Rally for Bradley at Fort Meade. June 1, 2013. Photo by Jenna Pope.

Turning truth inside out. Where is the line between secrecy and protection in Bradley Manning’s trial?

As the first day of Pfc. Bradley Manning’s trial began, over 50 people showed up at the court martial to show their support for Bradley Manning. Earlier many of them had been at the front gate of Fort Meade holding a vigil was held and carrying “Free Bradley Manning!” signs. Supporters wearing black t-shirts that read “truth” were asked to turn their garments inside-out to cover up the inscription prior to entering the courtroom.

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What’s this trial is really about?!

In a conversation with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! Michael Ratner,  president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a lawyer to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, commented on the trial after attending the first day saying that “This trial is, in fact, about getting [targetting] journalists, like Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.” The military prosecutor, Captain Joe Morrow, accused Manning of “dumping” documents “into the lap of the enemy,” and he painted a picture of close ties between Manning and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Manning’s defense lawyer, David Coombs, said Manning wanted to reveal the true human cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. “He believed [the leaked] information showed how we value human life,” Coombs said.

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Lamo and Bradley in one room for the first time!

At the second day of Bradley Manning’s court martial, prosecutors called in Adrian Lamo, the internet hacker who communicated with Bradley Manning prior to his arrest. Adrian Lamo delivered his chat logs with Manning to the FBI which led to Manning’s arrest in late May of 2010.

The defence attorney, David Coombs, asked Lamo about the time he was arrested for hacking the computer systems of the NYTimes, Microsoft and Nexus Lexus. “Based on your conversation, you saw a 22-year-old with good intentions, just like you had been?” “That was not lost on me,” replied Lamo. Lamo described himself as a computer threat analyst and “gray-hat hacker” – someone who breaches computer systems, but not for malicious purposes.

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