Gary McKinnon of Crouch End, North London, was branded a ‘cyber-terrorist’ by the US government. In 2002 he was arrested for hacking into Pentagon and NASA computers. The US Department of Justice has been fighting a seven-year long extradition battle to the USA under the 2003 UK Extradition Act. They want him brought to the USA to stand trial in New Jersey Federal Court. If convicted on terrorism charges, he could face up to 60 years locked-down 23-hour per day in a US SuperMax prison. While many differ on likely length of sentence, this is the same kind of prison convicted shoe-bomber Richard Reid sits on a hunger strike hoping to kill himself. Gary openly admits his guilt of computer mischief and he did hack into US government computers.Now, before jumping to the obvious conclusion and thinking “a 36-year old man should know the difference between right and wrong,” you need to look, Paul Harvey-style, at “The Rest of the Story.”
At 43, Gary has lived with a recently undiagnosed case of high-functioning autism known as Asperger’s Syndrome. The disease was discovered and labeled in the late 1990s, and was made famous in the 2003 best-selling novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by British author Mark Haddon. Until that book, where a low-functioning Asperger’s sufferer teenager sets off on a journey to find his dead mother, most had not heard of this syndrome. Famous Asperger’s sufferers include American actor Dan Ackroyd and acclaimed Scottish artist Peter Howson (both of whom have spoken out on Gary’s behalf).
Asperger’s sufferers, such as Gary, make diagnosis more difficult because they often possess very high intelligence in specific areas, such as math, computer science, and/or physics. They are mostly reclusive and can become hyper-obsessive. One thinks of the Dustin Hoffman character Raymond from the Oscar-winning film ‘Rain Man’ as an example. Raymond was a brilliant mathematician but socially unable to adapt, free himself from the safety of daily routine, or understand the consequences of his actions.People with Aspergers Syndrome can be very intelligent in certain areas, such as mathematics, computer science, or physics. They may be reclusive and become hyper-obsessive. One example of this is the character Raymond in the movie “Rain Man” played by Dustin Hoffman. Raymond was a brilliant mathematician, but he was socially unable to adapt and understand the consequences of his actions.
Gary’s mother, Janis Sharp, spoke of a Christmas dinner party where Gary put a large computer on the family dining table. Gary’s honest but insensitive response was “well it’s my holiday party too, isn’t it?” Janis said that people with Aspergers Syndrome can be very intelligent “to a fault” and this can be to their own detriment.
Aspergers sufferers, such as Gary, make diagnosis more difficult because they often possess very high intelligence in specific areas, such as maths, computer science, and/or physics. They are mostly reclusive and can become hyper-obsessive. One thinks of the Dustin Hoffman character Raymond from the Oscar winning film ‘Rain Man’ as an example. Raymond was a brilliant mathematician but socially unable to adapt, free himself from the safety of daily routine or understand the consequences of his actions.
Gary’s mother Janis Sharp spoke of a Christmas dinner party where he put a large computer on the family dining table and could not understand why everyone was so upset. His logical but insensitive response was “well it’s my holiday party too, isn’t it?” Indeed, it is the honesty of an Asperger’s sufferer, “often to a fault” as Janis said, “that can be to their own detriment.”
When Gary spoke to UK computer crimes authorities in 2002, he could only speak truth. This is also why plea deals are abhorrent because it means admitting guilt to something he feels is untrue. He freely, without a lawyer present, admitted he was looking around in government computers of all kinds to UK police because, “they were very nice to him.”
At the center of the growing row between the UK and US governments is a demand to have Gary stand trial in the US, despite his diminished capacity. Many in the UK want him to stand trial here. They launched a quite successful UK campaign, which Kevin Anderson, blogs editor of The Guardian, took exception to. He objected to the myths of imprisonment in Gitmo, the portrayal of US anger at his extradition fight, and the widely reported belief that US authorities wanted McKinnon to “fry” (and Anderson’s commentary was before the Asperger’s diagnosis).
No one is suggesting he is innocent. However, Gary’s mental health should be taken into account when deciding where he should stand trial.
The UK’s 2003 Extradition Act is coming under scrutiny, as it is being used in a way that is seemingly at odds with its original intent. This Act allows the Crown Court to extradite UK nationals on “suspicion” of terrorism, while anyone the UK seeks to extradite from the US requires “probable cause”. In most cases involving extradition, the individual in question has committed a crime and has fled to another jurisdiction in order to avoid prosecution. Gary McKinnon, however, never left the UK.The Act has been used in the non-terror cases of: Alex Stone (an alleged child abuser whose charges were dropped after spending 6 months in a US jail), Ian Norris of Morgan Crucible (whose original price-fixing charges were dropped but still faces extradition on obstruction of justice charges), and The NatWest 3 (bankers extradited and found guilty of wire fraud – the government’s old mafia conviction standby charge. They currently serve 37 month sentences in US prisons).The UK Terrorism Act of 2000 has been subject to much interpretation since its passage, with the latest example being the case of Gary McKinnon. Even David Blunkett, who was the UK Home Secretary at the time the Act was negotiated and passed, never foresaw this level of interpretation and believes it should not be used in Gary’s case.
