Story highlights
"(T)hey're like WikiLeaks," says post attributed to Snowden
"People should be shot ... " the poster adds
Ars Technica says the postings were made more than 4 years ago
The former National Security Agency computer contractor who exposed details about U.S. surveillance programs apparently did not always support such openness.
That’s the conclusion of a story published Wednesday on the website Ars Technica, which contained rantings it said were posted more than four years ago by Edward Snowden under the user name TheTrueHOOHA, or TTH.
In a 2009 posting, TTH expressed anger over a story published in the New York Times that cited leaks to the newspaper regarding secret U.S. cyberattacks against Iran.
“(W)ho … are the anonymous sources telling them this?” wrote TTH. “people should be shot in the (genitals).”
“Are they TRYING to start a war?” TTH asked about the newspaper. “Jesus Christ (T)hey’re like Wikileaks”
Someone else in the chatroom responds, “they’re just reporting, dude.”
“They’re reporting classified s***,” counters TTH.
The website points out that leaks over covert activity in Iran do not parallel the leaks about “the domestic spying and offensive cyberware programs he felt compelled to make public” this year.
CNN could not confirm that the postings were Snowden’s, but Ars Technica, which hosted the chat room on its site, said the user name has been associated with Snowden and included photos and biographical information that matched Snowden.
Snowden faces espionage charges if shipped back home. He is at Moscow’s international airport, where he arrived Sunday from Hong Kong.