Whatever happened to Edward Snowden? – Grunge.com

While working for the CIA and NSA, Snowden learned firsthand that Uncle Sam is scarily adept at tracking people. So when he stole somewhere between 200,000 and 1.7 million NSA documents, leaked them to journalists, admitted that he did it, and even showed his face on camera, it must have seemed inevitable that the U.S. would hunt him down like a high-tech bloodhound and throw him in prison for decades. Yet somehow Snowden outfoxed what's possibly the most advanced surveillance apparatus on the planet and flew to Russia before authorities could catch him. What's more, for three years almost no one knew how he did it.

The story of Snowden's escape starts in Hong Kong, where he shared highly classified information with the Washington Post's Barton Gellman, the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald, and filmmaker Laura Poitras. As Vice detailed, he initially stayed at a hotel, but once he turned himself into a walking bull's-eye, he needed to split like a frightened banana. Aided by a lawyer, he snuck into Hong Kong's slums and lived with refugees. According to Quartz, he shared a bedroom with two people and survived on a diet of McDonald's, cakes, and other junk food. After 12 days he was whisked away to Russia. Unfortunately for the refugees who helped Snowden, they've reportedly faced persecution by agencies meant to protect them.

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Whatever happened to Edward Snowden? - Grunge.com