Soldier accused of leaking Wikileaks information grew up in Crescent

Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, 22, grew up in Crescent, moving to Britain at age 13 after his parents split. Manning was moved Thursday to a Marine brig at the Quantico Marine Base in Virginia as the military continues to investigate whether he leaked classified material to Wikileaks, military officials said.

Manning was charged July 5 with obtaining classified State Department documents and leaking a video of a U.S. helicopter attack on civilians in Afghanistan. Published reports indicate Manning is also suspected of leaking thousands of investigative field reports written about the war in Afghanistan.

Manning reportedly chatted online with a journalist and former computer hacker named R. Adrian Lamo. In the chats, he told Lamo he leaked hundreds of thousands of documents and other information to Wikileaks because he became disillusioned with the military and U.S. foreign policy. Lamo reported the information to federal authorities.

In one of the chats, he described being told to look into a case where several Iraqis were arrested for putting out anti-Iraq literature. Manning reportedly found the writings were a scholarly critique of corruption in the Iraqi government but was dismissed by superiors who wanted to arrest more dissidents.

Outspoken, smart

Former friends and neighbors in Crescent said they remembered Manning as being upset with U.S. foreign policy.

Chera Moore, 23, was friends with Manning from kindergarten until he left Crescent in the first semester of his eighth-grade year. She said he was quiet outside of class but would always chime in when discussions in class turned toward politics or religion.