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For Immediate Release
December, 16 2011, 07:09am EDT
Contact:
press@occupywallst.org
For this action:
Melanie Butler, 310-403-5644, melanie@codepink.org
Occupy Wall Street Prepares to Occupy Fort Meade in Solidarity with PFC Bradley Manning
Caravans Set to Arrive from Multiple Occupy Encampments
WASHINGTON
Occupy Wall Street participants will join hundreds of supporters of accused WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning on Friday at Fort Meade, Maryland. PFC Manning's pre-trial hearings begin on Friday. About 50 people will depart from Liberty Square at 5:00 am Friday morning via chartered bus, arriving in Fort Meade as the hearings begin at 9:00 am. New York-based supporters will stay at Saint Stephens Church in Washington, DC and camp at Occupy DC in McPherson Square on Friday night. On Saturday, December 17, they will march and hold a noon rally along with supporters from Occupy DC and across the country.
"Having closely covered the WikiLeaks releases and Arab Spring as a journalist, as well as helping organize the original action to occupy wall street on Sept 17, I know for myself there would be no occupy movement without the alleged whistleblower Bradley Manning," says Alexa O'Brien, a writer at wlcentral.org and one of the founders of usdayofrage.org, which helped organize the occupation of Wall Street in New York City and four other American cities on Sept 17.
The bus trip was proposed by the WikiLeaks Truck working group of Occupy Wall Street and passed unanimously by the New York City General Assembly late last Saturday night.
"Occupy Wall Street owes a huge debt to Bradley Manning. He has been subjected to torturous conditions and is now facing 52 years in prison for the alleged crime of standing up for truth and justice," says Melanie Butler, an organizer with CODEPINK: Women for Peace and a member of Occupy Wall Street, who helped organize the bus trip. "He is a hero of our generation and we are honored to stand in solidarity with him on the 3-month anniversary of the movement he is charged with helping create. The information he is accused of releasing contributed to Occupy Wall Street and democratic revolutions across the Middle East. He is charged with democratizing information for the 99%."
This Friday will be PFC Manning's first appearance before a court and the first time he will face his accusers after 18 months in confinement. Over fifty solidarity demonstrations are planned across the worldwide Occupy movement for Saturday, December 17th, which is also Bradley Manning's 24th birthday and the 3-month anniversary of OWS.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16 at FORT MEADE:
Pre-Trial Hearing
Location: Magistrate Court, 4432 Llewellyn Ave, Fort Meade, MD 20755.
Most journalists will be seated in a remote viewing area near the courtroom, equipped with closed circuit TV. Media wishing to attend the proceedings should contact the US Army Military District of Washington Public Affairs Office at mediadesk@jfhqncr.ds.mil or 202-685-4645.
Vigil
8:00AM EST to 5:00PM EST
Location: Fort Meade Main Gate, Maryland 175 & Reece Rd, Fort Meade, MD 21113.
Supporters will maintain a presence outside the base while proceedings are being held. A bus from Occupy Wall Street is expected to arrive by 9:00 AM.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17 at FORT MEADE:
Rally and March
12:00 PM EST to 03:00 PM EST
Location: Supporters will meet again at the Fort Meade Main Gate. After the rally, supporters will march one mile along MD 175 / Annapolis Road to Llewellyn Avenue.
Confirmed speakers include Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistle-blower; Lt. Dan Choi, gay veteran and activist; Col. Ann Wright, retired US Army Colonel and diplomat who has been active with the Freedom Plaza occupation in Washington, DC; John Penley, a Vietnam Veteran who is active with Occupy Wall Street; and Michael Patterson, an Iraq War conscientious objector who is active with Iraq Veterans Against the War and Occupy DC at McPherson Square.
Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan's Financial District, and has spread to more than 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. For more visit https://occupywallst.org
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What Progressives Want for Mother's Day: Affordability and Family Reunification
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Progressive leaders and organizations celebrated US Mother's Day on Sunday with calls for policy changes that would make life easier for families.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pointed out that issues of affordability make mothering—and celebrating mothers—more difficult.
