Daily Mail: Sarah Brown's tears for Gary: PM's wife backs Mail campaign to stop extradition of man who hacked Pentagon

What kind of Bizzarro world is this?

I think I would be less freaked out if you'd found some aliens than to find myself saying "jolly well done, that Daily Mail"

How did it take so long for Gary McKinnon to get a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome? The syndrome is named after Hans Asperger who noted this group in his paper published in 1944. It says something about our education and health systems that this diagnosis was not given earlier.
Had he been a cyber terrorist he would not have admitted anything and would have been covering his tracks. There is the question of damage but has he not done them a favour by illustrating their security flaws such that they can be erradicated. Will it not cost more pursuing a legal battle against someone who has commited crime through flaw in their condition than they can possibly gain from it?
The application of common sense might save mental anguish and money all round.

Apart from the obscene abuse of Gary's human rights by the United Sates government, there are several concerns over the legality of a prosecution. It has been stated that Gary suffers from a mental health problem, i.e. Aspergers Syndrome. As I understand it, in any formal interview he would have required an appropriate adult present. The fact that his condition was not identified until after the interview should not matter at all. That interview should be made inadmissable as it does not comply with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and he should then be formally interviewed again, with an appropriate adult present.
One other way of dealing with this is for an enterprising citizen of this country to take out a private prosecution of Gary. The CPS will then no doubt take it over and, in order to appease their American masters, offer no evidence in the hope that the extradition will stand. However, if no evidence is offered, the magistrate would no choice but to dismiss the case. Gary will then have been tried and aquitted in this country and so would not then be eligible for extradition. Any enterprising people out there with the money and the courage to take this on?

As a sister to a 23 year old brother with Asperger's I can understand the frustration of both gary and his mother. My brother has been in trouble with the police on a few occasions,because the nature of his condition means he does not understand rules, takes things literally, becomes obsessed with things and cannot read facial expressions or evaluate human emotions as everyone else can. My brother was not actually diagnosed until he was 16,despite countless attempts by my family to find someone who would accept that he was not just a 'naughty child' or 'difficult'. He is loving and caring,has great humor and many friends (although they don't last long as he cannot form strong emotional bonds). It seems we still have a long way to go to help people understand Aspergers' and find the correct support for both the sufferer and their families. Had my brothers' condition been spotted earlier, he would not have had to move schools,be expelled, been accused of theft, lost friends and felt like an outsider. Most ofthis would have been prevented, because we and HE would have understood why he behaved and felt in such ways.
Gary has my full support and faith in him.
The only fault i see here is with America and their dismal security measures. They should be ashamed that after 9/11 they have been shown to have done little to protect the people who placed them in a postion of trust and dependence.
Shame on them

I think this case is an absolutely disgusting scenario of the American government flexing its controlling muscle over a case which has only proven their lacking security measures. If anything they should award Gary Mckinnon with Employment or at the very least thank him for highlighting the ease of infiltrating their systems before the real terrorists manage it. He should not be punished in this way or face imprisonment for revealing their weakness and own incompetence.

How Gary and his family have coped through all these years of uncertainty is beyond belief. I should imagine that they have all served a tough enough sentence already without the potential of more to come.

Thank God for the support of The Mail and high-profile individuals who have now spoken out. As a mother of a nine-year old son on the Spectrum, this case has to fought successfully not only for Gary but for every other person who may find themselves in similar situations in the future.

I find myself cynically wondering if Gary would've been treated in the same inhumane manner if he was in a wheelchair or had a more "conventional" disability? Is it a complete lack of understanding that Gary is fighting or a basic lack of humanity, morality and basic understanding of fellow human-beings? I am angry when I think of all the hard work, awareness-raising and campaigning that individuals and organisations do for autismand aspergers, and yet our own country is failing to halt this ridiculous circus of proceedings.

I will keep signing petitions and voicing my opinion whenever the opportunity arises - let's hope that many more individuals continue to do the same.

I admire your strength and determination, Janis, and I know that in similar circumstances, I would hope to be as strong and determined a mother as you are being now.

Gary - there are thousands of people out here campaigning for you. Keep the faith and we will all continue to fight for your rights - in whatever ways we can - for how ever long it takes.

Trudy, go go go.

That's the first time I've approved of something you've done! ;-)

Seriously, this guy has autism, he can't be locked away with no regard. No way if it would lead to his CERTAIN DEATH (hear me, US?) with no understanding of people with his condition.

