From The Boston Bradley Manning Support Committee Archives (September 2012)

 Press Release-For Immediate Release

Rally in support of PFC. Bradley Manning

September 6th 3:00 pm

Obama Campaign Headquarters

77 Summer Street, Boston

The Boston Smedley Butler Brigade and North Shore Samantha Smith Chapter- Veterans for Peace, the Boston Bradley Manning Support Network , Somerville Manning Square Committee, Boston United Anti-War Coalition, United for Peace with Justice, Socialist Alternative and other social activists and concerned citizens support the call by the National Bradley Manning Support Network and others to rally nationwide at local Obama headquarters on Thursday September 6, 2012, the day President Obama is scheduled to accept the Democratic Party nomination for president. We call upon President Obama to use his constitutional authority and immediately pardon Army Private First Class Bradley Manning.

The rally will take place at the Downtown Boston Obama Headquarters at 77 Summer Street (on the Downtown Crossing stop on the Red Line and Orange Line) starting at 2:00 PM

Since Army PFC Bradley Manning's arrest in May 2010 for allegedly sharing the "Collateral Murder" video and other evidence of war crimes and government corruption with the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, progressives and human rights activists have been asking, "Why isn't President Obama stepping in to help Bradley?" After all, it was President Obama who in May 2011 declared with regards to protests in the Middle East, "In the 21st Century, information is power; the truth cannot be hidden; and the legiti­macy of governments will ultimately depend on active and informed citizens."

"As veterans of many wars, Veterans For Peace stand with Bradley Manning" stated Al Johnson, a member of Veterans For Peace and the organizer for today’s rally. "Bradley Manning has spent over two years hi jail for releasing information that exposed the secrecy of our foreign policy. Bradley Manning is a soldier of conscience, a hero to many, a whistle- blower who saw a wrong, possibly war crimes and exposed the truth. We call on President Obama to immediately pardon Bradley Manning".

The Smedley D. Butler Brigade Chapter 9 of Veterans For Peace was established in the mid-1980s and includes more than 200 Veterans from the Boston area. The local chapter is part of the national Veterans For Peace and is named in honor of Marine Gen. Smedley D. Butler, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history, who turned against war and famously said "War is a Racket. A few profit, the many pay."

The website of the Smedley D. Butler Brigade of Veterans For Peace is www.SmedleyVFP.org. The na­tional Veterans For Peace website is www.VeteransForPeace.org.