Standing by Bradley: My conversations with supporters attending the court martial
Farah Muhsin Al Mousawi
One of the many things that I love about being part of the Bradley Manning Support Network is the ability to attend the court martial since it started on June 3rd, 2013. The pleasure of sitting down on the defense side of the room, capturing a glimpse of Bradley’s face and fighting the urge to pass the guards, who usually build a human wall between him and the spectators, to give him a hug and thank him for his bravery. But perhaps what I like more is looking around the courtroom and seeing all the friendly, kind faces of supporters who often travel for miles to be here, standing by Bradley, donning their “truth” t-shirts and engaging in active conversations when court is in recess . . . just as Bradley hoped the world would do.
Over 70 supporters packed the courtroom and overflow trailer on July 8, 2013.
Among our supporters are members of the Center on Conscience and War (CCW) who have been attending at least one day per week since the court martial began. They came to a pretrial hearing a few months ago, too. “We want to be there as a show of support for Bradley and his defense team,” said CCW director Maria Santelli. “We want to show the judge that the whole world is watching and that she is accountable. I feel like I’ve just always known about Bradley since his arrest, at least. As an organizer against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since before they began, and as a counselor on the GI Rights since 2008, I tried to keep up on the news related to the wars.”
Each week, Maria comes with CCW Program Assistant Rebecca Joliff and Counseling Coordinator Bill Galvin, as well as summer intern Cymone Copeland. They have been attending diligently, carrying their notepads and writing notes through the court session. They sit down patiently on the defense side of the courtroom. Every now and then, I look at the crowd and I see the CCW crew look at Bradley and smile, admiring his courage and resilience.
When asked why it’s important for CCW members to attend the trial, Maria says, “It’s important that the soldiers at Ft. Meade see us there. Sometimes I think civilians, especially those with a leftward slant, feel like we share little common ground with people in the military. As a counselor on the GI Rights Hotline, I talk to active duty service members every day. We share more in common than either of us knows. I know that there are service members who strongly stand with Bradley.”
“The CCW was founded in 1940, when the first peacetime draft law was enacted in the United States. Conscientious Objectors (COs) who lived through WWI were treated so cruelly and inhumanely that our founders wanted to take the necessary steps, once it was clear that the US would enter WWII, to prevent COs from ever having to endure such terrible treatment again. CCW was at that time known as the National Service Board for Religious Objectors/NSBRO, because only those individuals whose opposition to war was based on religious beliefs could legally be classified as COs. NSBRO ran the Alternative Service Program, placing drafted men in nonviolent ‘work of national importance,’ instead of war. Since then, the law has evolved, and anyone with a moral or ethical objection to war can apply for CO status.
“Today, and since the end of the draft era, CCW provides technical and other support to Conscientious Objectors seeking discharge from the US military. We also assist immigrants to the US who refuse, for reasons of conscience, to take the standard citizenship oath in which one pledges to take up arms for the United States. And we provide support for young men who resist Selective Service Registration for reasons of conscience.”
June 24th marked the fourth week of Bradley Manning’s trial. As I looked around the courtroom, I saw a few new young faces, sitting with anticipation, waiting for the judge to walk in and start the trial.
The new supporters are high-school students from Oxford Academy, Westbook, CT, who after learning about a trip to Ft. Meade to experience what it feels like to be at this trial decided to sign their names up and join this effort, which was put together by two passionate school teachers: Ben Taylor, History and Economics teacher, and Josh Katz, head of the Math department.
I had the pleasure to sit down with the students and their teacher and ask them a few questions.
“So, what brought you here?” I asked. “Well, we are all interested in this trial and what is happening to Bradley manning” said Edward, a sharp 17 year old Senior originally from England. Edward and his schoolmates are attending summer school at Oxford Academy and when they heard about a trip to come to Fort Meade and attend two days of the historic trial, they signed up right away to join this trip.”
