Bradley Manning Named Grand Marshal Of SF Pride Parade
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee has named a controversial Army private accused of engineering the biggest classified document leak in U.S. history as one of this year's grand marshals.
Bradley Manning, a 24-year-old native of Crescent, Okla., allegedly gave the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website more than 700,000 documents and video clips including sensitive battlefield reports from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Bay Area Reporter indicates that Pride's electoral college, which is made up of former grand marshals, selected Manning as its choice for grand marshal for the June 30th Market Street parade.
Update: Manning Won't Be SF Pride Parade Marshal
"He is currently in custody and will not be attending the parade, although he will have supporters appearing on his behalf," according to the Reporter.
Manning is awaiting court martial in connection with the security leak.
Defense lawyers have said Manning was emotionally troubled and shouldn't have had access to classified material nor have been sent to Iraq for a tour of duty.
During the 2011 parade, a dedicated group of marchers expressed their support Manning.
On the Bradley Manning Support Network website, a post stated that Manning was "Dedicated to equal human rights, he stood openly against Don't Ask Don't Tell, and now he is imprisoned as the alleged Wikileaker."
(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
