Supporters marched on Ft. Meade for PFC Bradley Manning (Photo: Nathan Fuller)

Nearly two thousand supporters of US Army PFC Bradley Manning rallied and marched on Fort Meade, Maryland, this afternoon for the young whistle-blower.

Under a sweltering sun, Pentagon Papers whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg, former political prisoner-turned-human rights advocate Sarah Shourd, LGBT activist and US Army LT Dan Choi, and retired US Army Col. Ann Wright addressed supporters at the Llewellyn Gate, nearest the military courtroom. 

The demonstration, which lasted several hours, comes two days before Manning’s trial is set to begin at Ft. Meade, on June 3, and three years after his arrest. The government is charging Manning with indirectly “aiding the enemy” for releasing hundreds of thousands of war logs, diplomatic cables, and military videos to the transparency website WikiLeaks.

PFC Manning has said that he hoped the releases would “spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general as well as it related to Iraq and Afghanistan.” 

A dozen chartered buses brought supporters from across the northeast, including three buses from New York City. Military veterans and activists traveled from around North America—some arriving from as far as Michigan, Montreal, and Mexico City.

“People came from great distances to stand with a true American hero,” said Jeff Paterson, director of the Bradley Manning Support Network. “From Bradley’s demeanor in court, it’s clear he takes strength from the outpouring of support.” 

Today’s rally was held with the assistance of many national organizations, including Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, CODEPINK Women for Peace, World Can’t Wait, and Courage to Resist. 

In addition to today’s event, the Bradley Manning Support Fund is also responsible for 100% of PFC Manning’s legal fees. Twenty thousand supporters have contributed over $1.25 million dollars in defense of PFC Manning and towards associated public education efforts, since his arrest in Iraq in May 2010.

A thousand people from around the country will descend on Ft. Meade, Maryland, to show their support for Army whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning in a mass demonstration on Saturday, June 1. They will use marching, theater, creative visuals and other actions to protest against his imprisonment two days before his court-martial trial is set to begin, on June 3, 2013.

Speakers for the rally will include Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower; Ethan McCord, the soldier who saved the children attacked in the Collateral Murder video released by WikiLeaks; Col. Ann Wright (ret.), the most senior state department official to resign in protest of the Iraq war; Sarah Shourd, hiker imprisoned by Iran turned prisoner rights activists; and Lt. Dan Choi, prominent anti-Don’t Ask Don’t Tell activist featured on the Rachel Maddow show.

Buses will be coming to the event from Syracuse, NY, New York City, Philadelphia, Willimantic, CT, New Brunswick, NJ, Baltimore and Washington D.C. and more supporters will be joining them from across the country and the world. 

Bradley Manning’s actions exposed the true number of civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S.-supported torture in Iraq, and a pattern of corporate influence on U.S. foreign policy worldwide. Despite pleading guilty to charges of mishandling classified information, which could put him in jail for up to 20 years, the military is pursuing 22 charges including one count of “aiding the enemy,” which carries a sentence of life without parole. By the time Manning’s trial begins on June 3, he will have been in prison for more than three years since his arrest in May 2010.

Bradley Manning contingent marching in the SF Pride Parade

Update 4/27 4:05pm: Unfortunately, the SF pride board now disputes the original public announcement of Bradley as grand marshal.  It seems he was a top candidate in the electoral college’s election, but unfortunately may not have won the election after all.  While this news is disappointing, we appreciate the LGBTQ community leaders who nominated and voted for Bradley in the first place.

This year’s SF Pride Parade will be held on June 30. 

By the Bradley Manning Support Network. April 26, 2013.

This Wednesday, the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee announced that openly gay Army whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning will be honored as a grand marshal for the largest gathering of LGBT (lesbian gay bisexual transgender) people and allies in the United States. SF Pride describes its grand marshals as “individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community.” 

A group of past grand marshals selected PFC Manning as this year’s sole honoree, bestowing one of the LGBT community’s highest accolades on the soldier who helped reveal unpunished war crimes, the Pentagon’s link to Iraqi torture (as publicized in a recent UK Guardian documentary), and other disturbing and previously secret foreign policies.  

