A support movement for Edward Snowden is already taking off in the United States. New York activist Andrew Stepanian was among dozens who rallied in Manhattan on Monday.

Andrew Stepanian: “I think a lot of us are encouraging people today, wherever they are located in the United States, whatever city they’re in, to start their own rallies united behind the hashtag that says 'I stand with Edward Snowden.' And no matter how small or how large, encourage the people around you to celebrate Edward Snowden and what he did selflessly for us as Americans and to take the conversation out of the margins to prevent him from being demonized or maligned, whether it be in the media or in government, and have a conversation that said what he did was a public service.”

A petition on the White House website to pardon Edward Snowden has so far received more than 43,000 signatures.