Mass Support for Chelsea Manning

by Stephen Lendman

Manning was wrongfully imprisoned for courageously revealing US war crimes Pentagon officials want suppressed.

Kangaroo show trial proceedings sentenced her to 35 years imprisonment. Police states operate this way - persecuting their best, honoring their worst, terrorizing anyone challenging what no one should tolerate.

Prison authorities treat Manning horrifically. She faced indefinite solitary confinement for having a tube of expired toothpaste in her cell, reading the “wrong” books and magazines, as well as other outrageous charges - willful cruel and unusual punishment as long as she’s imprisoned, a flagrant 8th Amendment violation.

Free Chelsea.com, Fight for the Future, Roots Action, Code Pink and Demand Progress conducted a petition drive on her behalf - collecting over 102,000 signatures against indefinite solitary confinement, delivering them to the army head of her hearing. It states:

“Dear Boards Branch, Directorate of Inmate Administration: putting any human being in indefinite solitary confinement is inexcusable, and for offenses as trivial as these (an expired tube of toothpaste, and possession magazines?) it is a discredit to America's military and its system of justice.”

“We demand that these charges against Chelsea Manning be dropped, and request that Chelsea's hearing on August 18th be made open to the public, to ensure she is treated fairly."

On August 18, Fight for the Future headlined “BREAKING: Chelsea Manning Found ‘Guilty,’ Punished for Expired Toothpaste, LGBTQ Reading Material.”

“Conviction Can Be Used Against Manning During Any Clemency or Parole Hearing Forever; Expects to Delay Transition to Minimum Security Custody By Years.”

She was declared guilty of all charges lodged - fabricated ones to continue persecuting her ruthlessly. Manning’s ACLU attorney Chase Stangio issued a statement saying:

“When I spoke to Chelsea earlier today, she wanted to convey the message to supporters that she is so thankful for the thousands of people from around the world who let the government know that we are watching and scrutinizing what happens to her behind prison walls.”

“It was no doubt this support that kept her out of solitary confinement. But the fact that Chelsea had to face today’s four-hour Disciplinary Board without counsel, and will now be punished for daring to share her voice, sets a concerning precedent for the remaining decades of her incarceration.”

“Not only does this punishment mean the immediate loss of library and recreation for Chelsea, but she also will carry these infractions through her parole and clemency process and will be held longer in the more restrictive custody where she is now incarcerated.”

“No one should have to face the lingering threat of solitary confinement for reading and writing about the conditions we encounter in the world. Chelsea’s voice is critical to our public discourse about government accountability and trans Justice and we can only preserve it if we stay vigilant in our advocacy on her behalf.”  

Fight for the Future’s Evan Greer said “(p)eople around the world are outraged that a courageous whistleblower like Chelsea Manning is imprisoned in the first place, so it’s no surprise that people spoke out in droves when the US government threatened her.”

“More than 100,000 supporters signed a petition demanding no solitary confinement for Chelsea, and the pressure worked.”

“It’s absurd that Chelsea was found guilty, and that she has to endure any additional punishment beyond being wrongly imprisoned, but now the US government knows that the world is watching their treatment of Chelsea closely. If they continue this unwarranted harassment of Chelsea, they risk losing all legitimacy in the eyes of millions.”

America is a ruthless police state - waging war on humanity at home and abroad, systematically eroding fundamental civil and human rights, tolerating no challenges to it rage for world dominance.

We have a choice - slay this monster or it’ll crush freedom and destroy us! There’s no in between!

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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