There was a tendency after 9-11 in the Bush Administration to label anything they could terrorism. Politicians here and in the US were not keen to attack these cases for fear of looking soft on crime or terrorism. Too this issue grabbed its biggest headlines after the Spanish and 7-7 London Tube terrorist bombings, so the issue was high on everyone’s mind.As a 17-year old boy, Gary wondered, could that really be done? When he and many others proved it indeed could be, especially after 9-11, McKinnon became the poster child for lax DoD computer security. McKinnon was caught hacking into 97 Pentagon and NASA computers from his girlfriend’s aunt’s home in London in 2002. He had been looking for evidence of UFOs and instead found that the US government was keeping track of billions of dollars of secret spending. McKinnon was caught hacking into 97 Pentagon and NASA computers from his girlfriend’s aunt’s home in London in 2002. He had been looking for evidence of UFOs and instead found that the US government was keeping track of billions of dollars of secret spending. He was charged with computer crimes and faced up to 70 years in prison, but was eventually offered a plea deal of 10 years if he admitted guilt. He refused, saying he was only looking for evidence of UFOs, and was eventually extradited to the US in 2012. He was charged with computer crimes and faced up to 70 years in prison, but was eventually offered a plea deal of 10 years if he admitted guilt. He refused, saying he was only looking for evidence of UFOs, and was eventually extradited to the US in 2012. McKinnon is due to be sentenced in December and could still face 10 years in prison, but his lawyers are hoping to get the sentence reduced to time served.
McKinnon is due to be sentenced in December and could still face 10 years in prison, but his lawyers are hoping to get the sentence reduced to time served.As a 17-year old boy, Gary wondered, could that really be done? When he and many others proved it indeed could be, especially after 9-11, McKinnon became the poster child for lax DoD computer security. McKinnon’s actions were not those of a terrorist, but of a computer nerd who was curious about what he saw.Gary’s defense team was left with few options after appeals to the UK House of Lords and the EU Court of Human Rights were denied or not heard. The Asperger’s diagnosis, though, did two things: it opened the door for a judicial review of both the Crown Prosecution Service’s handling of the case (which was heard last week) and the Home Office’s recommendation of accepting such an unbalanced treaty (to be heard by the same panel of judges on 14 July).Karen Todner of Kaim Todner serves as Gary’s QC (Queen’s Counsel – US readers would call her his public defender). Mrs. Todner was tenacious on Gary’s behalf and hired leading human rights solicitor Edward Fitzgerald. In his brief, Fitzgerald said, “the decision (to extradite) is procedurally flawed and unlawful for it wrongly fails to consider and analyse important expert medical evidence concerning the effects of extradition on the claimant and his mental health.”
This is the real game changer.
Gary’s disease reveals an intellectually and emotionally naïve child locked in a man’s body. There his mind is both his biggest friend and greatest enemy. As Scottish artist Peter Hoswon said in a Scotsman interview with Gerri Peev: “Gary has the more anxiety-prone form of Asperger’s, which I fear means he will not be able to survive life in an American prison. I have to be blunt: he will not be able to cope and will turn suicidal. He is not a terrorist, nor a threat to national security, but just a vulnerable Asperger’s man whose complex mind caused him to make a mistake. Individuals like Gary should be protected by us and nurtured, not made a scapegoat for the sins of our police state society.
Gary’s curiosity took him to the place of trying to see if he could do it. Aspergers sufferers tend to believe what they read or hear and their desire for truth is so strong it overcomes all other rational thoughts and emotions. Indeed as he became more and more obsessed with the UFO conspiracy, his then girlfriend became very concerned for his well-being as Gary stopped caring for himself, eating and even stopped bathing, all hallmarks of Aspergers.
The legions of supporters for Gary include: Peter Gabriel, Sting, US Shuttle Commander Clark McCleland, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Terry Waite former Iranian hostage, Peter Gabriel and Graham Nash of Crosby Stills and Nash (who let supporters use lyrics from his 1968 protest song Chicago) along with dozens of MPs and celebrities.
The United States has a flawed history of understanding or even admitting mental illness in court. There are dozens of cases where diminished capacity is not allowed. Because of this lack of understanding, prosecutors fight it tooth and nail. A defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity goes down in the loss column.
That taints a prosecutor’s record to have someone sent to an institution or psychiatric prison facility. A federal prosecutor speaking on condition of anonymity said: “having a defendant found not guilty by reason of temporary or true insanity hurts the prosecutor. We need big winning records in high profile cases to move up the ladder politically or find top security positions when we leave…” (Indeed Gibson and Christie now run security across the UK for Microsoft Corporation). “It’s tough to become a top paid white shoe firm white collar criminal defence attorney or be elected as a District Attorney or state Attorney General without a solid record of conviction in high profile cases.”
As his mother, Janis said, “people with Aspergers are highly intelligent but cannot cross a busy road because it is so terrifying for them. Aspergers is invisible in many ways and its sufferers can seem incredibly normal. The Pentagon had no firewalls or security, that’s an insult to the people who died on 9-11. How could the biggest superpower in the world not have firewalls?” Gary was stupid, he left notes on the system but why extradite him because of a sense of embarrassment?
And if convictions are the yardstick upon which a prosecutor can strut, the question becomes should an impaired person be extradited to face horrific charges where a sentence in the UK would be more proportional?
