Chelsea Manning ‘in hospital’ after alleged suicide attempt

Chelsea Manning has reportedly been rushed to hospital after attempting to kill herself in prison, reports claim.

The Wikileaks whistleblower, who is currently serving a 35-year jail sentence in Fort Leavenworth military prison, allegedly made the attempt on Tuesday (July 5). According to reports on TMZ, an ‘unnamed source’ from the facility claimed that Manning “tried to hang herself”. They added that she was now being “monitored”.

The reports were also supported by a tweet sent by CNN reporter Shimon Prokupecz this morning. “Chelsea Manning suspected of attempting suicide,” he wrote. “Was taken to a hospital Tuesday from Fort Leavenworth, CNN.”

An official spokesperson from Fort Leavenworth prison has denied to comment on the claims, stating that “medical treatment of inmates at the United States Disciplinary Barracks is protected under the Health Information Protection Privacy Act (HIPPA)”. They also added that “no information regarding (an inmate’s) individual treatment can be released without their consent.”

Manning, who announced her transition to female in 2013, was arrested after leaking classified government documents (which included a series of alleged war crimes) to Wikileaks. She has since actively campaigned for her sentence to be shortened, with an official appeal being filed in May this year.

Despite the reports, the military whistleblower’s suicide attempt has yet to be independently confirmed. “I’ve been working with Chelsea’s legal team to get to the bottom of it but right now the suicide attempt has yet to be confirmed with us,” Manning’s spokesperson clarified this afternoon. “We are hearing that there will be a statement from the army’s public affairs team soon.”

UPDATE (12/7/2016): An attorney for Manning has now confirmed the allegations, issuing an official statement on the subject this morning. They claim that the former military analyst “made a decision” to end her life last week, but confirm that the attempt was thankfully “unsuccessful.” 

Manning herself also tweeted about the incident in the early hours of this morning (July 12); telling followers that she was “okay” and “glad to be alive”. “Thank you for all the love,” she wrote. “I will get through this.”