Boston Supporters Gather After Manning Sentencing, Demand Presidential Pardon
BOSTON/Park Street - On Wednesday morning, Boston area supporters awaited the sentencing of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning with bated breath and low expectations. Their fears were realized when Judge Col. Denise Lind sentenced Manning, accused of the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history, to 35 years of federal prison. Prisoners sentenced for 30 years or longer in a military court are eligible for parole after serving 10 years—or, subtracting time Manning, 25, has already served, six and a half years. He was also dishonorably discharged and must forfeit his military salary.
In response, members of United for Justice With Peace, Veterans for Peace, Mass Ops, and other activist organizations convened at 5 p.m. the same day at Park Street station to gather signatures demanding that President Barack Obama pardon Manning.
At the end of July, Manning's 38-day trial came to an end when he was found guilty under the 1917 Espionage Act, a World War I era law making "the insidious methods of internal hostile activities” otherwise known as espionage, punishable by death or extended imprisonment of no more than thirty years. Many activists are interpreting the 35-year sentence as precedent to deter future whistle-blowers from exposing information that may be of interest to the public. Lind found Manning not guilty of aiding the enemy because the evidence failed to establish that Manning knew that the classified information he was providing WikiLeaks would reach Al-Qaeda.
James Kingsbury, a Stoughton, MA resident, said, “It was a bogus charge. Unless the enemy that he was helping was the American people.” Kingsbury continued, “I would have been surprised by Obama allowing this five years ago, but not now. They should give Obama 35 years in prison or life for his war crimes.”
Susan McLucas of Somerville, an organizer of Bradley Manning Squared, insisted, “I think Brad did the right thing. It appalls me that he is getting 35 years when the people committing the crimes are getting no jail time. He is being made an example so that other whistleblowers keep their heads down.”
McLucas commented that the media has not been covering the trial in depth, and that many people she encountered while canvassing for support signatures didn’t know who Manning was. McLucas also said that she also had been approached by service members and veterans on both sides of the issue, either condemning Manning’s actions as treasonous, or hailing him as a hero, the latter of which cite their guilty consciences for war actions committed overseas resulting in civilian death.
Manning revealed evidence of US war crimes by leaking classified documents and footage to the online group Wikileaks while being stationed in Afghanistan in early 2010 as an intelligence analyst. One notable release by Manning is the Collateral Murder Video, which showed U.S. troops in an Apache helicopter firing and killing 12 unarmed Baghdad civilians in 2007, including a Reuters photographer, and wounding two children in an unmarked van. Other findings included the Iraq War Logs, documentation of many more civilian deaths following the 2003 US invasion of that country than had been reported previously under the Bush presidency, and military records of over 700 Guantanamo detainees.
Al Johnson of Veterans for Peace said, “The Obama government is allowing this. Manning is going to a maximum-security military prison. For what? Telling the truth.”
The activists plan to keep up pressure on the US government to release Manning.
NOTE: After the drafting of this article, Bradley Manning’s attorney released a statement on the Today Show, in which Manning asserted the following. "As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning, I am a female.” In future pieces, Chelsea Manning will be referred to with the feminine pronoun. The interview subjects above were quoted prior to Manning's announcement of her gender change.
Manning said that she wished to begin receiving hormone therapy while serving her sentence. While the military does not provide gender-reassignment surgery (which Manning has not requested), and does not provide hormone therapy, other methods are being explored to see how Manning can make a transition to life as a female while serving her sentence at Fort Leavenworth.
