Free Bradley Manning!

[MikeK]

Free Bradley Manning
Tuesday 26 April 2011
by: William Rivers Pitt, Truthout

(Excerpt)

I have a confession to make: I have been on the fence about Bradley Manning as the drama of his detention and the Wikileaks documents have unfolded. While I believe deeply that those who leak classified materials are acting out of conscience and for the good of the people, I also believe criminal acts - even ones of conscience - must be met with punishment as required in any society that wishes to live by the rule of law. Arrest and detention are part of any illegal act of civil disobedience, and are to be expected as the natural consequence of such an act.

Chain yourself to a fence, and expect to be arrested for trespassing. Pour blood on the nose cone of a nuclear missile, and expect to be arrested for destruction of property. The threat of arrest, detention and possible conviction is part of the package that is civil disobedience, and those who take part in it must accept the consequences as part of their act of conscience. Indeed, it is the acceptance of punishment that lies at the heart of that conscience: they are breaking a law to highlight a wrong, are willing to be punished to underscore that wrong, and in doing so, demonstrate how far they are personally willing to go in order to end that wrong and inspire others in the process.

That's where I've been with Bradley Manning - his was an act of conscience that broke the law, and the consequences of that act must be accepted - until now.

How wrong I was.

This situation goes far beyond such a simplistic cut-and-dried viewpoint. It cuts to the core of what we are as a nation, what we wish to be, and what must be done to honor the values we pay so much lip service to, even as we fail time and again to practice what we preach. What Manning has been charged with goes far beyond an act of conscience; they were, in fact, an attempt to save the very soul of these United States.

More here: Free Bradley Manning | Truthout

 

[TakeAStepBack]

People dont like the truth. Meanwhile, the herd of sheeple are all buzzing over Obama's fucking birth certificate. As if it is some how a relevant issue.

 

[waltky]

Well, at this point, what does it matter?...

Military doctor denies Chelsea Manning's request to have records reflect gender change
Wednesday 7th December, 2016: A military doctor treating former U.S. intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning while she serves a prison sentence for espionage denied her request to have her female gender reflected in her military records, according to a court filing.

The decision further stymies Manning's attempts to be treated as a woman while imprisoned at the Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas, said the document filed on Monday in federal court in Washington in relation to on ongoing lawsuit. Manning has been the focus of an international debate over government secrecy since she provided more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. The filing said Manning asked her military medical provider, Dr. Ellen Galloway, to recommend the change in her military records since she has "achieved stability in her female gender."

Her attorneys said Galloway denied the request, effectively precluding her from having her female gender noted in her records. The filing did not explain why Manning's request was refused. A representative for the U.S. Department of Justice declined by email to comment when reached on Tuesday. Manning, who petitioned President Barack Obama last month to commute her 35-year sentence to time already served, filed the lawsuit seeking better medical care for her gender dysphoria, including the ability to follow female grooming standards.

Gender dysphoria is a condition of potentially severe distress or anxiety that some transgender people experience. Manning said she was confronting gender dysphoria at the time of the leaks while deployed in Iraq. She said she released the files in the interests of transparency and accountability. Manning attempted suicide on Oct. 4 at the start of a stay in solitary confinement, under which she was placed after an earlier suicide attempt in July. Her defence team said the attempts were prompted by her receiving inadequate treatment for her gender dysphoria.

Military doctor denies Chelsea Manning's request to have records reflect gender change

 

[waltky]

No more lifetime supply of lipstick...

Manning to Lose Transgender Benefits with Dishonorable Discharge: Army
Jan 20, 2017 - Chelsea Manning, the transgender soldier who leaked classified documents to WikiLeaks, will reportedly lose her military health care benefits under the terms of her commutation.

The Army has been providing Manning with treatment for gender dysphoria, including hormone treatments, according to a report in Stars and Stripes. "If Pvt. Manning is discharged with a dishonorable discharge, she will lose her entitlement to (military) benefits, including gender-transition care at medical treatment facilities," an Army spokesman said. Manning was a candidate for gender-reassignment surgery, according to the report. It would have been covered under the government's new policy for transgender troops. The Army anticipates an appeal from Manning.

Pfc. Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick.​

Manning is more than six years into a 35-year sentence at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for leaking classified government and military documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Her sentence is now set to expire May 17. Manning was known as Bradley Manning at the time of her 2010 arrest, but revealed after being convicted of espionage that she identifies as a woman. She accepted responsibility for leaking the material to WikiLeaks to raise public awareness about the effects of war on civilians, and has said she was confronting gender dysphoria at the time of the leaks while deployed in Iraq.

