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Manning backer sues over laptop search

BOSTON, May 14 (UPI) -- A supporter of accused leaker Bradley Manning is suing the U.S. government for confiscating his laptop without a warrant during airport screening.

David House, 24, a computer programmer from Cambridge, Mass., charges the Department of Homeland Security violated his constitutional rights against search and seizure when he landed at O'Hare airport in Chicago Nov. 3, returning from a vacation in Mexico.

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The suit was filed in federal court in Boston Friday by the American Civil Liberties Union, The Boston Globe reports.

The suit charges federal agents seized House's laptop, USB storage device, video camera and cellphone and made him miss a connecting flight to Boston while they interrogated him about his association with and fundraising for Pfc. Manning and whether he had contacted WikiLeaks in Mexico.

The suit says House, co-founder of the Bradley Manning Support Network, was targeted for his activism and not accused of any crime, the Globe reported.

His computer was not returned until Dec. 22, after a demand from the ACLU. House said he fears the information will be used against other activists.

Manning, an Army intelligence analyst, has been jailed by the military for a year on charges of leaking classified information about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to WikiLeaks.

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