Update 9/1/12: New court calendar, nationwide actions next Thursday, and more artists speak out for Bradley
As mentioned in our last news update, Judge Lind has given us a new calendar for future proceedings. Please take note:
- October 17-18: speedy trial witness list to be argued for defense’s speedy trial motion
- October 29 – November 2: speedy trial motion hearing; production motion for witnesses at “unlawful pretrial punishment” motion hearing
- November 27 – December 2: litigation/argument on the “unlawful pretrial punishment” motion
- December 10 – 14: pretrial witnesses and evidentiary issues argued
- January 14 – 18: handling of classified information during the trial
- January 28 – 29: last minute motions before trial
- January 30: voir dire (or screening of potential jurors)
- February 4 – March 15: trial
You can read our summaries of last week’s hearings by Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 as well as a complete summary provided by the UK Guardian.
Bradley Manning supporters take action nationwide next Thursday
Next week, 28 cities across the country plan to stage their own event in the court of public opinion, by protesting at Obama 2012 campaign offices if he fails to respond to a letter of demands put forth by the veterans arrested during the August 16 sit-ins. The letter asks for Bradley’s torture at Quantico to be accounted for, and for President Obama to pardon him. It goes on to explain:
In order to uphold campaign promise to create the most transparent government in history, the President must recognize PFC Manning as a whistle-blower and remedy the injustices he has faced over two years in U.S. military custody…
Bradley Manning served with conscience. Words attributed to him in May 2010 show he acted because
he wanted “people to see the truth… because without information, you cannot make informed decisions
as a public.“ President Obama made a similar statement in May 2011, when he stated, “In the 21st
century, information is power; the truth cannot be hidden; and the legitimacy of governments will
ultimately depend on active and informed citizens.” We now ask that President Obama honor those
words by freeing American truth-teller Bradley Manning.
The actions planned for September 6 have been promoted by the Bradley Manning Support Network, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Afghans for Peace, Firedoglake, World Can’t Wait, CodePink, and the Alliance for Global Justice.
New art for Bradley
People have contributed many ways to the campaign over the past two years: fundraising for the legal defense, organizing actions, and writing letters to the editor. Making art is another way people have helped to spread the world about alleged WikiLeaks whistle-blower Bradley Manning. This week, an art collective by the name of the Fresh Juice Party has produced an amazing chalking in Oakland, CA:
There are also two new songs to check out. Both represent very different styles of music, and both are dedicated to Bradley Manning.
Oh, Bradley from benh.am on Vimeo.
By the Desaparecidos.
I used the information here and at wikileaks to make a little time of Bradley Manning’s … encounter with the US Army …
http://robinlea.com/pub/BradleyManning/time_line.html
If Bradley Manning’s trial does get underway on 4 February 2013 … 1 out of 10 days in his life here on earth will have been spent imprisoned … awaiting trial.
Thanks for posting our chalkupy image above! http://soundcloud.com/citizencasey/wheres-our-change This is the song we sang for Bradley Manning to President Obama LIVE in SF, April 2011. (That’s when he said “Manning broke the law.”) It’s the title track for our protest album: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wheres-our-change/id555643493 ALL proceeds go to local Oakland causes.
This is another song for/about Manning & all whistleblowers. It features vocals from Tom Drake, Dan Ellsberg, Ann Wright & Ray McGovern. http://soundcloud.com/citizencasey/whistleblowers-theme
Remarks From The Pardon Bradley Manning Rally At Downtown Boston Obama Headquarters-September 6, 2012
Welcome one and all and I am glad you could be here for this important struggle.
The Smedley Butler Brigade of Veterans for Peace proudly stands in solidarity with, and defense of, Private Bradley Manning and his fight for freedom from his jailers, the American military.
Now usually when I get before a mic or am on a march I am shouting to high heaven about some injustice. Recently I was called strident by someone and when it comes to the struggle against this country’s wars, the struggle for social and economic equality, and for freedom for our political prisoners I am indeed strident.
But I am looking for something today something personally important to me and so I will try to lower my temperature a bit- I want, like you, for President Obama to pardon Bradley Manning so I will be nice, or try to be.
Bradley Manning is in a sense the poster person for all of us who have struggled against the wars of the last decade. He stands charged with allegedly leaking information about American war crimes and other matters of public concern to Wikileaks. We, and we are not alone on this, do not see whistleblowing on such activities as a crime but as an elemental humanitarian act and public service.
Private Manning has paid the price for his alleged acts with over 800 days of pre-trial confinement and is now facing life imprisonment for simple acts of humanity. For letting the American people know what they perhaps did not want to know but must know- when soldiers, American soldiers, go to war some awful things can happen and do. He has also suffered torture at the hands of the American government for his brave stand. We have become somewhat inured to foreign national being tortured by the American government at places like Guantanamo and other black hole locales. We have even become somewhat inured to American citizens being tortured and killed by the American government by drones and other methods. But we know, or should know, that when the American government stands accused of torturing an American soldier for not toeing the war line then we private citizens are in serious trouble.
Why does Private Manning need a pardon? Did he give away the order of battle or the table of organization for American military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan? No. Did he give away the design for drones and such weapons? No. He simply blew the whistle on something that is a hard fact of war- war crimes by American soldiers through release of the Collateral Murder tape and what have become known as the Iraq and Afghan War logs. This is what the American government had tried with might and main to cover up. And what needed to be exposed. All talk of bringing democracy, or national building, or having a war to end all wars, and the million other lame excuses for war pale before the hard fact that in the heat of war the real strategy is to kill and burn and let god sort out the innocent from the guilty.
That is what Private Manning exposed. I, and I am sure many other veterans from previous wars who saw or knew of such things and did nothing about it, are glad that such things were exposed. If for no other reason Private First Class Bradley Manning deserves presidential pardon for his service. To insure that event we urge everybody to ramp up their efforts in behalf of Bradley by signing here or online at the Bradley Manning Support Network site the petition to the Secretary of the Army for his release and to call the White House, the telephone number is listed on the flyer we are handing out, and demand that President Obama pardon Private Manning.
Today’s event is the start of our fall campaign of behalf of Private Manning who at this time is expected to go to trial next February. We want to build toward that trial, assuming President Obama (or President Romney) has not pardoned him by then. We have been holding weekly stand-outs in Davis Square in Somerville outside the MBTA Red Line stop Wednesdays from 4:00to 5:00 PM and urge you to join us. Or better yet start a Free Bradley Manning stand-out in your own town square. Thank you