Monthly Archives: March 2019

Chelsea Manning, First Amendment, Freedom of the Press, Freedom of the Press Foundation

Daniel Ellsberg on Chelsea Manning: She Should Be Released Immediately

Daniel Ellsberg and Chelsea Manning at the 2018 EFF Pioneer Awards, in San Francisco, in September 2018. (Chelsea was one of the recipients of the 2017 EFF Pioneer Awards.) Photo credit: Lisa Rein
To keep up with developments, please follow Chelsea Resists Twitter (@ResistsChelsea).    Donate to her Legal Fund.

A fully indexed page of Chelsea’s official statements & other useful resources.
This is a partial transcription from this Democracy Now broadcast:

Quotes from Daniel Ellsberg:

This is a continuation of seven-and-a-half years of torture of Chelsea Manning…

Although Donald Trump has made it very plain he would love to prosecute and convict The New York Times, he doesn’t have the guts to do that, to do what he wants, fortunately, because it would be so obviously unconstitutional, that although his base would be happy with it and he would be happy with it, he would get into too much trouble constitutionally…

They’re resorting again to torture, which does work at getting false confessions. That’s what it’s for. That’s what it mainly does…

She behaved in relation to WikiLeaks exactly as she would have to The New York Times or The Washington Post, to whom she went first, before going to WikiLeaks. And they didn’t pick up on what she was offering, so she went to WikiLeaks. But she took sole responsibility, not to spare them, but because that was the truth. And she tells the truth…

I admired her then. I admire her now. And right now she’s refusing to take part in basically a conspiracy against press freedom in this country, led by the president of the United States and the Secretary of State.

Daniel Ellsberg also published this Statement of Support on the Freedom of the Press Foundation website:

“Chelsea Manning is again acting heroically in the name of press freedom, and it’s a travesty that she has been sent back to jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury.

An investigation into WikiLeaks for publishing is a grave threat to all journalists’ rights, and Chelsea is doing us all a service for fighting it. She has already been tortured, spent years in jail, and has suffered more than enough. She should be released immediately.”

Chelsea Manning, First Amendment

Updated Statement by the Chelsea Resists Support Committee

Donate to her legal fund here.

Follow them on twitter here.

The Chelsea Resists support committee issued a new statement today shedding a little light on what’s going on with her situation.

Chelsea Manning Continues to Challenge Grand Jury Subpoena, Motion to Quash Denied, Remains Under Seal – Punitive Risks from Opaque Grand Jury Echo Trump Administration Resentment Towards Manning and President Obama’s Decision to Commute her Sentence

Alexandria, VA — This morning a judge in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) denied a motion filed by Chelsea Manning’s attorneys to quash a subpoena compelling grand jury testimony from Chelsea.

Chelsea and her attorneys plan to utilize every available avenue to challenge this subpoena. Chelsea has been compelled to come back to court tomorrow. Following today’s events Chelsea’s support committee, Chelsea Resists!, has issued a solidarity statement:

“Today we stand in solidarity with Chelsea Manning, and her fight against the dangerous and undemocratic grand jury system. Grand juries operate in secret, allowing the government to retaliate against activists and dissidents behind closed doors.

“This case is no exception. By demanding that Chelsea testify and keeping the basic facts of this grand jury under seal, the government today denied the public’s right to see this oppressive process in the light of day.

“Donald Trump and his administration have publicly declared their disdain for Chelsea, and for President Obama’s decision to commute her sentence. Chelsea has stood by the testimony from her 2013 court martial, and this subpoena serves no legitimate purpose. It is a punitive effort to reverse Obama’s legacy, exposing Chelsea to legal hardship and possible imprisonment.

“Even further, this case has profound 1st Amendment implications. It threatens to erode the rights of journalists who publish information in the public interest. The grand jury could also subject Chelsea’s activist networks to intrusive surveillance for engaging in lawfully-protected activity.

“By challenging this subpoena, Chelsea joins dozens of activists who have refused to jeopardize themselves and their communities. After seven years of imprisonment and torture, Chelsea has suffered enough. We demand an end to this vindictive fishing expedition, and the abolition of the repressive grand jury system. #LeaveChelseaAlone!”

 

 

Chelsea Manning

Chelsea Manning Needs Legal Funds to Resist a Grand Jury Subpoena

Updated: March 7, 2019

Donate to her legal fund here. Statement from the Chelsea Resists Support Committee: “Leave Chelsea Alone”

 

See list of References below that will be up to date soon and updated every morning, as we get more information.

