Protestors interrupt Obama fundraiser to sing for Bradley Manning

Supporters of WikiLeaks source suspect Bradley Manning crashed an elite private fundraiser for President Obama Thursday morning in San Francisco, and interrupted his remarks with a song. From Wired:

As Obama was speaking at the $5,000-a-plate breakfast fundraiser, an unidentified woman at one of the tables (above) reportedly began humming and singing a modified version of the song “Where’s Our Change?,” before she removed her blazer and shirt to reveal a t-shirt with a picture of the young Army intelligence officer who is suspected of leaking a massive cache of classified and sensitive documents to the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks. As the rest of the group at the woman’s table joined in with her song, they held up signs that read “Free Bradley Manning,” according to MSNBC.

“Each of us brought you $5,000 — we’ll vote for you in 2012, yes that’s true. Look at the Republicans, what else can we do,” the group reportedly sang (see video below). As White House aides escorted the woman from the room, she said, “Free Bradley Manning. I’m leaving. I hope I don’t get tortured in jail.”

An Oakland, California activist named Naomi Pitcairn told The San Francisco Chronicle that she paid $76,000 to get the protesters tickets to the event, which was held at the swanky St. Regis hotel downtown.

A viral marketing/activism group calling itself the Fresh Juice Party organized the action, and promises to pay protesters various amounts of money if they video themselves singing the song in public forums and handing out “Fresh Juice Party Bucks.”

More at Wired.com, here’s an item at the SF Chronicle, and see related item at MSNBC.com.

Video below.