On Monday, it was announced that Julian Assange struck a deal with the Department of Justice, letting him plead guilty to multiple felonies in exchange for going free.

Many celebrated this news, as they look up to Assange as a free speech hero and a fighter for the common man.

But they shouldn’t, because he isn’t.

In fact, Assange is a terrible person. But from what I can tell, many don’t actually know what he’s done. He’s celebrated because many view him as “the guy who exposed US military wrongdoing”.

But he’s done so much more, and the aforementioned military wrongdoing does not even remotely excuse Assange’s awfulness.

Julian Assange has endangered hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people & victims

He exposed Afghan informants to the Taliban

The release that made WikiLeaks famous is mostly known for “Collateral Murder”, a video that claims to show US helicopter pilots committing war crimes (for what it’s worth, they didn’t actually do anything illegal).

But that’s not all. The release included over 90,000 documents of information, many of which contained highly sensitive material.

Assange claimed that sensitive information was withheld. He lied. The names of dozens, if not hundreds of informants and their families were made public for all to see:

Some of these people almost certainly paid with their lives. In the UK extradition trial against Assange, the representative for the United States said that “The US is aware of sources, whose redacted names and other identifying information was contained in classified documents published by WikiLeaks, who subsequently disappeared…”

And what did Assange have to say about the lives he put at risk? Did he feel bad? Did he show any semblance of regret or shame?

Of course he didn’t.

When asked about it by journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding, he stated: "Well, they're informants. So, if they get killed, they've got it coming to them. They deserve it.”

It is not a pro-speech, pro-transparency journalist who says these kinds of things about their victims. Assange is no transparency warrior; he’s an anti-American goon who is willing to sacrifice anyone and everyone on the altar of his political gods.

He also doxed Gay men and rape victims in Saudi Arabia

But WikiLeaks didn’t only target the United States military; they also sourced and hosted numerous leaks that targeted the citizens of many foreign countries.

This included gay men and rape victims in Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality can be punished by death and women can be killed for little more than having a secret Instagram account.

Women and gay men regularly disappear, get killed, or become imprisoned for “moral deviancy”. Assange and his team knowingly and willingly put their lives at risk for their own political gain.

And he helped Russia interfere with US elections

Despite Assange’s claims to oppose the “military-industrial complex”, he actively works in support of one of the most imperialistic countries in the world: Russia. In 2016, WikiLeaks received data from the GRU that was hacked from Hillary Clinton’s campaign and from the Democratic National Committee.

WikiLeaks didn’t just receive the information from GRU sources; they actively reached out and requested access to the information for their own personal and political gain:

They spread this information while implying Democratic conspiracies against the country. At the same time, WikiLeaks’ Russian sources also had hacked data from the Republican National Committee. However, WikiLeaks did not compel the GRU to release it alongside the DNC data:

I honestly don’t care about whether you think Trump conspired with Russia to get himself elected. What matters here, and what is clear, is that Assange—an Australian citizen—conspired with Russia to help get Trump elected.

This is, of course, in addition to his being on the payroll of the Russian government for his 2012 RT show. You know, the one where he interviewed and legitimized the likes of Hezbollah terrorists.

Assange deserves scorn, not praise

It doesn’t matter whether you believe Assange actually broke any laws (hint: he did). It doesn’t matter whether you think those who wish America harm deserve to know our national secrets (hint: they don’t).

What matters is that Julian Assange directly and continuously endangered innocent people across the globe to garner support for his anti-American crusade.

His priority is not transparency, or he would have leaked the information he had that wasn’t convenient for his backers. His priority is not peace, or he would not have worked for a hostile, expansionist regime that wages imperialist wars against its neighbors.

His priority is, and has always been, opposition to the West at any cost.

So next time you see Julian Assange’s picture, try to picture all of the innocent men, women, and children whose blood is on his hands. Try to imagine the imprisonment, the torture, and the executions that were committed based on the information he provided to evil people.

Assange is no hero. He’s a villain and should be shamed, not praised.