Army Private Charged in WikiLeaks Security Breach Says He Felt Like Caged Animal
Army Private Charged in WikiLeaks Security Breach Says He Felt Like Caged Animal
An Army private charged in the biggest security breach in U.S. history testified Thursday that he felt like a doomed, caged animal after he was arrested in Baghdad for allegedly sending classified information to the secret-spilling website WikiLeaks.
Pfc. Bradley Manning testified on the third day of a pretrial hearing at Fort Meade, outside Baltimore. His lawyers are seeking dismissal of all charges, contending his pretrial confinement in a Quantico, Va., Marine Corps brig was needlessly harsh.
Before he was sent to Quantico in July 2010, Manning spent some time in a cell in a segregation tent at Camp Arifjan, an Army installation in Kuwait.
“I remember thinking I’m going to die. I’m stuck inside this cage,” Manning said under questioning by defense attorney David Coombs. “I just thought I was going to die in that cage. And that’s how I saw it — an animal cage.”
The compact, 24-year-old intelligence analyst looked youthful in his dark blue dress uniform, close-cropped hair and rimless eyeglasses. He was animated, often swiveling in the witness chair and gesturing with his hands.