Army 'WikiLeaker' Faces 8 Federal Charges

An Army intelligence analyst who has acknowledged providing classified material to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks was charged with eight criminal offenses yesterday, Wired reports. Pfc. Bradley Manning violated the Espionage Act by giving classified material to a nongovernment third party, the government alleges. Manning, 22, is in custody in Kuwait, Boing Boing notes.

Manning has taken credit for releasing the footage that became Collateral Murder, a WikiLeaks video that showed an Apache helicopter firing on a Baghdad street and killing 12 civilians. In addition to the eight federal charges, Manning is also accused of two noncriminal violations of military rules. The Army has not yet determined whether he will also face court-martial proceedings, the AP reports.