“Why” is always the first question that comes to mind when hearing about a suicide, and Reddit co-founder had a history of blogging about his depression. A brilliant student who co-created the RSS specification at 14, Swartz was also the founder of a political action group called Demand Progress and is largely credited with defeating SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. The man who argued for the freedom of information on the web, though, was facing federal trial this spring on charges of computer fraud and illegally obtaining documents from protected computers.
Swartz was found dead yesterday, and news of his death had many pointing the finger at the federal government and its prosecution of Swartz over the alleged theft of millions of online academic documents from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011. Some estimated that Swartz was facing up to 50 years in prison and millions in fines, even though JSTOR, the non-profit hosting the files, chose not to file charges.
The Aaron Swartz prosecution was such a case of overreach by the Feds. Meanwhile still no prosecution of gun runners on the I95 Corridor.
— Tod (@conlawny) January 12, 2013
US Govt charges added up to 50 years in jail and $4m in fines for @aaronsw, for downloading publically-funded articles http://t.co/XySdYp0Z
— Ramez Naam (@ramez) January 12, 2013
Aaron Swartz is trending. Maybe now people will take the time to educate themselves on the injustices of the US government. We are not free
— Michelle (@Michelle9647) January 12, 2013
When reporting on his suicide, I hope the #MSM has the balls to discuss how U.S. Government bullied Aaron Swartz, possibly to death.
— Amber Lyon (@AmberLyon) January 12, 2013
I hope all the people (especially the ones with national tv shows @chrislhayes) mourning Swartz address the government's persecution of him.
— ready 4 december (@onekade) January 12, 2013
another huge and beautiful loss no thanks to this f-up government. #Reddit Aaron Swartz will be missed…thoughts & prayers going out.
— laura (@lvgrb) January 12, 2013
The Aaron Swartz prosecution was such a case of overreach by the Feds. Meanwhile still no prosecution of gun runners on the I95 Corridor.
— Tod (@conlawny) January 12, 2013
"I had this vision of the feds crashing down the door, taking everything away." – Aaron Swartz
— Damián (@dam1an) January 12, 2013
The Feds murdered Aaron Swartz. (@aaronsw) Power to his memory.
— Endcap Display (@RancidShoah) January 12, 2013
The feds didn't go overboard in prosecuting Aaron Swartz. They knew what they were doing. They're glad he took his own life. Saved them $$.
— Art of eVan (@ArtofeVan) January 12, 2013
@paulcarr @deepfoo Neither JSTOR nor MIT pressed charges. It was the prosecutor who went apeshit, because Swartz infuriated the Feds.
— Joshua Ellis (@jzellis) January 12, 2013
So Aaron Swartz, a guy who has been pissing off and threatening the Feds, suddenly "commits suicide" for no reason. Yeah, sure he did.
— DougButabi (@DougieButabi) January 12, 2013
I want to learn more about this, but based on what's here, the federal government's actions seem sick and indefensible. http://t.co/9edzp8x6
— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) January 12, 2013
RIP Aaron Swartz, I knew very little about you until today but now that I know I am beyond incensed that our government drove you to suicide
— Nicholas Obama (@rbruens) January 12, 2013
Aaron Swartz co-founder of Reddit and Internet activist was hounded by the government. And people wonder why some of us fear the government
— Beth Grant DeRoos (@MotherLodeBeth) January 12, 2013
It's really hard not to let sadness over Aaron Swartz give way to anger over what the government was doing to him http://t.co/GyoNQwHV
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 12, 2013
The feds left of David Gregory but not Aaron Swartz.
— Jeff Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) January 12, 2013
Swartz’s family issued an official statement Saturday evening, wasting no time in connecting the government’s case against Swartz to his death.
Aaron’s death is not simply a personal tragedy. It is the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach. Decisions made by officials in the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office and at MIT contributed to his death. The US Attorney’s office pursued an exceptionally harsh array of charges, carrying potentially over 30 years in prison, to punish an alleged crime that had no victims. Meanwhile, unlike JSTOR, MIT refused to stand up for Aaron and its own community’s most cherished principles.
Here’s video of Swartz speaking about SOPA at the Freedom to Connect conference in Washington, D.C.:
