June 3, 2009

War Resister, Manuel Leonard Perry, Jailed in Whatcom County

Manuel Leonard Perry was booked into the Whatcom County Jail in Bellingham , WA , on Monday, June 1, after he turned himself in at the Canada-U.S. border. The 30 year-old Marine is from West Virginia . He was attached to a Marine Reserve Unit in Maryland and went AWOL in April 2003 after his unit received orders to deploy to Iraq .

Local attorney Larry Hildes and Marie Marchand, executive director of The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center, visited with Perry on Tuesday evening. The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center and the G.I. Sanctuary City Movement will hold a vigil for Perry 10am-1pm on Wednesday, June 3rd, in front of the Whatcom County Jail, 311 Grand Avenue.

This arrest and detention comes less than a week before The City of Bellingham hosts a Community Discussion on the matter of G.I. war resisters. This public discussion will take place on Monday, June 8, at 7pm at the Municipal Court Building , 2014 C St . It will be filmed and televised at a later date on BTV10.
-thanks to Nick Springer of the Bellingham GI Sanctuary City 

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