By URIAH KISER
Quantico, Va. –– The Potomac River and Town of Quantico served as a backdrop Sunday for protesters who demanded the release Pfc. Bradley Manning.
The U.S. Army intelligence analyst was charged in June for violating military code after investigators say he leaked a video showing soldiers shooting and killing unarmed Iraqi civilians and journalists, as well as handing over classified military documents which were later posted to the Internet.
He faces 52-years in prison if convicted, and has been jailed on the neighboring Quantico Marine Corps Base since his arrest.
Protester’s signs stated “blowing the whistle on war is not a crime,” and the 25 protesters who showed up – a smaller number of participants who last month came to Quantico to protest – shouted “Bradley Manning is our youth. Set him free to speak the truth.”
“Were concerned because we believe there are war crimes being committed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and when crimes are committed it helps when there is a whistle blower to report them. We’re a little annoyed with the term ‘criminal leaker’ is being used, when Bradley Manning is really a whistle blower,” said rally organizer Pete Perry.
His organization, the Bradley Manning Support Network, held several rallies across the country this weekend that urging U.S. officials to drop the charges against Manning.
Josh Stieber served in the Army’s infantry in Iraq from 2007 until 2008. He said situations where unarmed Iraqi citizens are shot are commonplace.
“That’s what the war looks like, and there are instances where civilians were harmed even worse than they were in that video. That’s the affect it’s taking on the local population, but it’s putting the armed services in what I feel like is an unfair situation where they’re told you have to defend yourself and you have to win over a local population and build a nation, and those things don’t go hand in hand, and this video shows what it looks like when you try to combine these two things.,” said Stieber.
The number of police officers at or near the rally rivaled the number of protesters.
Those attending the rally were briefly detained at Quantico Marine Corps Base’s main gate, where information about their vehicles was logged and drivers were told to proceed directly to Quantico town.
While there, officers from the Quantico and Prince William County police departments, as well as military police patrolled the rally grounds and lined Potomac Avenue – the town’s main street – before the start of the rally.
Quantico’s mayor, Iris Tharpe, said officers were called in to work overtime for the demonstration, which cost the town an additional $2,400.
Protest organizers said they could not reimburse the town for the cost of the additional police presence, and said they would consider moving their next protest outside Quantico’s main gate, on U.S. 1 in Triangle.
If they choose not to move, however, they are still welcome in Quantico.
“It’s freedom of speech is what it’s all about. You can’t go overseas and fight a war for others to have freedom and come home and not have freedom here,” said Tharpe.
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