Bradley Manning comforts his own sobbing legal team: I’m gonna be OK

[kpete]

Bradley Manning comforts his own sobbing legal team: I’m gonna be OK

"He said, 'Hey, it's OK. It's all right. I know you did everything you could for me. Don't cry. Be happy. It's fine. This is just a stage in my life. I am moving forward. I will recover from this,'" his defense lawyer David Coombs said in an interview conducted immediately after the sentencing.

WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning kept his composure Wednesday when he was sentenced to 35 years and comforted his own legal team when they broke down in tears, his lawyer said.

David Coombs, the civilian who led Manning’s team, said his client was stoic but he and other lawyers cried when they gathered in private soon after the judgment was read out.

“Myself and others were in tears, because this means a lot to us,” Coombs said.

He said Manning looked at him and said: “It’s OK. It’s all right, don’t worry about it. I know you did your best. It’s OK. I’m gonna be OK. I’m gonna get through this.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/21/bradley-manning-comforts-his-own-sobbing-legal-team-im-gonna-be-ok/





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a couple more sources:



Bradley Manning: ‘I Will Recover From This ... This Is Just a Stage in My Life’
by Alexa O'Brien Aug 21, 2013 1:58 PM EDT

Sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking documents to WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning has vowed to stay positive, his defense lawyers tells Alexa O’Brien in an exclusive interview.

FORT MEADE, MARYLAND—Just after receiving a sentence of 35 years in prison for transmitting hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and U.S. Army reports to WikiLeaks in 2010, Bradley Manning was in a surprisingly “cheerful mood,” according to his attorney.

“He said, 'Hey, it's OK. It's all right. I know you did everything you could for me. Don't cry. Be happy. It's fine. This is just a stage in my life. I am moving forward. I will recover from this,’” his defense lawyer David Coombs said in an interview conducted immediately after the sentencing.

Presiding military judge Col. Denise Lind sternly handed down the sentence to a packed courtroom, stating only, “Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, this court sentences you to be reduced to the grade of Private E-1, to forfeit all pay and allowances, to be confined for 35 years, and to be dishonorably discharged from the service.”

Coombs was stunned. “I look at the sentence, and I can’t believe that was actually the sentence he received,” he told The Daily Beast. "There is a good young man who did what he thought was morally right and for the right reasons, and he was sentenced the way we would sentence somebody who committed murder—the way we would sentence somebody who molested a child. That is the sentence he received."


VIDEO & MORE HERE:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/21/coombs-bradley-manning-obrien_n_3792591.html
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/21/bradley-manning-i-will-recover-from-this-this-is-just-a-stage-in-my-life.html

from the video:

THE DAMAGE DONE?

"I think the most damage done was the sentence that my client received," Coombs told O'Brien. "If you're talking about damage from a standpoint of what he released, embarrassment. Embarrassment was the most damage." He referred specifically to information revealed by the diplomatic cables:

"I think the damage there was an embarrassment there of having other people see that we don't always do the right thing for the right reasons, as the United States, which might come as a surprise to some people," he said. "Because if people actually look to those documents, they'll see that we don't always do what we should do and we're not always the country we should strive to be."



last thing, this VIDEO is amazing & inspiring, mho, kp

[hrmjustin]

1. God Bless him and I hope they can get him out as soon as possible.

[deurbano]

2. +1,000,000

[MotherPetrie]

3. +1,000,001

[one_voice]

14. Yes me too.

[The Link]

4. Obama's legacy. Along with drone warfare.

[snappyturtle]

5. That tears my heart out. I hope he is or will become

aware of the enormity of grateful citizens.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

7. May he be pardoned. He did a great service for Humanity. n/t

[Bonobo]

8. This is a dark, dark moment in the US.

What began with the madness of King George after 9/11 has continued to this day under our Democratic president.

It is why what I could bear under Bush, I cannot bear under Obama -it represents the complete loss of hope for the US.

It's as if you are a man dying of thirst and you struggle across a dessert to reach the oasis, only to find that the water is hopelessly polluted and undrinkable.

The US is what it is and I can no longer pretend that it was an anomaly that we experienced under Bush.

So, so, so sad.

[totodeinhere]

9. He is facing some serious jail time yet he has the compassion to

comfort his legal team. What a class act Bradley Manning is.

Demand that President Obama pardon Bradley Manning.

[OnyxCollie]

10. Pardon Don Siegelman while he's at it, too.

[HardTimes99]

13. Obama would do well to study the history of John Brown very carefully. Before his capture,

Brown was little known outside the small circle of abolitionists. Even within that circle, Brown enjoyed a reputation as something of a crank and zealot. But with his capture, trial, incarceration and ultimate execution, Brown achieved near-immortal status, thanks in large part to his writings and impassioned statements before the court.

I would wager that today far more people know who John Brown is than who James Buchanan (also a Dem, btw) was. But that's just a guess.

[Luminous Animal]

11. Alexa O'Brien ‏@carwinb via twitter

The Bradley #Manning I have seen in the courtroom is an extraordinary young man. Highly intelligent, earnest, tempered, and solid.


Alexa has been extra-ordinary throughout.

[joshcryer]

12. Far cry from the Manning victimization threads we had here.

Essentially horrified at his gender orientation...

"This is just a stage in my life. I am moving forward. I will recover from this."

Hopefully we can get him pardoned sooner rather than later. But I wouldn't hold out hope for another 3 years until Obama is leaving. Odds are maybe 5% he pardons Manning.

[Cleita]

15. Poor kid. I think he will be free before then.

Just a hunch.

[Rebellious Republican]

16. K&R, you will not be long in your incarceration!