“I followed the trial from the beginning and have been aware of Bradley Manning since 2010 and the controversy that took place after, if he is a true whistleblower or he joined the military to intentionally wreak havoc. It is important to observe the ethical response of the US military overseas, the case of killing innocent civilians with no repercussion. This is a concern to me because I do have friends who joined the military and I feel like I need to understand if we are going to fight for freedom and democracy. We ought to understand what we are doing and what we are fighting for.” Edward added, “The media is often polarized in America, even if they openly reported the trial, the media is still biased and because of that I needed to come and get a better understanding of this case.”
William, who is 18 and also a bright senior student at Oxford Academy, and whose mother escaped the violence in Lebanon during the civil war during the 1980s, he had another interesting reason as to why he wanted to be on this trip.
“With the way the image of the military is presented, of how honorable it is and how the military service is glorified, I wanted to be that person, I wanted to be part of it. And the reason why I don’t want to do it anymore is because I don’t want to fight for something I don’t believe in, especially when the wars that are fought now are not for the right reason.” William added, “I wanted to be here because I wanted to observe and learn. I wanted to figure out the truth of what has been told about Bradley because it is hard to believe the news. I want to be here to support him.”
Eli, an eloquent 14-year-old freshmen said, “The idea of glorifying gender roles is an old one. Back in the ‘50s, if you went to a toy store you find that boys had plastic guns and fake military stuff, and girls had their dolls. Culture today still segregates between boys and girls and continues to glorify the military.”
I also spoke to Ben Taylor and Josh Katz, the two teachers who came up with the idea of bringing few of their students to attend the trial.
Ben Taylor, who is a History and Economics teacher, said, “This is a very significant event, regardless of the side you agree with, it is important to be here and show up. Last fall we had a course on current events, and though current issues around the world are integrated into other courses one way or another, both Josh Katz and I felt that we needed to bring in a more current issue and make it present for the students to be more engaged and informed. So, we had three topics our students research and give presentations on, one was about the Pentagon Papers, the second was on whistleblowers and the third was on Bradley Manning. After that we decided we needed to do something maybe for the summer and that’s when we came up with the idea of making this trip and bringing at least five students who are interested in the subject.”
Josh Katz, who is the math teacher and the head of the Math department said, “Sitting in the office and I was thinking how could I be a teacher but also help people participate in the world? Its not enough to have a current events course, students have be involved in the world.
“The image of somebody going to school with other events are happening in the same country, writing a paper about that event, all this makes me feel as if it is happening in a foreign country.
“As a math teacher, I try to bring in other topics related to social issues but also connected to math in one way or another. For instance, I talk about the relation between math and democracy or math and cryptology, and while doing that it is hard not to delve into the issue of ethics in relations to these important topics. And while the educational system seems to teach our students what they want them to learn, at our school we try and give them the liberty to make up their minds and construct their own knowledge.”
The following weeks of the court martial, we witnessed a large presence of supporters from all over the country. During the last week of the prosecution’s argument, more than 50 supporters filled the courtroom and the overflow trailer. And during the first day of the defense’s argument, nearly 80 supporters filled the courtroom and the overflow trailer.
As an organizer with the Bradley Manning Support Network, people often ask me, “How can we support Bradley? What can we do to help?” And there are so many ways I could answer these questions, and though the first response I could think of is, “Do you have a magic wand that can set him free?” I know that is impossible! However, I encourage people to come and attend the court martial if they can. The presence of the supporters have been helpful in such way that we are able to tell the court, and the world, that what Bradley did was the right thing and it is time for the government to do the same thing, too by setting him free!
Yesterday, the defense rested its case and Bradley Manning confirmed that he did not wish to testify. The government said it intends to present a rebuttal case next week. (To read more updates from the trial, please visit: http://www.bradleymanning.org/category/news/courtroom-notes-news)
As we anticipate the sentencing phase will culminate in August, we will be demonstrating in front of Maj. Gen. Buchanan’s office demanding him to do the right thing by freeing Bradley Manning, as Maj. Gen Buchanan is the Convening Authority who oversees the proceedings at Ft. Meade. If you wish to continue to show support for Bradley, please consider joining us at this last chance to protest during Bradley’s trial.
For more details on this event, please visit: https://orders.bradleymanning.org/support_events/protest-in-front-of-maj-general-buchanans-office
Students from Oxford Academy
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