‘We Should Forgive Everybody at Some Point.’ Chelsea Manning Speaks Out in Rare Public Appearance

(NANTUCKET, Mass.) — Chelsea Manning said Sunday she is not an “American traitor” as her critics have claimed, and that she did what she thought was right. Manning made the remarks at a conference in Nantucket that was one of her first public appearances since being released from a military prison in May. The Associated Press was the only media outlet in attendance. “I believe I did the best I could in my circumstances to make an ethical decision,” she told the crowd when asked by the moderator if she was a traitor. The 29-year-old transgender woman was known as Bradley Manning when she was convicted in 2013 of leaking a trove of classified documents. She was released after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence, which was commuted by President Barack Obama in his final days in office. Manning spoke at the annual conference for The Nantucket Project in Massachusetts, a venture founded to bring together creative thinkers to uncover ideas. Organizers say about 600 people attended. Tom Scott, who co-founded The Nantucket Project with Kate Brosnan, said they invited Manning for “clarity of understanding.” “My brother and father are Marines. They would respectfully challenge some of her decisions,” he said. “Barack Obama commuted her sentence. My instinct is that he’s a good and trustful man. How do those two things mix? Seeing her in person offers, perhaps, the best way to decipher that.” Several audience...
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