Updated statement from her support team on March 5, 2019:


Hello Friends :-)

We need to help our friend Chelsea again, as she needs legal funds in order to resist a Grand Jury Subpoena that she has been served with.

From the Chelsea Resists Legal Fund web page:

Chelsea Manning has been summoned to appear and give testimony before a federal grand jury. The grand jury is related to her 2010 disclosures of information about the nature of asymmetric warfare to the public.

Following in the footsteps of scores of other activists, Chelsea refused to testify in front of the grand jury, and is currently incarcerated for civil attempt. She may be held until she “purges”- which she won’t- or until the grand jury is released.

Chelsea risked so much for public good, and has been through a lot of hardship. Let’s show her solidarity together and let the State know their punitive harassment won’t be tolerated.

What are grand juries?

Grand juries are used to establish “probable cause” that a felony offense has been committed. Prosecutors run the proceedings behind closed doors, without a judge or defense attorney present. Basically, the whole process is rigged to favor indictment of the individual accused of a crime. They have also been used historically to oppress and frighten targeted groups, in particular, people perceived as dissidents and activists.

Why Resist a grand jury?

Due to their secretive nature and limitless subpoena power, the government has utilized grand jury processes as tools for garnering information about movements by questioning witnesses behind closed doors. Since testimony before grand juries is secret, grand juries can create fear by suggesting that some members of a political community may be secretly cooperating with the government. In this way, grand juries can seed suspicion and fear in activist communities.

What will funds go toward specifically?

We will need legal funds for Chelsea’s legal fees, and legal costs such as court transcripts and travel, and commissary.

If Chelsea does not end up needing these funds they will go to other radical projects of our choosing.

Thank you for your support!

References:

  1. Chelsea Manning Fights Subpoena — Showing How Federal Grand Juries Are Unaccountable Tools of Repression – March 2, 2019 – by Natasha Lennard for The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2019/03/02/chelsea-manning-subpoena-grand-jury/

2. Questions regarding Chelsea Manning’s support committee should be directed to ChelseaResists@protonmail.com

3. Chelsea Manning is represented by Moira Meltzer-Cohen, appellate attorney Vincent Ward, and local counsel Chris Leibig and Sandra Freeman.

Raw Thought at The DNA Lounge

Meet Visual Artist Projekt Seahorse – Performing at Raw Thought This Friday, March 8th

Projekt Seahorse will be performing at the next Raw Thought at the DNA Lounge from 9pm-2am on March 8th!

Dance, play with robots, watch a beautiful shamanic dancer perform (Lael Marie) or just chill in artist Grumpy Green’s super special Psychedelic Chill Room (an immersive art installation).

DJs include: Melotronix, Tha Spyryt, Ailz, & Cain MacWitish – with visuals by Projekt Seahorse and shamanic dance by Lael Marie – all at our March 8th Raw Thought at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco! TICKETS

A Conversation with Projekt Seahorse a.k.a. Aaron Moun10

by Lisa Rein for Mondo 2000.

Projekt Seahorse will be performing with shamanic dancer Lael Marie for the first time on March 8th!

Watch a highlight clip of Projekt Seahorse performing with Raw Thought DJ Tha Spyryt.

The Edirol V-4

Projekt Seahorse a.k.a. Aaron Moun10 is known for his analog mixed-media art, which he performs live in real time. We interviewed him about his techniques and process in creating his real time masterpieces.

Lisa Rein: So how do you make your visuals? Is everything analog? Are there any digital components? How does it work?

Projekt Seahorse: I’m like a live band. I’m running everything from 4-6 different VHS players and two DVD players and two laptops, all into a video mixer, and then I’m sequencing all of it live.

LR: So your using that old video mixer?

PS: Yes I’m mixing it all live to the energy of whatever music artist I’m working with.

LR: So it’s still analog mixing then, when you are using that video mixing board?

PS: Yes. Analog mixing in real time….

Shamanic Dancer Lael Marie dances while Projekt Seahorse projects his analog video performance art. (Click to see a short video :)

LR: So Lael Marie will be performing with you for the first time at our Raw Thought show on March 11. I’ve seen you guys perform together during a practice session and she’s absolutely amazing; and the two of you together are quite impressive. How did you ever find her?

PS: We met at a party and she’s always looking for new progressive projects and events where she can dance, so I told her about Raw Thought.

LR: Yes she mentioned she was always looking for interesting collaborations, and said this was a dream come true for her, as she had been looking for a projectionist to collaborate with for a while. (I’ll have an interview with her up later this week!)

PS: Werd.