Wikileaks protests: Woman calls for freeing US soldier

Obama was interrupted by a woman in a white suit, who said she and her friends had written him a song.

SAN FRANCISCO: US President Barack Obama on Thursday faced an unusual singing protest over the detention of Bradley Manning, a US soldier held for allegedly passing classified documents to WikiLeaks.

Obama was interrupted by a woman in a white suit at a fundraising breakfast here, who said she and her friends had written him a song.

The woman, who stripped off her jacket to reveal a black t-shirt that said ‘Free Bradley Manning’, and others at a table for 10 then sang a song that noted they had just contributed to Obama’s 2012 reelection bid and went on to criticise his detention.

“That was a nice song,” Obama, evidently displeased, told the roomful of about 200 donors at the upscale Saint Regis Hotel.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2011.