Daniel Ellsberg with protesters at the Quantico Rally for Bradley Manning

Several hundred activists joined Daniel Ellsberg, Retired Army Colonel Ann Wright, David House, Jeff Paterson, Courage to Resist, Veterans for Peace and CodePink in Quantico, Virginia on 20 March, 2011 to rally for Bradley Manning. They gathered to hear speakers discuss the confinement of Bradley Manning, protest his inhumane treatment and the wars the United States is waging in the Middle East and elsewhere, and then march to the base entrance and the Iwo Jima memorial.

The event began at 2 p.m. ET. Protesters who gathered at the straw-filled parking lot in front of the National Marine Corps Museum were wary about how the event would unfold, because organizers had been warned previously that Marine Corps Base Quantico would be closing the Iwo Jima Memorial, normally open to the public year-round, on the day of the scheduled rally. Arriving at the event, protesters witnessed what Michael Whitney of FireDogLake described as “literally hundreds” of civilian police officers from Prince William County, dressed “in full riot gear with submachine guns,” some on horseback and some K-9 (canine) units, surround the rally.

Speakers at the rally included:

• Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg;
• US Army Ret. Col. Ann Wright;
• Jeff Paterson, Courage to Resist;
• Zach Choate, Iraq Veterans Against the War;
• and David House, friend of Bradley Manning.

When the speeches ended, protesters joined the speakers in a silent march down the side of the highway to the entrance to UMCB Quantico, where the Iwo Jima Memorial is located. As they proceeded in silence, approximately 40 Prince William County officers appeared out of the nearby woods to block the protesters from proceeding. Officers wore riot shields in front of their faces and had weapons, including guns, at the ready.

At this, Daniel Ellsberg, Ret. Col. Wright and many of the older protesters sat down on the pavement near the barricades, refusing to leave unless they could deliver a position to base commander Daniel Choike. Other protesters formed a line in front of the wall of officers, whistling, singing and chanting loudly for approximately 20 to 40 minutes. Police did not allow protesters to leave the area to go back up the hill to the Museum parking lot. Protesters placed a wreath and other flowers at the Memorial.

When protesters refused to be moved, the police began to arrest them, lifting up protesters sitting on the ground and walking, or, in some instances, carrying them to waiting police buses. Approximately 30 people were arrested, including Ret. Col. Wright and Daniel Ellsberg. None resisted arrest. Eyewitness video and reports show Wright being forced into a position that apparently caused her enough pain to make her cry out.

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More information on the Quantico events will be posted here on bradleymanning.org soon.