No way Gary, we will fight for you in whatever way we can. Where can we try to do more? My concern is that there are few places which will have impact in the US.

Sorry to be cynical, but I do find it odd how someone finds out they suddenly have asperghers, 2 weeks before they are about to be extradited.

I can be cynical, as I suffer from mild autism myself. Although it is a slight handicap, I have a solid job, and it doesn’t affect my decisions making one bit.

This sadly is someone trying to use an illness as an excuse.

I have several problems with the case. There are a lot of contradictions in the excuse making.

Firstly, it’s not easy to hack a company computer. Let alone the Pentagon. Gary was a very experienced computer worker, and a long time hacker.

This “borrowed a computer, and read online how to do it is pathetic”.

I can’t describe to you how experienced you would need to be even to hack a bank computer. And there security is nowhere near that of the American Military.

He accessed the Pentagon by cloning passwords, “ghosting” computers. It’s not some geek, mucking around. It’s the same tactic as credit card fraudsters use.

Secondly – he didn’t do anything wrong while he was there. Just looking for UFOs.

Sorry, the evidence doesn’t support this. He is alledged to have altered, and deleted files on military computers, that crippled the American Navy for 24 hours.

While leaving anti war messages, and claiming that he would “continue to disrupt the US military”.

All of this a few weeks after 9/11

"The only fault i see here is with America and their dismal security measures. They should be ashamed that after 9/11 they have been shown to have done little to protect the people who placed them in a postion of trust and dependence.
Shame on them"

To be fair, your basing this on Gary McKinnon and the Mails opinion of US top secret security.

The more likely, and obvious truth is that it is well known as being the most secured database in the world, and has only been hacked 25 times in the last 20 years.

Bearing in mind millions try every year, maybe you should take this into consideration

"I find myself cynically wondering if Gary would've been treated in the same inhumane manner if he was in a wheelchair or had a more "conventional" disability"

Georgina,

If wheelchair bound people hack the Pentagon, delete files, change passwords, and leave anti war messages, claiming they were going to continue disrupting the American military machine, then I would fully expect them to be prosecuted.

"Alison Saunders, head of the CPS organised crime division, said: "We identified nine occasions where Mr McKinnon has admitted to activity which would amount to an offence under section 2 of the Computer Misuse Act (unauthorised access with intent). "

She said McKinnon's hacking activities "were not random experiments in computer hacking, but a deliberate effort to breach US defence systems at a critical time which caused well-documented damage. They may have been conducted from Mr McKinnon's home computer – and in that sense there is a UK link – but the target and the damage were transatlantic."
"

Chris, you are forgetting that Gary McKinnon denies having caused the alleged damage and is innocent until proven guilty. You are accepting allegations as fact.

If Gary McKinnon's crime was so serious the Americans would not have waited more than three years before applying for extradition.
Gary had full use of his computer for more than 3 years after being arrested in march 2002.

the U.S applied for extradition in 2002 they would have to have provided evidence of the alleged damage Gary McKinnon has always denied, so instead the u.S waited until 2005 when the new extdaition treaty started being used before applying for extradition because they now had to provide no evidence whatsoever before extraditing "any" U.K citizen.

If you believe that it's right to ruin someone life by extraditing them without any evidence having to be provided then you have an odd idea of what a free democratic society should be.

This is the sort of action we condemn when it is used by Russia or China. We in the West used to demand evidence as a Human Right.

Well it took me 26 years to get a diagnosis. It was only a recognised condition since the 1990's.

He was only found to have the condition because Baron Cohen spotted him on TV and recognised it right away. Gary has lived a rather reclusive life, so no wonder it didnt get spotted.

People with Aspergers struggle to see the big picture when focused on the fine details, ie so focused on finding ET, he became more and more oblivious to the consequences. This is not a total excuse, just a partial reason as to be tried in the UK and not the US. It is still trying him in court for god sake.

And for arguement sake, what IF america is hiding something, only one man has seen it and they want to keep it that way? Easy, they relentlessly hunt the man down, lock him up and throw away the key. Doesnt that just hint towards the fact that they are covering something up?

So, Sarah Brown backs Gary does she? She's doing better than her old man then, who should have ensured that Labour MPs got a free vote on the issue instead of setting the Whips on them.
In consequence of the Whips' action, of the 74 Labour MPs who said they would support Gary in the July vote, all but 15 bottled out and voted with the government.
Shame on you, you spineless cowardly amoral individuals ! Do you have no guts at all ? It was clearly a mistake to elect such mice into public office.
Gary plainly needs to look elsewhere than the Labour incumbents of our House of Commons for his right to State protection of a British citizen.

leave the lad alone ,we all know aliens exist ,they dont want the general public to find out there is too much money slopping about as is this court case

This is a total disgrace , Gary need help not Prison !!!!

