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DISOBEDIENCE
al case, Mercedes Renee Haefer, a
22-year-old sociology major at the
University of Nevada-Las Vegas,
told The Huffington Post that after
the indictment was made public,
one of her professors barred her
from using her laptop in class, citing security concerns.
She said she didn’t speak to her
sister or father for several months
and was fired from her job at a
Sony retail store because of the
charges. She said she has been
unable to find jobs beyond parttime paralegal work for her lawyer
and IT work for nonprofits. “No
one will hire me,” she said.
Haefer, a brunette who wears
glasses and used the online aliases
“No” and “MMMM,” said she still
believes in Anonymous, especially
when the hacker group organizes
attacks in defense of freedom of
speech or freedom of information.
“Some things they do I agree with
and some things they do I don’t
agree with,” she said.
She spoke to The Huffington Post
by phone while riding her bike in
Las Vegas. When a reporter suggested that activity might not be safe,
she replied, “Safety is for losers.”
Haefer said the case has
brought her a small measure of
fame, including an appearance
HUFFINGTON
06.30-07.07.13
in a recent documentary about
Anonymous. “The day my indictment went public my name trended on Twitter,” she recalled.
Before last month’s court hearing, she used the social media service to write: “Really excited that
people are coming out to support
us for court on the 13th. Makes
the whole thing a little less dehumanizing. #paypal14”
In an interview, Haefer declined
to discuss the PayPal attack beyond
saying, “I was speaking out about
an issue I feel passionate about.”
She said she tries not to
think about the possibility of
going to prison.
“If I wake up every day thinking
about 15 years in prison, I’m not really going to live my life,” she said.
“You can’t sit and wait on
your hands for three years.”
Gerry Smith and Ryan J. Reilly are
reporters at The Huffington Post, covering technology and the Justice Department, respectively.
While an
FBI affidavit
says PayPal
collected
more than
1,000 IP
addresses
related to
the attack
on its site,
authorities
filed charges
against only
14 alleged
hackers.