Coombs, Bradley, Amnesty Appeal for Presidential Pardon

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Outrageously sentenced to 35 years in prison: Campaign for presidential pardon begins The White House petition to pardon Bradley Manning requires 100k signatures in the next 30 days! Please sign and share! Outrageously, Bradley Manning was sentenced today to 35 years in prison - a sentence meant to carry a chilling message to anyone considering future exposures of government illegalities. Bradley’s lawyer David Coombs held a press conference immediately following the announcement where he shared a profound letter written by Bradley Manning which will be delivered to the White House asking for a presidential pardon. He also recounted that when faced with the sentence, Bradley Manning spoke with integrity and composure: “I’m going to get through this” he said. In response to this travesty of justice, Amnesty International and the Bradley Manning Support Network launched a White House petition today calling for Bradley Manning’s sentence to be commuted to time served. We must accumulate 100,000 signatures in the next month. Please share this petition widely! Sign the petition. Coinciding with the campaign to pardon Bradley Manning, a new website has been launched inviting people to show their support by submitting a photo holding a “Pardon Bradley Manning” sign, along with a personal message. View photos and submit your own here. Lawyer David Coombs reads powerful letter by Bradley Manning View the press conference on YouTube This profound statement by Bradley Manning was read by David Coombs at the press conference: Supporters holding emergency rally at the White House after the sentence was announced. Pardon Bradley Manning! The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of the concern for my country and the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of 9/11, our country has been at war. We have been at war with an enemy that chooses not to meet us on a traditional battlefield. Due to this fact, we’ve had to alter our methods of combatting the risk posed to us and our way of life. I initially agreed with these methods and chose to volunteer to help defend our country. It was not until I was in Iraq and reading secret military reports on a daily basis that I started to question the morality of what we were doing. It was at this time that I realized that our efforts to meet the risk posed to us by the enemy, we had forgotten our humanity. We consciously elected to devalue life both in Iraq and Afghanistan. When we engaged those that we perceived were the enemy, we sometimes killed innocent civilians. Whenever we killed innocent civilians, instead of accepting responsibility for our conduct, we elected to hide behind the veil of national security and classified information in order to avoid any public accountability. In our zeal to kill the enemy, we internally debated the definition of torture. We held individuals at Guantanamo for years without due process. We inexplicably turned a blind eye to torture and executions by the Iraqi government. And we stomached countless other acts in the name of our war on terror. President Obama: Pardon Bradley Manning! Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts are advocated by those in power. When these cries of patriotism drown any logically based dissension, it is usually an American soldier that is given the order to carry out some ill-conceived mission. Our nation has had similar dark moments for the virtues of democracy—the Trail of Tears, the Dred Scott decision, McCarthyism and the Japanese-American internment camps—to mention a few. I am confident that many of the actions since 9/11 will one day be viewed in a similar light. As the late Howard Zinn once said, there is not a flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people. I understand that my actions violated the law. I regret that my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States. It was never my intent to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people. When I chose to disclose classified information, I did so out of a love for my country and my sense of duty to others. If you deny my request for a pardon, I will serve my request knowing that some time you have to pay a heavy price to live in a free society. I will gladly pay that price if it means we could have a country that is truly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all women and men are created equal.” Bradley's family also responded to the sentence through David Coombs: "We are saddened and disappointed in today's sentence. We continue to believe that Brad's intentions were good, and that he believed he was acting in the best interests of his country. We would again like to thank his extraordinary defense team for their tireless efforts on his behalf, and of course we want to thank Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network and the thousands of supporters around the world who have stood with Brad throughout this ordeal. Please know that his fight is not over." Help us continue to cover 100% of Bradley's legal fees! Donate today.

Boston Workers Alliance MLK 50th Anniversary March - Continue the Struggle for Jobs, Justice and Freedom!