I am a mum and wife to a whole family of aspie people. I am also a teacher so I also KNOW from several perspectives how incredibly ignorant and dismissive the 'neuro typical' community is of individuals who live with AS, and to their families. My heart goes out to Gary and his family. I am confronted daily by the terrible ignorance of people who think they know what Asperger's is. So many myths abound so can I respectfully ask people not to make statements about a subject that is so complex as to be almost unfathomable: and I have 20 years direct experience of it. AS is NOT mild autism; at last the BBC is referring to it as a 'form' of autism: it's as offensive as saying someone has 'mild' Altzeimers. It's no wonder Gary wasn't diagnosed earlier: there is simply NO support or help for parents or individuals. Any help is so patchy and of such poor quality it is a national scandal which the general public have NO idea about whatsoever. That's why there is curently a bill going through Parliament to MAKE local authorities provide services from April 1st 2010. Those who are interested can look online at the Parliament website. Many many people have told me I should write my own story of the terrible injustices we have suffered as a family over the past 10 yeats and I am the first to admit it is nothing compared to the tragedy unfolding in the lives of the McKinnons. Just yesterday, a friend rang and told me her sister ( who I think is a youngish primary school teacher), said 'OMG, all these so called disorders; AS, dyslexia etc; I mean, they're all just learned behaviours'. Well, shame, shame on that person and all of you out there prepared to sign up to those bigoted and incredibly aggorant perspectives. I understand the terrible parallel universe that Gary and his family are living in: it is so so paradoxically ironic as to be almost laughable; I have often described being able to understand AS as being able to glimpse between the layers of a piece of paper because of COURSE, the terrible, terrible irony is that the AS individual LOOKS so 'neuro typical' ('normal' whatever that is...). Of COURSE there were 'no Autistic people years ago: they were shut up in asylums or left on the fringes of society and regarded as weird or odd. This fate almost befell my own mother in law back in the 50s. BUT of course the other irony is that AS individuals are often (not always) incredibly intelligent; 'gifted' in the way that they have a strand of their intelligence that is hot wired to stand head and shoulders above the rest of us. Combine this with their INABILITY to understand the social requirements of the neuro typical world and they exist like isolated islands: highly focused, detail orientated to the point of obsession, emotionally naive to the point of immaturiy (often referred to by AS experts as 'asynchronous')and devoid of any fine tuning in relation to time passing or the more neuro typical abilities of learning and reflecting on past experience or indeed incapable of planning ahead or considering what might happen if they do a particular action now. Then imagine, just for one tiny, tiny moment what it must be like to be psychologically living in one slice of time AT A TIME: you don't consider the past, you don't consider the future; you literally live IN THE MOMENT, responding only to NOW and connecting back to past and possibly a bit of the future purely through logical and intellectual, black and white thought patterns. No wonder so many books about AS feature the word 'aliens'. Can you imagine what it must be like? Then let me tell you one other terrible thing about Asperger's. The myth that autistic peple can't smile or have fun or show emotion, or even have emotion is another awful myth. You live life on the edge of the 'normal' world. You WANT to have relationships; you WANT all the things 'normal' people want but you are totally inhibited by all the disabilities I have just described. And the biggest tragedy of all? AS individuals are in fact some of the most amazing people that ever walked the planet. Their many difficulties in living in 'our' world mean that they create patterns and rituals for themselves; it's their way of coping; they create their own strategies for getting through, coping with each day. This is when you see some of the more 'classic' behaviours that aren't actually the Asperger's but the coping strategies: obsessions; unorthodox world views that may be very socially unnacceptable, rituals and routines that seem incredibly pedestrian to the rest of us, stilted ways of speaking that may sound almost scripted. That's because it IS. Just like when you go to Spain and try to order a meal in Spanish; you sound stilted and can't use any social gestures alongside your speech or colloquial language. Like I said, it's like trying to glimpse the gap inside a piece of paper. I began trying to glimpse it 20 years ago, 6 months after I started living with my new husband; we went on to have a family on the spectrum without even realising it. He is now in his later 40s and only realised he had AS as a result of the nighmare we have lived with our eldest son who has the emotional maturity of about 13 and the mind of a 35 year in the body of an 18 year old. When he was 12 he suffered one of the worst of his breakdowns (serious mental health issues e.g. acute episodes of psychosis are common for AS individuals). He had told us for years, since he was 5 that he was different to everyone. Finally, he could take our alien world no more. He had already tried to kill himself aged 9 and here we were with no care beds, a psychotic boy in a locked down cottage mental health hospital in middle England with 2 policemen alongside saying it's either a police cell or a 'cosh' of respiridone and other drugs. We couldn't face the thought of him in an and adult psychiatric ward or the upheaval to the rest of our troubled family if we took the bed 350 miles away, so we agreed to the terrible drugs (some not licensed at the time for under 18s). I will never, never forget the policeman who stood by, with tears running down his face,as my husband (coping superbly as emotional detachment is his gift), cradled our son and slowly dripped the drug into his mouth over the next 2 hours with the psychiatrists standing meekly by: like I said, the lack of help is scandalous. He has since tried to take his life several times and despite being very gifted in certain areas and incredibly funny and witty, this world of ours gets too much for him from time to time. Every AS individual is an individual. The condition points to a cluster of 'traits' and within that is the individual character of the unique person behind it. Gary McKinnon will daily face many of the things I have described; his family may have the answers very later in his life (as my husband did) but for them it will just make them look back and think, so that's why Gary has been like this or that. My guess is that like every AS person I know (and I know many!) he would not wish to hurt a fly; he would want to 'play by the rules' even if he has come up with own set of preferred rules (my husband amazes me sometimes when he seriously suggests things that are bizarre, borderline illegal and incredibly naive so as to fly in the face of his apparant intelligence), he will be happy with his own 'world view' that he has created to cope with the 'crazy world he feels HE is living in. So please, just for one tiny, tiny moment think carefully about what it might be like to live for just one day with Asperger's. Lorna Wing, who revised and republished much of Hans Asperger's work in 1991 was not alluding to some quirky, mild, passing phase but a condition that is a totally different and unique way of seeing the world altogether. References for those who are interested would be: books by Temple Grandin; Maxine Aston's amazing website where she outlines 'Cassandara Syndrome' to help explain to others what partners and parents of AS individuals go through in not being believed of their loved ones symptoms; Jessica Kingsley publications website. And finally, to my fellow teachers out there who like my friend's sister, are also guilty of scepticism can I respectfully ask you to get a grip and do some proper research on the subject. Seriously, it reminds me of the medical misunderstandings that were prevalent in the 19th century. If you care a jot about what i've written and about Gary can I suggest you contact President Obama directly via his website contact area. Thanks for bothering to read all this if you have! I can ill afford the time; I've just done it in the hope it might help Gary in some very small way.

