A patriot one who loves and supports his or her country … praised him as a … motivated patriot who was fearless in the quest to preserve American security.W. R. Hearst, Jr.
Snowden says he would come back to the U.S. for trial — but only if he could tell a jury why he leaked the information to journalists. And if he was assured that the jury could see the classified material he leaked — to assess for itself whether he did the right thing.

"You can't have a fair trial about the disclosure of information unless the jury can evaluate whether it was right or wrong to reveal this information," he said. By coming back for only "sentencing," he said, he wouldn't be setting the right example for others who might be in a similar situation.

"No one becomes a whistleblower because they want to," he said. "No one becomes a whistleblower because it has a happy ending." NPR