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Boston Workers Alliance 411 Blue Hill Ave, Dorchester MA 02121 (617) 606-3580, (617) 606-3582 (fax) PRESS RELEASE Boston’s Unfinished March for Jobs, Freedom & Justice An Event Marking the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington The Boston Workers Alliance, Inc. has issued a clarion call for a mobilization in Boston on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. A coalition of neighborhood organizations, base building community organizing groups, labor unions, civil rights organizations, and faith communities will gather to mark “re-remember, re-imagine, and relive the March for our times. We are holding Boston’s Unfinished March for Jobs, Freedom & Justice on Wednesday, August 28, 2013 4:30pm on the Boston Common. With the recent tragic verdict in the Zimmerman case, and the loss of the Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, we feel called to organize and mobilize to address the continued devaluing of Black people, Black bodies, and Black political and economic interests. The recent developments remind us that many of us are still vulnerable to violence at the hands of police and citizens who wrongfully believe that they have the power to track police and violate the dignity of Black people. Equally important is our call to respect the rights and dignity of immigrants seeking their full human rights. High unemployment and underemployment of Black and Brown people remains persistent, structural and unaddressed. Fifty years ago the movement connected these issues with the March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom. It is time for us to look anew at the significance of the moment because of the Fierce Urgency of Now. Boston’s Unfinished March for Jobs, Freedom & Justice Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at 4:30 Boston Common Points of Contact: Phil Reason, Director of Organizing, Boston Workers Alliance (617) 606-3580, phil@bostonworkersalliance.org Chuck Wynder, Jr., Executive Director, Boston Workers Alliance (617) 238-5751, chuck@bostonworkersalliance.org As part of the National JUSTICE for TRAYVON MARTIN Assemblies on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Justice, Boston Peoples Power Assemblies calls on everyone to participate in the Boston Workers Alliance Rally on the Boston Common at 4:30 PM on August 28. BOSTON PEOPLES POWER ASSEMBLIES, c/o Action Center, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 617-286-6574 DONATE to the Action Center (support ongoing organizing against war, racism and sexism and for economic justice)

Wednesday, August 28:

Boston's Unfinished March for Jobs, Justice & Freedom

4:30pm on the Common.

The Boston Workers Alliance has issued a call for a mobilization on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. Join us on and others on Wednesday, for Boston's Unfinished March for Jobs, Freedom & Justice. We ask you to join us and others as we "re-remember, re-imagine, and relive" the March for our times and context. The trial in the Zimmerman case and its disavowal of Trayvon Martin's humanity, dignity and personhood is a strike against all of our freedom. The Supreme Court decision that invalidates Section 4 and effectively Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is a reminder of that fight for our political empowerment continues. The violence that these developments pose to our communities is significant and real. So too, is our the ongoing and persistent long-term unemployment and unemployment of people in our communities. The link between the mass incarceration and the verdict in the Zimmerman trial reinforce the message that Jim Crow, Jane Crow, New Jim Crow are alive and pose threats to us collectively - our families and communities.

DPPers are urged to meet at 4:15pm outside the Park Street T-stop

BILL FLETCHER: Claiming and Teaching the 1963 March on Washington

Teaching about the March on Washington presents a series of challenges precisely because it involves counteracting sanitized textbooks and demythologizing not only the march, but also the Black Freedom Struggle—the Civil Rights Movement, as it became known… We can all do justice to this anniversary by asking the right questions and providing the actual historical context in which the 1963 March unfolded. More so, we can also offer, as Rustin asked the marchers in 1963, our “personal commitment to the struggle for jobs and freedom for Americans. . .and the achievement of social peace through social justice. How do you pledge?” More

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Another event in South Boston that evening:

Beacon to the Dream:

10,000 lanterns to encircle Castle Island South Boston, Honoring the 50^th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s, I have a Dream speech

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Wednesday, August 28^:

7-9pm, Castle Island South Boston, MA

Includes screening of Dr. Kings’ I Have a Dream Speech on the Walls of Fort Independence; Musical Program Nancy Armstrong Alan Rias Ja-Naé Duane; Lantern Walk and Community celebration of Inclusion

You are invited to take a cultural action by carrying a lantern to Castle Island in South Boston, a symbolic gesture, moving beyond diversity to inclusion, honoring the 50^th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The hope is to have several thousand lanterns encircle Pleasure Bay. The event, which we are calling “Beacon to the Dream,” is also invitation for artists from all over Boston to become part of an evening long program that will celebrate the richness and diversity of The City of Boson!

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JOBS NOT JAILS!

Boston Workers Alliance (BWA) and EPOCA (Ex-prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement) launched a new “Jobs Not Jails” statewide campaign and coalition on July 13 (more info here).

