Gary ‘UFO Hacker’ McKinnon seems to have quite the knack of picking up celebrity endorsements. Just last week, former hostage Terry Waite voiced his opinion that McKinnon should not be extradited to the U.S. Now comes news that Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour will contribute at track to a protest gig in support of McKinnon’s plight. The announcement was made by McKinnon’s mother Janis Sharp:
“Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd is going to sing Graham Nash’s ‘Chicago’ for our son Gary McKinnons ‘Sing In’ for World Autism Day 2nd April yea,” Sharp excitedly announced via micro-blogging service Twitter on Wednesday.
Sharp added that the offer came by email and that Gilmour had agreed to “sing/record Chicago on our backing track for Gary’s ‘Sing In’”. The Pink Floyd legend will not be able to attend the demo itself, however.
…Gilmour’s email, Ma McKinnon tells us, also said: “I agree that your son Gary should not be being extradited to the USA for his naïve hacking. It is hard to understand that our so-called fair justice system could not be more effectively used to prevent this.”
I’m not sure of the piggy-backing of the McKinnon protest to World Autism Day (even with McKinnon’s diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome), so I hope that Gilmour hasn’t been brought on-board mainly through that connection (Gilmour has supported mental health charities in the past). His email appears to show that he is aware of McKinnon’s extradition fight however.
Previously on TDG:
