Imprisoned whistleblower Chelsea Manning late Monday confirmed reports that she had attempted to end her life, assuring supporters, "I will get through this."
Manning's attorneys released a statement which read in part:
Last week, Chelsea made a decision to end her life. Her attempt to take her own life was unsuccessful. She knows that people have questions about how she is doing and she wants everyone to know that she remains under close observation by the prison and expects to remain on this status for the next several weeks. For us, hearing Chelsea’s voice after learning that she had attempted to take her life last week was incredibly emotional. She is someone who has fought so hard for so many issues we care about and we are honored to fight for her freedom and medical care.
Which Manning herself followed with a social media post:
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I am okay. I'm glad to be alive. Thank you all for your love <3 I will get through this. #standwithchelsea
— Chelsea Manning (@xychelsea) July 12, 2016
Attorneys Chase Strangio, Vincent Ward, and Nancy Hollander criticized the government for its "gross breach of confidentiality in disclosing her personal health information to the media," referring to the unauthorized report of a suicide attempt last week, saying the leak "has created the very real concern that they may continue their unauthorized release of information about her publicly without warning."
In response to the news, supporters shared messages of love and solidarity to the whistleblower, who is currently serving a 35-year sentence at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for her role in releasing classified government and U.S. military documents to WikiLeaks in 2010.
