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On this day, thirteen years ago, a man, only a few month younger than me, and in his young years already way more accomplished than many would ever dream of being , ended his life.
His name was Aaron Swartz.
The reason for his suicide was, that a prosecutor for the US federal government sougth to lock him up in prison for 35 years for downloading files. His crime? Like any hacker worth their salt, he believed that Information wants to be free. What distinguished him was that he acted according to his ideals. I admired his work and activism.
After learning of his death, Tim Berners-Lee posted this obituary for him:
Aaron is dead. Wanderers in this crazy world, we have lost a mentor, a wise elder. Hackers for right, we are one down, we have lost one of our own. Nurtures, carers, listeners, feeders, parents all, we have lost a child. Let us all weep.
Unfortunately, in the years since, the type of structural violence, state terror, perversions of the judicial system worldwide, that bereft us of Aaron have grown to levels that I would not have anticipated.
Therefore I want to end this with a quote from the Portlander of the Year '25:
It's not up to the oppressors and their lap dog enforcers to dictate what is an acceptable form of resistance and protest.