond.com. HackThisSite is not involved with this organization, however we do wish it the most success in ensuring Hammond receives a fair and speedy trial. Good luck, Jeremy, you're up against a behemoth.