NEWS RELEASE
On Wednesday, December 17, for the second year, supporters of Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning) will celebrate the Oklahoma-born whistleblower’s birthday in her hometown of Crescent, which is about 40 miles north of OKC. The event is hosted by last year’s sponsor, the Center for Conscience in Action (CCA), now joined by local chapters of Amnesty International throughout the state, with a grant from Amnesty USA to help with expenses.
The event will take place in the middle of the small rural town, at El Palmo Restaurant at 224 N. Grand (Map: goo.gl/maps/gu2a2),beginning at 6:30 pm. Representatives from CCA and the Equality Center of Tulsa will speak.
Manning, who will be 27, was an Army intelligence analyst stationed in Iraq who leaked thousands of documents to Wikileaks in 2010, exposing war crimes and unjust detainment, torture and prisoner abuse, diplomatic deception and embarrassingly candid communications relating to US policies in the war on terror. Court-martialed in 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years and is serving that sentence at Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas. Immediately after the verdict, Manning announced her medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria and desire to live as a woman, along with the change of name.
CCA has held numerous support events for Manning since her arrest in the summer of 2010, joining the international support network that funded the legal defense and continues to raise funds for an appeal and advocate for a pardon or clemency as well as proper medical treatment for the gender dysphoria. Amnesty has also been advocating on Manning’s behalf for several years and has named her one of the world’s top political prisoners and among their “individuals at risk” for whom global action is promoted.
The party will be combined with an advocacy letter-writing campaign, as well as cards and letters to be sent to Manning at Ft.Leavenworth. Donations will be collected for the support network’s drive for the legal appeal case.
Since her sentencing, Manning herself has become more and more vocal about her case and with thougthful criticism of US national security policies, having published op-eds in The New York Times, The Guardian, and other newspapers as well as through Amnesty and the Chelsea Manning Support Network websites.
Amnesty has several chapters in Oklahoma, including OKC, Norman High School, OSU and Tulsa.
For more information:
Chelsea Manning Support Network – chelseamanning.org
Amnesty International Petition – campaigns.amnesty.org/actions/write-for-rights-chelsea-manning