Responding to the announcement, Bradley Manning Support Network Steering Committee representative Rainey Reitman stated,

The LGBT community is unique in that being a member requires a willingness to disclose the truth about ourselves to the benefit of those around us and society as a whole. As a longstanding Manning supporter, I’m thrilled to see our community publicly embrace his courage in disclosing classified truths about the war in Iraq and other facts which empower the American public to promote smarter future policy.

PFC Manning, awaiting trial for three years behind bars, cannot attend the Pride celebration in-person.  However, Pentagon Papers’ whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg will attend in his stead, and hundreds are expected to march in support of PFC Manning in the parade. In past years, Manning pride contingents have marched in New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C., Boston, San Diego, and Los Angeles.  Even wider national support is expected this year, in anticipation of his summer court martial. 

In late February, PFC Manning plead guilty to 10 charges concerning unauthorized use and disclosure of classified information, explaining his desire to promote “debates, discussion and reforms” concerning U.S. foreign policy.  Those 10 charges alone would carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years; nonetheless the U.S. military continues to pursue a life sentence in prison for “aiding the enemy through indirect means.”

Supporters argue that without evidence of any damage done to U.S. national security, this is primarily an attempt to frighten other would-be military whistleblowers.

Protesters outside Ft. Meade criticized the lack of press access to Bradley Manning’s hearing.

Announcing new restrictions on the press covering Bradley Manning’s court-martial trial at Fort Meade, MD, a military spokesperson said, “This media operation center is a privilege, not a requirement. Privileges can be taken away.” She also announced that cell phones would no longer be allowed in the Ft. Meade media center, which broadcasts a live video feed from the courtroom.

“To say the judge wasn’t happy with what happened is an understatement,” she said. “Police yourselves. If there is another violation, everyone feels the pain, not just certain individuals.” The announcement comes in response to last month’s publication of an audio recording of Bradley Manning’s statement in court taking responsibility for releasing documents to WikiLeaks.

Michael Ratner, president emeritus for the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), called the idea that media access isn’t a right “one of the more foolish and dangerous propositions I have ever heard.”

He continued:

It’s one I would have hoped we would never hear in this country regarding press and public access to criminal cases. Calling access a “privilege” is to say it can be taken away at the whim of the judge. That befits a dictatorship not a democracy. Access to criminal proceedings including pretrial hearings is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, a right that can be limited only in the most extreme of circumstances.  The Manning trial is already a travesty of First Amendment violations. This just compounds its utter unfairness.

Judge Denise Lind also addressed the audio leak upon coming on the record this morning. “To date, I have not ordered persons to be screened for phones and recording devices,” she said. “I hope I don’t have to.” But as of today, those in the media center have been banned from bringing cell phones inside.

The new rule needlessly constrains a press increasingly frustrated with extremely limited access to Manning’s case, with several reporters complaining that these proceedings are more restrictive than military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay. No court rulings or motions are available to the press and public, forcing journalists to type what they hear in court as it happens. This makes contemporaneous coverage difficult like no other case.

Last year, the CCR legally petitioned the military to make all rulings, motions, and filings in Manning’s case public, contending that the First Amendment requires contemporaneous access to these records. Without officially responding to that suit, the Department of Defense released 84 documents in late February 2013. Since then, they’ve only released one more document – Manning’s statement.

Bending to public pressure today, in a first for Manning’s case, the military provided printed copies of two of Judge Lind’s rulings. A military legal subject-matter expert explained that these rulings were released because they were “procedural,” they were already clean-typed copies, and the defense and government didn’t object to their release. There’s no indication that this means we’ll continue to get same-day access to these filings from now on. But there’s no reason why we can’t: the military has a court reporter who could type up the rulings, and it can redact any sensitive information (as it here redacted Manning’s social security number).

These rulings are a promising start, but they don’t counter the months of secrecy and choked-off access that those covering Manning’s case have endured. The First Amendment should afford full and timely access to these documents – a free press and fair coverage of Manning’s trial depend on it.