"Despite the average family paying 20% of their income on childcare in 2025, [President Donald] Trump has said, 'It's not possible for us to take care of daycare,'" Warren posted on social media, referring to remarks the president made last month in which he claimed that the federal government could not afford to fund childcare, Medicare, and Medicaid because it needed the money for warfare.
"To really honor Mother's Day, we must fight for our government to pass policies that actually help mothers and families," Warren continued.
"If this country truly valued mothers, our politics would reflect it."
In a separate post, the Massachusetts senator listed several items, from cakes to coffee to flowers, that had gone up in price during the second Trump administration.
"Here's everything that's more expensive this Mother's Day under Donald Trump," she wrote.
Here's everything that's more expensive this Mother's Day under Donald Trump:
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Fresh sweetrolls, coffeecakes, doughnuts: up 3.6%
Bananas: up 5%
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Indoor plants and flowers: up…
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) May 10, 2026
Progressive political action group Our Revolution also called for a more robust social safety net for Mother's Day.
"If this country truly valued mothers, our politics would reflect it," the group wrote. "Universal childcare. Medicare for All. Paid family leave. A living wage. Affordable housing. Strong public schools. A four-day work week. Reproductive freedom."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who founded Our Revolution, wished a happy Mother's Day to his wife Jane and all other mothers, calling for both national and global stability.
"Let us continue our push for a world where all mothers can raise their families without the threat of war, with economic stability, and where their rights are protected," he wrote.
Other lawmakers focused on mothers who are separated from their children due to immigration detention under the second Trump administration, which resumed the practice of family detention after it had largely been abandoned under President Joe Biden.
Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) spent Saturday preparing donations for Immigration and Custom Enforcement's (ICE) Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Decatur Township, Pennsylvania.
"This Mother’s Day I’m thinking of the moms and mother figures unjustly detained at Moshannon who would rather be at home with their babies," she wrote on social media.
This Mother’s Day I’m thinking of the moms and mother figures unjustly detained at Moshannon who would rather be at home with their babies.
Yesterday we packed and sent off buses with donations for them. It’s the least we can do. pic.twitter.com/EocSX6kzrY
— Rep. Summer Lee (@RepSummerLee) May 10, 2026
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) encouraged followers to donate to Each Step Home, which works to reunite immigrant families and support and release children in immigration detention.
"This Mother's Day, I'm thinking of Trump & ICE's cruel treatment of mothers & traumatization of children. No mother, no child, & no family should be detained—but that's exactly what's happening in Dilley, TX," she wrote, referring to a family detention center reopened by the second Trump administration and run by private prison company CoreCivic.
This Mother's Day, I'm thinking of Trump & ICE's cruel treatment of mothers & traumatization of children.
No mother, no child, & no family should be detained—but that's exactly what's happening in Dilley, TX. pic.twitter.com/NeyB4gVIJo
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) May 10, 2026
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), meanwhile, shared the story of Isidoro González Avilés and Norma Anabel Ramírez Amaya, who were released from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detention on Friday and reunited Saturday with their son Kevin González, who has terminal cancer.
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Isidoro González Avilés y Norma Anabel se reunieron este sábado con su hijo Kevin en Durango, México, luego de ser liberados por el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional el viernes.
Kevin, quien nació en Estados Unidos, pero se crió en México, tiene cáncer de colon en etapa cuatro… pic.twitter.com/K341mAlOFU
— N+ UNIVISION (@nmasunivision) May 10, 2026
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The Associated Press reported:
The ministry said that after the initial strike, the man and his daughter managed to move away from the site only to be attacked again by the drone instantly killing the man. The girl then moved about 100 meters (yards) away and was hit again by the drone after she had been already wounded.
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What does terrorism mean to you? If it’s no double-tap killings of paramedics, journalists, and today a 12 year old girl, then what is it?
Westerners, where is your humanity?
Cameraman: @aliezzedine7 pic.twitter.com/ntXIwz4s6H
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