Not much is known about Edward Snowden, the man who exposed the NSA‘s Internet surveillance program, PRISM. But on Wednesday, the former Booz Allen Hamilton employee and CIA contractor’s former life as an employee of a Japanese anime company was uncovered.
In 2002, the then-18-year-old Snowden worked as web editor for Ryuhana Press, a startup company that sold anime art. In his profile for the company, he notes that he’s a fan of Japanese culture, martial arts, guns, girls, and his “girlish figure that attracts girls.”
He also talks extensively about his trip to Otakon, an annual fan convention held in Baltimore, Md.
“I had a blast at Otakon, after rubbing anti-inflammatory on my bottom to remove the swelling the prices for admission and parking gave me,” he jokes.
Photo via Internet Archive
In his profile, Snowden comes across as a cocky kid but insists that he’s a good person at heart, something advocates of Internet freedom would agree with.
“…I really am a nice guy, though. You see, I act arrogant and cruel because I was not hugged enough as a child, and because the public education system turned it’s[sic] wretched, spikéd back on me.”
The profile, first uncovered by Reuters, gives us an interesting glimpse into the past of the man responsible for what some have called “the most significant leak in American history.” The original site was taken down on Wednesday, but an archived version is still visible thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
Ryuhana Press no longer exists, having shut down in 2004 when the company’s owners went off to college.
Reuters did uncover this interesting tidbit about the company, though: It was located in Ft. Meade, Md., next door to NSA headquarters.
HT Reuters | Photo via Internet Archive