Corporate America's New Profit Center: Put as Many People in Jail as Possible

Turn unemployed Americans into criminals. Track them, punish them for any crime possible, take away their rights and throw them into for-profit prisons. Once thrown inside a for-profit prison, an inmate needs food, housing, healthcare and other services. This means huge profits for capitalists. They’re raking in tens of thousands of dollars per prisoner per year – hundreds of percent more than Roosevelt paid to simply put them back to work. And turning unemployed Americans into very profitable prisoners is a booming business. More

Two major actions are planned:

---a petition campaign, 50,000 signature goal: against the planned prison construction; for use of those resources for jobs; directed at the state legislators and the governor; signatures to be gathered between now and March 31, 2014.
---a big rally on Boston Common, 10,000 people goal, to be held in April, 2014; same message and targets.

 

 

Taking the Next Step

 

Sisters and Brothers, Comrades,

This October 7 at 5 pm

veterans and allies will gather at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza in NYC, as we did last year, when 25 veterans and allies were arrested as we peacefully remembered the fallen, reaffirmed our commitment to ending war, exposed the lies and betrayals of U.S. wars and stood with dignity and resolve for our inalienable right to assemble.

The police normally do not bother anyone passing through or lingering at the Memorial at any hour although there is an arbitrary 10 pm closing time posted. We were arrested slightly after 10 pm as we read the names of the fallen and placed flowers at the base of the memorial wall.

Prior to 10 PM we had speakers, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghan war vets as well as non vets who exposed the lies and betrayals of the Vietnam war and made the connections between U.S. wars of empire, militarism, poverty and environmental devastation.

Subsequently 12 of us went to trial and after 5 days of compelling testimony had a very interesting and somewhat unprecedented verdict of guilty and then a

dismissal of all charges, “in the interest of justice.”

We are filing a federal suit to challenge the 10 PM closing time and are involving NY City Council members in the struggle to overturn this ordinance restricting our right to assemble. We claim the right to be at that open plaza place

of memories at any time day or night as is the case at most war memorials.

In 2012 we stated on our web site, “On this day and at this place, our demands are straightforward:

We call for an end to the 12-year war in Afghanistan.

We call for an end to all U.S. wars of aggression.

We will remember those who have fallen.

We will stand for our right, duty and sworn oath, to defend the Constitution and to assemble and organize.

The deeper issue is that we recognize, with no illusions, that the ghosts of Stalin, HItler, Mussolini have occupied the elite ruling class of the U.S., U.K. and their minions. We are in the grips of a efficient, ruthless and still partially disguised system of totalitarian fascism. All those of us who understand this, should also understand and take it to heart that many of us will face difficult times ahead.

“State power is to be, from now on, unchecked, unfettered and unregulated. And those who do not accept unlimited state power, always the road to tyranny, will be ruthlessly persecuted.”

-Chris Hedges

Most of us, especially white, privileged males (and females - somewhat less privileged) still live relatively comfortable and safe lives. This will probably not last.

We see signs of

encroaching repression and state surveillance all around. Being a white male - or female has not protected truth-tellers like Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning (35 years for revealing the truth), Thomas

Tamm

,

John Kiriakou

, Jesselyn Radack, and many others either pursued and harassed relentlessly by the government or sitting behind bars already.

 

This is not to forget the multitudes of sorely oppressed people of color and indigenous

 

women behind bars, and men, such as Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard Peltier, many in solitary for decades.

Sooner or later, many of us may face more severe repression than an overnight in jail for civil resistance. This being the obvious reality, my question is - how much are a few more years of comfort and relative safety worth, while countless millions of living beings suffer and while the lives and future of our children and their children are increasingly endangered?

There is a sense of urgency.

Do we expect our highly paid, comfortable, so-called “democratically elected” representatives to change the system - to change the corporate machine that gives them wealth, prestige and comfort? The hope many decent people believed in 5 years ago has turned into a cruel and bitter disappointment.

We cannot expect a system, rotten from the beginning with slavery, genocide, wars for profit and empire, to voluntarily change itself or its essence. More likely, as all entrenched systems of power have done, from Rome to the Third Reich, it will seek to maintain itself until outside forces and inside decay cause collapse.

Let us put ourselves for a moment in the place of the

Vietnamese, the Iraqis, the Afghan people, indigenous people worldwide, poor people of color right here, who every day see U.S. corporate militarism destroying the lives of their women, children, incarcerating and torturing their men and women and stealing land lived upon for generations.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said on

April 4,1967 at Riverside Church in New York City,

"Somehow this madness must cease. . . we are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every man (and woman) of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest."

Martin Luther King Jr. was not speaking hyperbolically, his words were literal - he gave his life exactly one year later.

