As written on the organization's website, "No, this is a rally to encourage the media to speak out on behalf of whistleblowers and the Constitution, and to reject the false choice of privacy vs. security. We believe the content of what Edward Snowden exposed, namely that the NSA has been spying on Americans, deserves the media's full attention. The rally is also to show solidarity with Edward Snowden (and all whistleblowers like WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning) and to applaud Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia for offering Snowden asylum."
The rally is scheduled to take place between 4-6 p.m. this Friday at 1301 34th St. N. Sponsors include St. Pete for Peace, Veterans for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America (Pinellas), The Refuge, Friends of Human Rights, NatureCoast Coalition for Peace and Justice, Peace and Freedom Party of Florida, Occupy Tampa, and Tampa Light Brigade.
Chris Ernesto with St. Pete for Peace emailed CL Tuesday afternoon. He said the group thinks "this is a seminal issue that has far reaching repercussions as it relates to civil liberties in the United States."
"Some say that 'if you're not doing anything wrong, then you have no need to worry about the government's spying program,'" he wrote. "To those people we say 'then you won't mind if the government puts a camera in your bedroom.'"
There has been much debate about whether Snowden's actions make him a hero or a traitor. A new Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday morning shows more people are inclined to support the former Booz Allen Hamilton employee: 55-34 percent said Snowden is a whistle-blower rather than a traitor.