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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A group of Syracuse residents are calling for an end to what they call a “War on Whistleblowers.”

The protesters held a news conference outside the Democratic Party headquarters in Syracuse Thursday to demand that President Obama pardon Bradley Manning, the Army private who allegedly provided classified documents and videos to the website WikiLeaks. They're also calling on the president to stop the persecution of Julian Assange, who runs the website, and other whistleblowers.

Ursula Rozum, the Green Party candidate for Congress in the 24th district, spoke at the conference, calling it attack on free press.

"We want to send the message to President Obama and Democratic Party leaders that it's not OK to torture whistleblowers. Telling the truth on war crimes is not a crime and that we need to protect the freedom of the press," said Rozum.

Rozum says Obama has used the 1917 Espionage Act six times during his administration, but prior to his election, the Act was only used three times.