"Free General Vang Pao."

I'm not seeing any news reports of this large rally I encountered today at the federal courthouse in Madison, Wisconsin. This film clip gives an idea of the size of the rally, which stretched around the block in two directions.



You can hear the chanting in the background -- "Free General Vang Pao" -- but on this side of the building people were nearly silent. There were many signs, and clearly there was a plan to dress alike. Writing on various signs:

Please release General Vang Pao on Bail!!!

Hmong need peace

President Bush -- release General Vang Pao

Let freedom ring

Honor your war heroes. Don't jail them.

We need justice

Do not betray your allies. Free Vang Pao.

Hmong need freedom

Here is the backgound on Vang Pao's arrest:

A former Laotian general and a former California National Guard officer were among nine people charged Monday with plotting a violent overthrow of Laos's communist government.

The group was raising money to recruit a mercenary force and buy enough weapons to equip a small army, including antitank missiles and grenade launchers, prosecutors said.

"We're looking at conspiracy to murder thousands and thousands of people at one time," Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Twiss said in federal court....

Vang had led CIA-backed Hmong forces in Laos in the 1960s and 1970s as a general in the Royal Army of Laos...

UPDATE: Vang Pao released on bail:

He has been allowed to return to his southern California home under extremely strict conditions, but prosecutors say the 77-year-old is "the most dangerous" of the defendants and should be kept in detention pending his trial.