"Somehow this madness must cease . . . "

The words he spoke 46 years ago ring even more true today:

“These are revolutionary times. All over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression, and out of the wounds of a frail world, new systems of justice and equality are being born. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before.”

The question of our times is: can we follow Martin’s lead and go beyond fear, embrace a willingness to sacrifice, which often means increased risk, to take one more step into that unknown and dangerous revolutionary zone, that zone where greater freedom and strength awaits?

There are many steps we can take and each of us has to decide what we must do, but we must act.

Think about joining us, as once again in October, veterans

and allies resist police and state repression of our right to assemble, our right to remember and speak out about the lies, the betrayals of this system.

Vietnam Army Medic, Mike Hastie arrested last Oct.7

. Picture Ellen Davidson

Join members of Veterans For Peace on

October 7th at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in NYC as we send a powerful message to the powers that be and to the public, that we, veterans and allies will stand for our rights and all people’s right to live freely and express themselves without fear.

For more information and to be involved, e-mail

StopTheseWars@PopularResistance.org.

Take the next step.

FREE CHELSEA MANNING! (The Heroic Soldier Wikileaks Whistle-Blower Formerly Known As Bradley)

 

 

 

Sign the White House Petition Now!

What a week it has been for Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning. After the young Army whistle-blower was sentenced to an outrageous 35 years in prison, she chose to reveal her true identity, the one she has felt ever since childhood. She is a female in a male body.

"Why now?" some may ask. Bradley/Chelsea's struggle has always been for truth and transparency. Apparently, she did not think it was a good idea to make this a full-blown issue in the midst of a military court martial. But now that the court martial is over, Chelsea wants us all to know who she is, and she is asking us to give her the respect of calling her by her chosen name.

Veterans For Peace is more than happy to comply. We will continue to fight for freedom for this courageous young whistleblower, as well as for her rights as a transgender female in prison.

Amnesty International and the Bradley Manning Support Network, which will soon be changing its name, have launched a White House petition calling on President Obama to "Pardon Bradley Manning." This petition was launched immediately after sentencing and before Bradley asked to be called Chelsea. It is too late to change the wording of this petition now, as it already has been signed by over 12,000 people, of the 100,000 now required for a White House response. This also remains her legal name, for the time being.

This White House petition is the most important and timely initiative, among many. We have only 27 more days to gain 88,000 additional signatures. Please go there now and sign this petition. Ask all your friends and allies to do the same.

If you are going to the White House petition site for the first time, you will be asked to register with your name, residential address and email address. Please do not be put off by this extra step or be overly concerned about your privacy (they already know where you live).

Soon Veterans For Peace will begin a letter-writing campaign to General Buchanan, to be part of a packet for sentence reduction that lawyer David Coombs will present him in November. General Buchanan's will announce his decision in December. So you may wish to begin working on those letters. But for now, please help us get to 100,000 signatures on the White House petition.

Learn more about the petition here.

http://pardon.bradleymanning.org/

Go straight to the White House petition, here.

