I don't think he avoided any consequences, he escalated the consequences to the maximum degree he could. No, I'm not advocating suicide. If anyone out there thinks that suicide is a solution, it isn't. But, morally speaking, is there a huge difference between being imprisoned in a tiny concrete room for 20 years (esp. during the prime of your life) and being dead? No, probably not.

I'm not saying his decision to take his own life was right, only that I can empathize with the position he was in and how it would seem hopeless given his personality and the inherent lack of fairness in prosecutorial discretion and mandatory minimum sentences.

Aaron was a big-minded softie, who cared deeply about humanity, and was courageous enough to escalate beyond slacktivism to real action.

He underestimated how entrenched his opponents were and that they would bring the full force and intimidation of the state down on his head.

He knew what he was doing was right, but he didn't know what he was really up against. Like a lot of smart people, he wrongly assumed that other people were like him. He probably thought that they would see the reason of his position, and sense that he was really a good person, and treat him with fairness (like he would do) and not as an evil terrorist.

It still hurts me to think about Aaron, what Aaron represented, and what our system does to people like that.