Jeremy Hammond, one of the well-known Anonymous members, who took part in some of the hacking group’s largest cyber acts, can be now found in the FBI’s terrorism watchlist.

Some leaked document from the NY state division of criminal justice services revealed that Jeremy Hammond was classified as a possible terrorist organization member and instructed not to advise him he was on a terrorist watchlist. The document in question is dated from around the time of the hacker’s arrest and suggests that he was put on a Terrorist Screening Database compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, it is unknown why the FBI offered to include the Anonymous member on the watchlist.

Of course, civil liberties groups were concerned that a person with no record of terrorist behavior should be classified in this way, unless the US government has expanded definition of terrorism to including hackers.

Jeremy Hammond was arrested three years ago and sentenced in the end of 2013 to ten years of jail time for participation in Anonymous high-profile hacks. For example, he took part in the release of 5 million emails from the private intelligence company Stratfor. The hacker was prosecuted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and there was never any suspicion that he was involved in terrorist organizations. In addition, Jeremy has always insisted he is an activist and not a criminal, let alone a terrorist.

In response, the Terrorist Screening Center responsible for administering the database claimed they could neither confirm nor deny whether anyone may be included in the database, because it would impair the government’s ability to investigate and fight terrorism.

It is known that the guidelines governing terrorism watchlists are cast very wide to include “acts dangerous to human life, property or infrastructure”, which are “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population” or “affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction”. The representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union admitted that the approach of the American government to the watchlists was quite controversial, since it had a very broad definition of terrorism, along with a poorly defined standard of “reasonable suspicion” with many exemptions.