"Perhaps his biggest crime was that he cared about the loss of life and that he couldn't ignore it," defense attorney David Coombs said during closing arguments of the sentencing part of Manning's court martial hearing. "This court has had a year and half to see the conduct of PFC Manning. He's a little geeky at times. But he's caring, he's compassionate," Coombs said. "This is a young man who is capable of being redeemed. We should not rob him of his youth." This followed the prosecution which asked for Manning to be sentenced to sixty years, fined $100,000 and receive a dishonorable discharge.. Capt. Joe Morrow told the judge, Col. Denise Lind, that Manning betrayed the U.S. by giving classified material to WikiLeaks. "..for that betrayal, he deserves to spend the majority of his remaining life in confinement.." Last month a military judge convicted Manning of 20 offenses, including six violations of the Espionage Act and five counts of stealing protected information. Col. Denise Lind said she will announce Manning's sentence at 10 a.m. EDT Wednesday. ----Meanwhile, following the sentencing the Bradley Manning Support Group is asking supporters to join them in the streets to declare, “Free Bradley Now!” An internet shout-out for Manning and note for President Obama is being arranged here: thndr.it/16IBsNS and Code Pink and Manning supporters will hold a rally Wednesday night at the White House. They say, "Bring whistles!"
