Manning Supporters to Demonstrate at Fort Meade Saturday

Fort Meade officials have announced some changes to traffic patterns near the installation this Saturday, in anticipation of a demonstration related to the court martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning. 

Hundreds of supporters of the accused Wikileaks sources are expected to protest in front of the installation, leading to the following adjustments: 

• The main gate at Reece Road and Route 175 will be closed from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
• The gate at Rockenbach Road and Route 175 will be the main gate for the day and will be expanded to three days.
• Residents of the Fort Meade Normandy Bluffs neighborhood will be asked to show their DOD identification card. Visitors must have the name and address of the person they are seeing. 
• Anyone visiting the Army Reserve centers along Route 175 should be prepared to show ID. 

Fort Meade officials also said that events at Meade Middle and Meade High schools will continue. Also, the gate at Mapes Road and Route 32 will remain open. 

Drivers should be aware of potentially large crowds along Reece Road, as protesters are expected to walk from designated parking areas at Van Bokkelen Elementary and Meade Heights Elementary. 

There have been no announced closures to lanes along Route 175, but Anne Arundel County police will be monitoring traffic and could close a lane or the entire road if necessary. 

Pfc. Bradley Manning is a former Army intelligence analyst who is accused of distributing classified material to the website Wikileaks. He has pleaded guilty to 10 of 22 charges but but prosecutors are pursuing a court martial for the remaining charges. The court martial proceedings start on June 3. 

Manning supporters have protested in front of Fort Meade in the past without causing major disruptions.