 20+ cities rally support for accused whistle-blower Bradley Manning
From a packed hall in Oakland, to
military bases in Washington and Nevada, to the streets of San Diego, LA, and San Francisco-and at the US Embassy in Toronto and on campuses- supporters of the accused Wikileaks hero
demand, "Free Bradley Manning!"
Buddhist
objector faces persecution (link only)
Fort Hood
SPC Kyle Wesolowski declares, "I have no other recourse but to now refuse all duties
that prepare myself for war or aid...other
soldiers in conditioning them to go to war."
AWOL soldier receives German media award(link only)
"André Shepherd has done what is prohibited to soldiers. He made a
decision. Alone. He took his life into his own hands and said, "I am not
doing this anymore."" - Editor Bernd Pickert
Canadian Parliament to vote on binding resolution
The debate and vote on
Bill
C-440 (war resisters) is likely next week. If passed,
U.S. Iraq War resisters will be allowed to remain in Canada. For updates and action: letthemstay.ca
Over 20 cities
rally support for Bradley Manning
The Days of Action to Support Bradley Manning kicked off with packed
hall in Oakland, Thursday, September 16, "Afghanistan: Occupation,
Wikileaks, and accused Whistle-blower Army Pfc. Bradley Manning" with Daniel Ellsberg, Col. Ann Wright (ret.), and Ray McGovern. Watch the event here.
 Additional videos, photos, and reports from San Francisco (photos: one, two | video: one, two, three), San
Diego (report/photos | video), Seattle/Fort
Lewis (report/video | video | report/slideshow),
Quantico (videos),
Knoxville (report), Los
Angeles (report), Minneapolis (video: one, two), and Toronto
(video). From Creech AFB NV, Keene NH, and Oklahoma City, view photos here. Events also took place in Byron Bay, Ann Arbor,
Cambridge, Corvallis, New
Haven, Norfolk, and Rochester. In New York City, a tornado added drama to Iraq veteran Ethan McCord's presentation at St. Mary's church. For more info, bradleymanning.org
“I spoke with Bradley today about the events, and what I saw online. He told me that he felt very encouraged by the news that I shared with him. I can tell that it helps Brad greatly to hear that others care about him and are doing their best to support him.... He also told me that he looks forward to the day
that he can express his gratitude in person to those that have rallied
to his defense.”
- Bradley Manning's attorney
David Coombs
So far, 1,050 individuals have donated a total of $59,300 towards Bradley's defense. Another 38 supporters have given $6,800 directly to the legal trust account. With this, the defense team has been able to hire a computer forensics expert, a classified information security expert, and will soon include a psychiatrist as well as a criminal investigator.
Next steps for the international campaign to free Bradley Manning will include outreach and education at upcoming events on the anniversary of the
US occupation of Afghanistan next month, the Stephen Colbert/Jon Stewart "Keep Fear Alive!/Be Reasonable" rally
in Washington DC on October 30th, and a bold public declaration, "We Stand with Bradley Manning", that we hope will be signed by thousands and reprinted widely.
Bradley's pre-trial Article 32 hearing has not yet been scheduled, but is likely to take place in either December or January 2011, with a possible court martial around April 2011. We only have a few months to build an international campaign to save Bradley's life.
Free Bradley Manning!
Blowing the whistle on war crimes in not a crime! |
