Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence officer sentenced to military prison for one of the biggest classified material leaks in U.S. history, spoke out during a New Year's Day performance at a poetry event in New York City about the year she spent in solitary confinement.

The 36-year-old anti-secrecy activist and whistleblower spoke Monday night at the Poetry Project's 50th Annual New Year's Day Marathon at New York City's St. Mark's in-the-Bowery, telling a standing-room-only crowd that her time in prison taught her "there's a lot of power in silence."

Manning began her performance by standing silently at a podium for three minutes before addressing the crowd.

Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence officer who served prison time for releasing a trove of classified documents in 2010, spoke on Jan. 1, 2024, at the Poetry Projects 50th Annual New Years Day Marathon in New York City.

William Hutchinson/ABC News

"So, that was a few minutes of silence," Manning then said. "I became very used to this experience that you just had, which is sitting there in silence for several minutes. I did that for almost a year."

Manning, who came out as transgender in 2013, was imprisoned for seven years at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after being convicted in 2013 by a military tribunal under the Espionage and Computer Fraud and Abuse Acts. She also pleaded guilty to some of the charges stemming from the leak.

Manning was imprisoned from 2010 to 2017, when then-President Barack Obama, with just three days remaining in his second White House term, commuted the more than three-decade sentence she received.

Manning said Monday night that the silence she endured during solitary confinement has also benefited her since her release from prison.

"I think there's a lot of power in silence. I think that there's a lot of power in self-reflection, introspection," Manning said. "And I wanted to share a little of that that I had because it's very meaningful to me."

Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence officer who served prison time for releasing a trove of classified documents in 2010, spoke on Jan. 1, 2024, at the Poetry Projects 50th Annual New Years Day Marathon in New York City.

William Hutchinson/ABC News

She said she has spent the last year going through a "time of healing for myself, for my own experience of being in solitary confinement for a year."

"I've been very active and engaging in a lot of different things," said Manning, who published a memoir titled "README.txt" in 2022. "But I've been finding that sometimes, I need to take the time to once again find that moment of introspection and self-reflection, despite the fact that I'd love to say so much, I have so much to say. But sometimes we just have to look inside ourselves and I hope that you all can appreciate that as well."

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the unauthorized release of approximately 750,000 classified government documents to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange.

Among the materials Manning leaked was information that included low-level battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, evidence of civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, Guantanamo prison camp detainee profiles, and U.S. diplomatic correspondence.

In a 2017 interview with ABC News following her release from prison, Manning said she leaked the documents because she wanted to prompt a public domestic debate over the role of the military and U.S. foreign policy. She said she didn't think leaking the documents would threaten national security.

When asked why she didn't share her concerns up through the chain of command, Manning responded, "the channels are there, but they don't work."

Manning pleaded guilty to 10 of the charges stemming from the leak, and a military tribunal convicted Manning on other charges, including espionage, theft and fraud. The tribunal, however, found Manning not guilty of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy, which carries a life sentence.

Upon commuting Manning's sentence in 2017, President Obama released a statement saying, in part, "I feel very comfortable that justice has been served and that a message has still been sent that when it comes to our national security."

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Chelsea Manning speaks of solitary confinement during New Year's Day ...

Chelsea Manning poses during a photo call outside the Institute Of Contemporary Arts (ICA) ahead of a Q&A event on October 1, 2018 in London, England.Jack Taylor (Getty Images)

Chelsea Manning was responsible for the largest leak of confidential documents ever to be released into the public domain. The former U.S. Army soldier, who served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2010, leaked videos depicting airstrikes in which U.S. soldiers fired upon and killed several civilians, including two Reuters journalists. This video, known as Collateral Murder, was just the beginning. Manning went on to release over 251,000 diplomatic cables and more than 482,000 Army reports, collectively referred to as the Iraq War Logs and Afghan War Diary, through WikiLeaks and its media partners between April 2010 and April 2011.

After being identified as the source of the leaks, Manning was arrested in May 2010 and faced 22 charges, including theft, espionage, and aiding the enemy, which carried the possibility of a death sentence. In February 2013, she pleaded guilty to 10 charges. The trial for the remaining charges commenced on June 3, 2013, ten years ago. On July 30, Manning was convicted of 17 of the original charges, excluding aiding the enemy. She received a 35-year sentence at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, a maximum-security military facility. However, on January 17, 2017, President Barack Obama commuted her sentence, resulting in nearly seven years of confinement dating back to her arrest. Manning was released on May 17, 2017.

Since her release, Manning has engaged in speaking engagements about data leaks and her experience as a trans person, and has authored a memoir titled README.txt, wherein she candidly recounts her military experiences and the motivations behind her actions. In the book, she expresses her desire to challenge the simplified narrative of war prevalent in society, where questioning the established viewpoint is often perceived as disloyalty.

Mannings sentiments in her book echo those expressed in a document she wrote in January 2009, also titled Readme.txt. In that document, she referred to the leaked materials as one of the most significant documents of our time, capable of revealing the true nature of 21st-century asymmetric warfare by dispelling the fog of war.

During her service in Iraq, Manning experienced an incident that deeply impacted her. The Iraqi Federal Police arrested 15 detainees for printing anti-Iraqi literature. Manning was tasked with identifying the bad guys but discovered that the detainees had actually exposed corruption within the Iraqi cabinet. When she reported her findings to her commanding officer, he dismissed her concerns and ordered her to assist the Iraqi police in detaining more individuals. This experience led Manning to realize that she was actively participating in something that contradicted her personal values.

The leaked documents exposed various aspects of U.S. activities abroad and shed light on issues within the military, particularly regarding mental health. Manning faced adversity during her service, enduring bullying and struggling with the dont ask, dont tell policy that made it difficult for her to serve openly as a gay man. Furthermore, she grappled with gender identity disorder. During her trial, Mannings defense argued that her superiors failed to provide adequate counseling and discipline and neglected to revoke her security clearance.

A report by the Department of Defense, published in June 2017 following a request by investigative reporter Jason Leopold, stated that the leaks had no significant strategic impact on U.S. war efforts. Mannings lawyers also contended during the trial that the government exaggerated the harm caused by the document release, suggesting that Manning was being exploited to gather evidence against Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. Manning was later asked to testify in a U.S. case against Assange, but she refused, leading to her being found in contempt of court on March 8, 2019, and subsequently jailed until March 12, 2020.

Chelsea Mannings actions have evoked divergent perspectives, with some considering her a hero and others branding her a traitor. Regardless, her actions have ignited vigorous debate and controversy, pushing the boundaries of whistleblowing, government transparency, and national security. Additionally, Mannings struggle for gender-affirming surgery while in military custody has served as an inspiration for transgender individuals and advocates, shedding light on the challenges faced by the transgender community within the military and society at large. Mannings unwavering resilience and determination in asserting her rights have contributed to the ongoing discourse surrounding transgender rights.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Manning revealed that she rarely faces hecklers regarding the intelligence leaks, but occasionally experiences attacks related to her transgender identity. She expressed her resilience, stating that she has become accustomed to such criticism and that it no longer greatly affects her.

On speaking about her past, Manning wrote in February 2023: People still come up to me and talk about the stuff from 2010 as if it has any bearing on my current life. But Ive moved on; in my daily work, in my personal life, it almost has no bearing whatsoever.

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