Firstly, however this "so called" british justice system views it. Gary is no more than a scapegoat, to which purpose the US Defense Agency are trying to use to "Dissuade" any future hackers/ufologists from prying into UFO matters. Neither the US/Britain or any other party hold Copyright on UFO existence. nor will they stop people as myself from obtaining/aquiring pertinent knowledge of extra-terrestrial existence. I have been "fortunate" to have encountered three different geometric alien-craft, "at very" close range! If the US wish to jail anyone then jail all of us Ufologists! Alan johnson could not run the Post office never mind be home-office minister!

when I ran my Norfolk UFO group one of my members was threatened by a RAF person. I myself had my phone tapped ( I know this because of my Ex RNR security service. ) My Mother was paid a visit by two sinister men dressed in jet black apparel, at ten-thirty at night, unfortunately I missed them I had moved to Lincoln to new employment. A guy called Anthony-dodds, ( Tony from UFO Magazine) was threatened by men in a blacked out limo in los-angeles, because he gave a speech on a red-herring event in the 80s,( basically a NATO exercise which "really" involved communica with extra-terrestrials under the waters of the south antarctica)He has recently died bless his heart, probably because of stress put upon him and his wife and children by these covert US/british security groups. Point is, Gary had accidently stumbled onto a UFO secret, and the US OSS/CIA cannot let the truth come out! Ordinarily if he had just penetrated defence security on a "Terrestrial-basis" and not "Extra-terrestrial", then his reward would have been a "secure job in the US Defense-quarter. To those whom consider he deserves such punishment I would ask them to consider just how much knowledge this government obtains by "preying" government sponsered "hackers", reading our computers info and passing it to sinister security forces within the UK!!

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.