She attempted suicide twice last year, according to her lawyers, citing her treatment at Leavenworth. Chase Strangio, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing Manning, said the president's action "quite literally save Chelsea's life." "We are all better off knowing that Chelsea Manning will walk out of prison a free woman, dedicated to making the world a better place and fighting for justice for so many," Stangio said in a statement.

Manning to Lose Transgender Benefits with Dishonorable Discharge: Army | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Manning within a month of being released...

Chelsea Manning Tweets About Impending Prison Release
20 Apr 2017 - With less than a month before her scheduled freedom, Chelsea Manning on Thursday tweeted her thoughts about getting out of prison.

With less than a month before her scheduled freedom, Chelsea Manning on Thursday tweeted her thoughts about getting out of prison after former President Obama commuted her sentence. "You know you've been in prison for a while, when the prospect of freedom is nerve wracking," she tweeted. Known as Bradley Manning at the time of her 2010 arrest, Manning came out as transgender after being sentenced to 35 years in an all-male military prison and dishonorable discharged for leaking classified military documents and video to WikiLeaks.

Chelsea Manning, center, attempted suicide for a second time on Oct 4.​

She was convicted in military court of violating the Espionage Act and other offenses and has spent nearly seven years behind bars at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. President Obama shortened her sentence before he left office earlier this year. Earlier this week, Manning tweeted, "30 more days," with the hashtag "#mondaymotivation."

Her case pitted LGBT rights activists, who warned about her mental health and treatment as a transgender woman living in a men's prison, against national security hawks who said she did devastating damage to U.S. interests. The former cheered Obama's move, while the latter called it an outrageous act that set a dangerous precedent. Under Army rules, she was barred from growing her hair long while incarcerated, and only after litigation by her legal team was she approved for hormone therapy.

Chelsea Manning Tweets About Impending Prison Release | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Manning informant dies at 37...

Hacker who turned Manning in to FBI dies at 37
March 17, 2018 -- Adrian Lamo, a computer hacker known for turning in WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning, has died, Kansas authorities confirmed. He was 37.

Lamo's body was found inside an apartment on Wednesday, Witchita Police Officer Charley Davidson said. "There's nothing suspicious about his death," Davidson told told The Witchita Eagle. "With great sadness and a broken heart I have to let know all of Adrian's friends and [acquaintances] that he is dead," Lamo's father Mario wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. "A bright mind and compassionate soul is gone, he was my beloved son."

Lamo, a Columbian-American, was well known for turning Manning, a U.S. Army private, in to authorities after she confided in him through internet chats about classified information she had sent to whistle-blower site WikiLeaks about airstrikes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Manning was arrested in May 2010 for violating the Espionage Act. Charges included leaking a video to Wikileaks of a helicopter attack that killed two Reuters reporters.

Adrian Lamo photographed in 2001. The hacker, who rose to prominence after reporting Chelsea Manning to the FBI, was found dead at the age of 37.​

Manning served seven years of a 35-year sentence in military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan. President Barack Obama commuted her sentence, allowing her release last year. The American Civil Liberties Union said that, even with the commuted sentence, Manning served the "longest sentence of any whistle-blower in the history of this country." As a transgender person, Manning changed her name from Bradley to Chelsea while in prison. Since her release, Manning has put her hat in the ring for a U.S. Senate seat in Maryland.

Lamo told the Guardian in 2011 that the decision to turn in Manning, was "not one I decided to make, but was thrust upon me," and it would be a "lasting regret," if she served a long sentence. In addition to the Manning leak, Lamo gained notoriety for hacking Microsoft, The New York Times and Yahoo in the early 2000s. The cause of Lamo's death has not been made public, as toxicology reports are still pending.

While some praised his hacking abilities, other people were sharply critical of his actions, resulting in his receiving regular death threats, friend Lorraine Murphy told The Witchita Eagle. "He was charming and brilliant," Murphy said. "If he hadn't been, Manning never would have told him anything."

Murphy added that Lamo lived a nomadic lifestyle. When she sent him a message in December, asking him about his whereabouts, he replied: "homeless in Witchita." "He bounced around a great deal, for no particular reason," Murphy said through Facebook messages reported in The Witchita Eagle. "He was a believer in the Geographic Cure ... Whatever goes wrong in your life, moving will make it better. And he knew people all over the country."

Hacker who turned Manning in to FBI dies at 37