PROTEST HAUS

PHOTOS: Demonstrators Protest Prosecution Of Wikileaks Suspect Bradley Manning During DNC Convention

On Thursday, as Barack Obama prepared to accept the official nomination as the Democratic Party candidate for president, demonstrators in 34 cities nationwide targeted regional Obama campaign offices demanding the release of PFC Bradley Manning, accused of passing classified documents to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

In cities like San Francisco, New York, Autin, Sacramento and Washington, DC, protestors delivered a letter requesting the President “release PFC Bradley Manning and account for the abusive treatment he endured in the Quantico Marine Brig,” according to a press release from the Bradley Manning Support Network.

“Bradley Manning showed great courage in risking his life to do what’s right, by exposing evidence of war crimes and corruption our own government had hidden from us,” said said the Support Nework’s Michael Thurman in a statement. “Now we’re waiting for Obama to show a little courage and make good on his promise to have ‘the most transparent government in history’ by freeing whistle-blower Bradley Manning.”

The protest actions were met with varying responses In San Francisco, a delegate offered to submit a resolution to the national DNC, while in New York, building security wouldn’t let Manning supporters approach the campaign offices. The Support Network claims that, in Concord, NH, “staffers locked the campaign office doors and closed the blinds.”

Published accounts report Bradley, who has been held by authorities for more than 837 days, is gay and had met with a counselor to discuss issues regarding gender confusion and the possibility of a sex change. Though defense attorneys are submitting a motion in November to dismiss charges based on his unlawful treatment at Quantico, Manning’s trial is not scheduled to begin until February 4, 2013.

Photos: Save Bradley

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