Minneapolis, MN – The anti-war movement sees Chelsea Manning as a hero for exposing the truth of the brutality of U.S. warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result of her bravery in releasing classified documents that exposed U.S. war crimes to WikiLeaks, on Aug. 21 Manning was sentenced to military prison for 35 years.

Ft. Lauderdale, FL – 20 supporters of whistleblower Private First Class Bradley Manning gathered on the evening of Aug. 21 at the Federal Building in downtown here for an emergency protest. They demanded a presidential pardon for the 25-year old whistleblower.

Tampa, FL – On June 1 over 50 activists rallied at the MacDill Air Force Base, calling for the release of whistleblower Bradley Manning.

Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Integration reported June 19 that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrived at its London Embassy and asked for asylum. Assange stated that with a, “regrettable factual statement of abandonment received by the authorities of my country, Australia, who state that they will not defend even my minimum guarantees before any government and delegate in the constitution of a foreign country that applies the death penalty for the crime of espionage and treason, and the guarantees it offers to its nationals, ignoring the obligation to protect its citizens, who is persecuted politically.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression on repression against Julian Assange.

_Whistleblower fears for his life _

In April 2010, a video leaked from top secret military files revealed a 2007 U.S. Army helicopter assault on Baghdad where eighteen civilians were murdered, including two journalists from the news agency Reuters. The video created international uproar over the brutality of U.S. war on Iraq and infuriated the Pentagon.

Reuters journalists and children among the dead and wounded

The organization WikiLeaks released a leaked video today showing footage of U.S. soldiers indiscriminately gunning down Iraqis from an Apache helicopter gunship. In the video, U.S. soldiers are heard laughing while shooting down over a dozen Iraqis, including two Reuters journalists. After the initial shootings, a van stops by to pick up one of the survivors who is crawling away. As Iraqis load the wounded man into the van, the U.S. soldiers open fire again, killing more Iraqis and wounding two young children who were inside the vehicle.