After seven years in federal prison, whistleblower Chelsea Manning was released on Wednesday, and she immediately took to social media to post her first day back in the world.
She posted her first steps of freedom …
… Her first piece of pizza.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUM0oDgBft7/?taken-by=xychelsea87
… Her first drink of alcohol.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUNp_YDB54-/?taken-by=xychelsea87
And on Thursday, she posted the first photo of her face since breathing in the outside world. Here, she looks rested, glowing, and at peace. “Okay, so here I am everyone!! 😜 . . #HelloWorld,” she wrote.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUPbwX0htrw/?taken-by=xychelsea87
The photo is a lovely contrast to reports of her having suffered “cruel and inhumane” treatment in prison, where she was restricted much of the time to solitary confinement and later attempted suicide. In January, President Barack Obama commuted the soldier’s 35-year sentence for leaking thousands of military documents to WikiLeaks, including footage of American soldiers opening fire, unprovoked, in an Iraqi suburb.
H/T Mediaite