UPDATE: Sentencing phase to begin at 9:30am ET tomorrow morning.

UPDATE: Despite being found not guilty of ‘Aiding the Enemy,’ Manning is found guilty of 9 counts, 4 of which were his lesser included pleas and could still face up to 100 years or more in prison.

U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning has learned his fate this afternoon as a military judge ruled him not guilty of aiding the enemy. Manning stood accused of 22 charges of which he sent some 700,000 classified documents to the infamous whistleblower site WikiLeaks, the most serious of which, aiding the enemy, carries the sentence of life in prison without parole. Manning was, however, found guilty 19 counts, 4 of which were his lesser included pleas including charges of violating the Espionage Act.

The verdict comes after an eight week trial at Fort Meade in Maryland just outside of Baltimore in which military prosecutors argued that by Manning providing the classified information, he was able to assist the militant terrorist organization al-Qaeda.

Manning has already pleaded guilty to a number of lesser charges, including unauthorized possession of information relating to the national defense, of which he could face a number of hard years in prison.


 

The Washington Post noted prior to that verdict that should Manning be convicted, the sentencing phase of the trial will begin immediately on Wednesday during which the prosecution is expected to press the judge, Col. Denise Lind, to impose the maximum sentence. Manning was arrested in Iraq in 2010 and has since been held in pretrial detention before the court-martial began in June.

The case has created a polarizing affect on the American public with many supporters and dissenters alike making known their personal rulings on the situation. To many, Manning is simply either a traitor or true patriot. Russia Today, an international new outlet live-blogging the trial, noted that “Demonstrators in 40 cities took part in the Bradley Manning ‘International Day of Action’ on Saturday” as a show of support for Manning, while earlier this morning “Members of the Free Bradley Manning support group have scheduled a 90-minute vigil in front of Fort Meade’s main gate.”

Joseph Wippl, a professor of international relations at Boston University and a former CIA officer, told Reuters leading up to the verdict that, “He’s just a dumb kid who got himself into a situation where he felt he was saving the world… I think he should be convicted and they should be easy on him. They need to do more on limiting access to classified information.”

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