DNC protests: Former Glendale Heights inmate Jeremy Hammond is charged with defaced Chicago police car during protest outside Israeli consulate

CHICAGO (WLS) — Jeremy Hammond served a ten-year prison sentence in one of the biggest computer hacking scandals in history.

20 years ago, he became a big name in the criminal hacker world and ended up in federal prison for leaking personal information to a private intelligence agency. Hammond described this as electronic civil disobedience. New criminal charges are pending against the ex-convict for alleged hooligan behavior during protests at the Democratic National Convention.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

In the most heated confrontation with Chicago police during the DNC last week, which began outside the Israeli consulate in Chicago, authorities have charged Hammond with spray-painting an anarchist symbol on a Chicago police cruiser, according to a police report obtained by the I-Team. Hammond’s vandalism allegedly occurred in front of a Chicago police officer, who then took him into custody.

Hammond is no newcomer to the criminal justice system. The I-Team began reporting on the Glendale Heights native when he was in his 20s and the face behind the term “hacktivist.”

SEE ALSO | Prison interview with Chicago cybercriminal Jeremy Hammond

In 2013, Hammond was sentenced to 10 years in prison after leading a group of hackers called Anonymous that broke into the private intelligence firm Stratfor. Investigators say they stole credit card data and personal information from hundreds of thousands of customers, making $700,000 in illegal charges.

Two years ago, Chicago federal judge Edmond Chang released Hammond early from his position as a supervisor, citing his “successful return to society.”

READ MORE | Glendale Heights hacker Jeremy Hammond seeks release from federal prison due to COVID-19

Chicago police say that ended on New Year’s Day this year, when he was charged with attempting to occupy the State Street Bridge with a group of people, setting off illegal explosives and endangering police officers and the public. The charges were later dropped.

Then came the new accusation during the frenetic pro-Palestinian demonstration last Tuesday.

SEE ALSO | Chicago suburban hacktivist seeks to block grand jury after contempt order

“One of the core conditions of probation is that the defendant not commit a crime, and it appears that he has done so, possibly on multiple occasions. We’ll see how the cases ultimately turn out, but they wouldn’t have gone through if this had happened before the end of his sentence,” said former federal prosecutor and ABC7 chief legal analyst Gil Soffer.

Hammond is free on bail pending a court date in October. Had he been arrested on these charges while on probation, authorities would have had the right to send him to prison based on his arrest alone. But when he was taken into custody on New Year’s Day and again last week at the DNC, he was acquitted of that charge.

READ MORE | Chicago super hacker released from prison after grand jury questioning