By an active-duty Air Force Master Sergeant and member of veterans’ and service members’ organization March Forward!
On Dec. 17, hundreds of protesters braved the cold winter weather in Fort Meade, Md., to defend Private First Class Bradley Manning. Manning had been held in confinement without trial for 18 months until Dec. 16, the first day of his pretrial hearing to determine his alleged role in leaking U.S. intelligence information to WikiLeaks.
“We need to stand in solidarity with Bradley Manning, because he exposed the lies of U.S. imperialism, which is something we should all do,” said Merry Jessica Fuerst, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “Not only because they’re literally torturing him, but because standing with him is standing against the war machine.”
The demonstration took place on a street corner on busy Annapolis Avenue, directly outside the main gate of Fort Meade Army Post, home to one of the largest U.S. intelligence gathering agencies in the world, the National Security Agency.
“The kid’s getting a raw deal and we need to let the country know,” said Earl Mitchell, who deliberately violated the Universal Code of Military Justice regulations by showing up to the protest in full battle dress uniform and identifying himself as a retired lieutenant commander in the Navy. “You need to stand next to him,” Mitchell went on to say.
As the first of two rallies began to assemble around noon, frequent honks in solidarity from passing cars were met with enthusiastic waves and cheers from the growing mass of protesters.
“He’s charged with nothing more than being a hero,” said retired Army Captain Lawrence Rockwood. “He’s being prosecuted for doing what officers in the Nuremberg trials were prosecuted for not doing.”
Rockwood, a 23-year veteran of the Army, has also faced court-martial. Following the U.S. occupation of Haiti in 1994, Rockwood was charged with “conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman” for violation of Army regulations while attempting to save the lives of Haitian political prisoners. Rockwood was ultimately found not guilty, certainly in large part due to his excellent legal defense, led by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.
Buses with representatives of the many Occupy movements underway around the country were in attendance, including Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Newark and Occupy McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.
Many demonstrators came from as far away as Delaware, North Carolina and New York.
“He’s a hero,” said Elizabeth Ito from Wilmington, Del. “If you know of government crimes, it’s your duty to expose government crimes.”
As the first rally wrapped up, protesters formed up and marched down Annapolis Avenue chanting, “Bradley Manning is under attack! What do we do? Stand up fight back!” and “Bradley shouldn’t be doing time, for the Pentagon’s war crimes!”
As the march concluded, a second rally began at another gate to Fort Meade about a mile and a half down the road. Speakers included former Army Lieutenant Dan Choi, who was discharged while fighting to end the homophobic “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern and former Army Colonel and State Department official Ann Wright, who resigned her post in 2003 in opposition to the criminal U.S. war on Iraq.
“Bradley Manning is not on trial, the U.S. government is on trial,” said Choi. “It’s time we unclassify the truth that the people should know.”
Organizations in attendance included Courage to Resist, the Bradley Manning Support Network, Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), the PSL and March Forward!.
According to Courage to Resist organizer Jeff Patterson, “while in prison earlier this year at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia, Manning was treated unlike any other inmate in history.” Not only was he held in solitary confinement for eight months, woken from his sleep every five minutes after falsely being labeled a suicide risk, he was even routinely stripped naked in front of guards and other inmates—all acts that should without a doubt be labeled as torture.
Courage to Resist, a GI resistance support network, has taken on the monumental task of raising funds to cover Manning’s legal expenses. They have so far raised enough funds to not only cover all legal expenses but also to launch a critical outreach and education campaign.
The PSL stands in unflinching solidarity with Bradley Manning. Regardless of the ultimate outcome of the trial, if he did in fact leak the documents, Manning is a hero and role model to the people of the United States for having the courage to take a stand and do what is right—expose the dirty secrets of a government and a military of, by and for the 1 percent, while in absolute opposition to the interests of the 99 percent.
For more information please see: http://www.bradleymanning.org/
