Hundreds rally to support Bradley Manning in Leavenworth, Kansas

savebradley, Flickr

Last Saturday hundreds of people rallied in Leavenworth Kansas in support of Bradley Manning, jailed for his alleged disclosure to Wikileaks of military secrets exposing, among other things, US culpability in Iraq war crimes. KMBC of Kansas City covered the event here.

Bradleymanning.org, a website dedicated to Manning's release, published the following:

“The information Bradley Manning is accused of releasing should have been in the public domain. Whoever revealed it is an American hero.” said Jeff Paterson, who spoke at the rally on behalf of the Bradley Manning Support Network. “Our leaders in Washington need to return to American principles of transparent and accountable government. That starts with protecting—not prosecuting—whistle-blowers and dropping all charges against Bradley Manning.”

Supporters and campaign organizers from a variety of organizations will be meeting after the rally to talk about next steps in the campaign.

PFC Bradley Manning, 23-years-old, was detained in Iraq one year ago on May 26, 2010. He still awaits his first public court hearing, now expected to begin later this summer. Today’s rally is part of an escalating campaign to show broad public support for PFC Bradley Manning. Over 4,300 individuals have contributed $333,000 towards PFC Manning’s legal fees and related public education efforts. The Bradley Manning Support Network is dedicated to securing due process and a public trial for PFC Manning — and to eventually winning his freedom.

In related news, PC World today reported that the Guardian newspaper of Manchester England has published an investigative report revealing that the FBI has intimidated 25% of hackers into becoming informants.