On December 19, 2011, at least two supporters of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning were barred from Manning’s courtroom hearing. Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and Arab linguist who discharged when he came out under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was one of the people who were discharged.

Although Choi had attended the pretrial hearing over the weekend, he was barred from Monday’s proceedings because he allegedly “heckled” and “created a disturbance” outside of the courtroom.

Former military analyst Daniel Ellsberg was also barred from Monday’s proceedings: he was escorted from the courtroom after he tried to introduce himself to Manning while the court was in recess.

Ellsberg and Choi had arrived at the courtroom together. They waited for 10 minutes before being allowed through the entry gates outside of the courtroom. Although Ellsberg was allowed into the courtroom, Choi was admonished by the base officials at the front gate who disapproved of Choi’s decision to wear his uniform to the proceedings.

“They said, ‘You don’t have the right to wear the uniform,” said Choi in an interview. “I said I did, I was honorably discharged and I have the legal right to wear this uniform.”

Choi and Ellsberg were eventually allowed through the gates. Choi then noticed a member of the military who he recognized, Staff Sergeant Leo, and called to him by name. The Staff Sergeant then reportedly told a marshal that Choi had been heckling him.

When Choi denied that he had been heckling the Staff Sergeant, MP’s reportedly pinned Choi to the ground and ripped the rank off of his uniform. Pictures of this are available on Choi’s Twitter feed.

Choi was then banned from the courtroom and told to keep off of the base for a minimum of 24 hours.

In another interview, Choi enumerated the reasons he wanted to show support for Manning. “I come from the gay community, the only community in the world that bases its membership on one thing, integrity,” he said. “They told us under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell that certain information about us should be classified and hidden from other people because they said that good order and discipline would be compromised. The truth of ourselves, our identity, what’s in our soul, our reputation as human beings, can never be hidden because it pollutes our soul—it hurts the mission and everyone around us.”

“Today, we deal with a society that has repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in the military,” Choi continued, “And I don’t want to live in a society that replaces that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell with a new Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in society and national security. It is time that we unclassify the truth that we deserve to know. For that is what we swear to uphold, those Army values.”

“We see the situation where our comrade is in shackles and chains, he is on trial,” he said. “But I remind all of us gathered here today because Bradley Manning stood up for the truth, he is the most free among all of us. He is not the one on trial, the United States of America is on trial today.”

“What Bradley Manning did, as a gay American, as a soldier, a good soldier—in fact, the only soldier in his entire chain of command who did the right thing, and suffers the consequences unjustly—there’s no choice but for patriotic Americans to sit there and support Bradley Manning in the dignity and full honor of the uniform of service,” Choi said in yet another interview.

Manning is accused of leaking a video showing civilians, including two Reuters journalists, being killed by a US Apache helicopter crew in Iraq. He is also charged with leaking other documents, such as the Iraq War Logs and the Afghan War Diary. His leaks helped to reveal the true cost of civilian lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. He currently faces 22 charges for which a conviction could mean life in prison or the death penalty.