Press Release-For Immediate Release
Contact: Al Johnson-Event Coordinator at 781-891-0377 or email: alfrcdjohnson34@comcast.net Or Pat Scanlon – VFP Coordinator at: 978-590-4248 or email: PatScanlonMusic@yahoo.com
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 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.
Additional Information
Support Rally for PFC Bradley Manning – September 6, 2012 – 2:00 PM Obama’s Campaign Headquarters, 77 Summer Street, Boston, MA
On Thursday, August 16, US military veterans in Portland OR, Oakland CA, and Los Angeles CA, occupied Obama 2012 campaign offices and faxed a letter of demands to the Obama campaign’s central office. Those letters began:
As those who have spent years serving our country, we have faith that as Commander-in-Chief, President Obama will do the right thing in answering our request.
The letter went on to list the following demands:
That President Obama retract and apologize for remarks made in April 2011, in which he said Bradley Manning “broke the law.” Because President Obama is commander-in-chief, this constitutes unlawful command influence, violating Article 37 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and prevents Bradley from receiving a fair trial.
That President Obama pardon the accused whistle-blower, taking into consideration his 800 days of pretrial confinement. UN torture chief Juan Mendez called Manning’s treatment “cruel and inhuman,” as it included nine months of solitary confinement at Quantico despite Brig psychiatrists recommending relaxed conditions.
The Bradley Manning Support Network maintains hope that justice will prevail and that President Obama can be the vehicle of change on this issue, but first he needs to hear loud and clear from veterans and civilians across the country that the American people want amends for the unlawful torture of Bradley Manning, and believe he should be freed.
Organizers of the August 16 West Coast actions are now urging others to join them in a nationwide effort to hold actions at many more local Obama campaign offices on September 6th, the day of candidate’s nomination acceptance speech. We want to share messages of support for Bradley with Obama campaign offices from coast to coast…
Please contact emma@bradleymanning.org for more information about attending and/or organizing an event.