http://wh.gov/lgG58

Veterans Outraged at Harsh Sentence Join in Nationwide Protests

August 21, 2013 Share on twitter Share on facebook Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 21 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, August 21, 2013 Contact: Gerry Condon 206-499-1220 Patrick McCann 240-271-2246 Ward Reilly 225-766-1364 Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesdayfor handing WikiLeaks amassive cache of sensitive government documentsdetailing the routine killing of civilians by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Outraged members of Veterans For Peace are joining in protest actions around the country and around the world. "Bradley Manning is a hero, and we are both proud of his actions, and angry at his sentence,” said Patrick McCann, President of Veterans For Peace. “Reporting war crimes is not a war crime. Bradley Manning swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, and is now being penalized for doing just that." “This harsh sentence is an outrage to all who believe in truth, transparency and freedom of the press,” said Gerry Condon, member of Veterans For Peace Board of Directors. “Bradley Manning has not harmed a hair on any person's head. He exposed that the U.S. Military was routinely killing civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. Government should prosecute war criminals, not whistle-blowers.” While a 22-year-old intelligence analyst stationed in Iraq in 2009-10, Pfc. Manning witnessed war crimes, rampant corruption, and covert abuse. He exposed what he saw by leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic files to the transparency website WikiLeaks. Manning, 25, was not allowed to make a statement when his sentence was handed down by military judge Col. Denise Lind at Fort Meade, Maryland. Guards quickly hustled him out of the courtroom, while at least half a dozen spectators shouted their support. Amnesty International immediately called on President Obama to commute Manning's sentence. “Bradley Manning acted on the belief that he could spark a meaningful public debate on the costs of war, and specifically on the conduct of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan," Widney Brown, senior director of international law and policy at Amnesty International, said in a statement. "The US government should turn its attention to investigating and delivering justice for the serious human rights abuses committed by its officials in the name of countering terror.” “The only person prosecuted for the crimes and abuses uncovered in the WikiLeaks’ releases is the person who exposed them,” said Pentagon Papers whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg. “That alone proves the injustice of one more day in prison for Bradley Manning.” Manning can subtract more than three and a half years off of his 35-year sentence, for the time he has already served and the mere 112 days he was credited for enduring torture and abuse while detained at the Quantico Marine Brig. He will be eligible to reduce his sentence by 10% for good behavior. He may also be eligible for parole after serving one third of his sentence. Veterans For Peace is calling on Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, Military Commander of the District of Washington and Convening Authority of Manning’s court martial, to reduce the sentence, which he has the legal authority to do. Please help us reach all these important contacts: Adrienne Combs, Deputy Officer Public Affairs (202) 685-2900 adrienne.m.combs.civ@mail.mil Col. Michelle Martin-Hing, Public Affairs Officer (202) 685-4899 michelle.l.martinhing.mil@mail.mil The Public Affairs Office fax #: 202-685-0706 Try e-mailing Maj. Gen. Buchanan at jeffrey.s.buchanan@us.army.mi For more information, go to www.bradleymanning.org and www.veteransforpeace.org ##### Share on twitter Share on facebook Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 21

***From The Boston Private  Manning Support Committee Archives (Summer 2013 )

Emergency Rally After Private Bradley Manning Sentence-President Obama Pardon Private Bradley Manning

 

Judge Lind will read her sentencing decsions tomorrow Wednesday August  21, 2013 at 10 AM so we are on…

Come to Park Street Station at 5 PM on the day heroic Wikileaks whistleblower Private Bradley Manning is sentenced-tentatively set for Wednesday August 21 

Following on Facebook for updates as the sentencing date arrives:

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/636309546393872/permalink/636310726393754/

 

The Bradley Manning Support Network has called for the following:   

Immediately following the sentencing announcement of heroic WikiLeaks whistle-blower Bradley Manning by the military court at Fort Meade, Maryland, join us in the streets to declare, “Free Bradley Now!”

Many communities have a historic gathering location, such as a downtown intersection, central park, or other visible location. Please spread the word for folks to join you immediately following the sentencing to celebrate, protest, and/or simply show your support for Bradley.

We will likely have one day notice before sentencing occurs, so we’ll have some heads up. If it takes place in the morning, we suggest gathering that evening. If it takes place in the afternoon or evening, we suggest the following day. Same-day events are more likely to be covered by your local media in conjunction with the national breaking story of Bradley’s sentencing. Please contact the Support Network for posters, stickers, and info cards.

Our primary message for these response rallies: “President Obama: Pardon Bradley Manning”

***From The Boston Private  Manning Support Committee Archives (Summer 2013 )

 

Bradley Manning Sentencing Heads-Up-August 15^th

On Wednesday August 14, 2013 Bradley Manning and members of his family spoke in his favor during the defense portion of the sentencing phase of his trial. With those statements the defense rested. The government is scheduled for a Friday August 16^th rebuttal (they get the last say because they brought the case) which will probably close the sentencing phase and Judge Lind will then deliberate on a sentence. Like on the verdict she is expected to give the media and us 24 hours’ notice of her decision. The BM Support Network’s best estimate is that she will render a decision on Tuesday August 20, 2013.     

The BM Support Network has called for street demonstrations centered on the demand for a pardon for Bradley on the day of his sentencing. We plan to have an emergency stand-out at Park Street Station in downtown Boston from 5:00-6:00 PM on the day of sentencing. We are assuming the 20^th but stay tuned for any updates.

We should also plan whatever day the sentence is handed down to gather together after the rally and take the opportunity to plan the next phase in our fight to free Bradley.

We will also have our regular scheduled Wednesday Bradley stand-out at the Central Square Cambridge MBTA Redline stop from 5:00-6:00 PM.    

Finally-after sentencing our tasks will change, centrally focused on getting a reduction of sentence from General Buchanan and a pardon from President Obama, but we are not finished with defending Bradley and fighting like seven dervishes for his freedom- Free Bradley