On April 7th, I attended a rally for Bradley Manning on the steps of City Hall in downtown Manhattan.

According to the press release (see below), “The Rally for Information Freedom,” was sponsored by a coalition of groups, journalists, lawyers and activists all deeply concerned with the actions of our government and the relative media silence that has since followed.

I was able to take a few pictures and some footage of the protestors and speakers. There was a pretty good turn out; I’d estimate about 50 or so people showed up, many of them filming and snapping pictures as well.

And here are a few videos of some of the speakers in attendance (apologies for my shaky camera work, I was trying to snap photos at the same time!):

From the press release:

In response to these latest outrages against competence and decency, and in support of the ongoing digital reformation, our coalition – comprised of veterans and anti-war groups, a faction of the Anonymous movement, the distributed think-tank Project PM, and a loose network of journalists, media professionals, scientists, former intelligence and government officials, and related organizations – announces a stepped-up campaign of information and direct action which will culminate in a rally and press conference on the steps of New York City Hall on April 7th at 3:00 pm. This event, the Rally for Information Freedom, will be supplemented by a campaign on the part of Anonymous, Project PM, and related entities to bring attention to the dozens of significant stories that have been largely ignored due to the unfortunate dynamics by which too many media have come to operate. The New York conference – conceived by longtime resident activist, Navy veteran, and acclaimed photographer John Penley – will feature about a dozen speakers including Penley, author and Project PM founder Barrett Brown, key Anonymous activist and Chanology co-instigator Gregg Housh, former civil litigator and author/blogger Glenn Greenwald, and National Lawyer’s Guild executive director Heidi Boghosian. Messages from other figures in the pro-transparency movement will also be presented in lieu of their ability to attend.

[snip]

This event is part of an effort to counter the dishonesty and injustice of the states which have reacted to such emergent phenomena with censorship and persecution while also forging greater coordination among the various parties that have been fighting on behalf of the cause of informational liberty. To this end, a series of meetings both formal and otherwise will be held throughout the first week of April; further information will be relayed in a second press release in late March.