SHUT DOWN CREECH! March 4-6 2015

Mass Mobilization to Stop Drone Wars!

A Convergence For Peace in the Nevada Desert

 

Join us March 4-6, 2015 at Creech Air Force Base, Indian Springs, Nevada, for a national mobilization of nonviolent resistance to shut down killer drone operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan,Yemen, Somalia, and everywhere. 

 

Sponsored by CODEPINK: Women for Peace, Nevada Desert Experience , Veterans For Peace, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and Voices for Creative Nonviolence. 

 

CODEPINK will also hold vigils daily on March 2nd and 3rd, prior to the official beginning of this Creech Convergence For Peace, and welcomes everyone to join them.

In 2005, Creech Air Force Base secretly became the first U.S. base in the country to carry out illegal, remotely controlled assassinations using the MQ-1 Predator drones, and in 2006, the more advanced Reaper drones were added to its arsenal. 

 

Creech drone personnel sit behind computers in the desert north of Las Vegas and kill “suspects” thousands of miles away. Recent independent research indicates that the identity of only one out of 28 victims of U.S. drone strikes is known beforehand. 

 

Though officials deny it, the majority of those killed by drones are civilians. In 2014, it was leaked that the CIA’s criminal drone assassination program, officially a separate operation from the Air Force’s, has been piloted all along by Creech’s super-secret Squadron 17.

Since 2009 dozens of activists have been arrested for allegedly trespassing at Creech, in attempts to stop the indiscriminate killing and burning of innocent people by drones. 

 

At the trial of the “Creech 14,” the first Americans prosecuted for trespass at a drone base, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark testified that “to have a baby burn to death because of a ‘no trespass’ sign would be poor public policy, to put it mildly.” 

 

In a time of burning children, the “no trespass” signs attached to the fences that protect the crimes perpetrated with drones are not legitimate, and they do not command our obedience. After all, it is the U.S. military that is guilty of lethal trespassing.

The US drone program is rapidly proliferating as air bases are being converted to drone bases across the U.S. and abroad, but Creech remains the primary air base in U.S. state-sponsored global terrorism. Creech is where the killer drone program started–it is where we shall end it.

We must put an end to this desecration of our Mother Earth and all creatures who inhabit it.

We must put an end to the dehumanization of lives from Ferguson to Palestine to Pakistan.

We must close all foreign U.S. military bases. Money for human needs.

We must put an end to drone warfare, drone surveillance, and global militarization.

We must…

SHUT CREECH DOWN!

Sign up on facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/1525740921010540 and invite friends!

Or contact:

Toby Blomé of Code Pink: ratherbenyckeling@comcast.net 510-215-5974 (h)

Brian Terrell of VCNV and NDE: brian@vcnv.org  773-853-1886

Follow their special blog Shut Down Creech!

Veterans For Peace Among 33 Arrested Outside Drone Base in New York State

April 23, 2012

Three members of Veterans For Peace — Russell Brown, John Amidon, and Elliott Adams — were among 33 peaceful protesters arrested on Sunday outside Hancock Air Field in New York State. Almost all of the 33 were arrested preemptively, as they walked single-file and silently along a road, prior to reaching the military base, at which they intended to approach the gate and deliver a written statement.
Here is video of the walk: http://youtu.be/xq8xEisjbSA

And of the arrests: http://youtu.be/VzvNYIlASTc

Here is a news story featuring a photo of Elliott Adams being arrested: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04/military_protesters_turned_awa.html 

The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones reported that the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department made the arrests in Mattydale, NY, two blocks from the entrance to the base. “Those arrested included an 87 year old woman in a wheelchair, parents (accompanying their children), a member of the press, and the group’s attorney Ron Van Norstrand. Cameras, camcorders and phones were confiscated by the Sheriff’s Department.” http://blog.upstatedroneaction.org

Elliott Adams is Past President of Veterans For Peace, and current Nonviolent Training Coordinator. He had also been arrested in 2011 as one of the Hancock 38 protesting at the same base. Adams commented after this weekend’s arrest:
“Once again local law enforcement obstructed me from complying with the Nuremberg principles. As a veteran of several war zones I understand the importance of international law like the Geneva conventions and the remarkable UN Charter. But as I tried to serve an indictment to those committing war crimes I was arrested preemptively.

“As veterans we know how important international laws like the Geneva conventions are. We know that weaponized drones are continuously being used to commit war crimes and even crimes against peace. The Nuremberg Principles obligate us, as citizens, to stop our government from committing these crimes. Our arrest on Sunday was a clear case of trampling on our 1^st Amendment right to ‘petition our government for a redress of grievances.’

“It is outrageous,” Adams remarked, “that on the other side of this fence people are being murdered, albeit at long distance, and the Sheriff will not even investigate. On this side of the fence we are arrested for a ‘violation of permit requirement.'”

Three women succeeded on Sunday in reading aloud at the base gate an indictment addressed to “the Service Members of Hancock Air Base.” The Indictment states, in part:

“By giving material support to the drone program, you as individuals are violating the Constitution, dishonoring your oath, and committing war crimes. We charge the chain of command, from President Barack Obama, to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, to Commander Colonel Greg Semmel, to every drone crew, to every service member supporting or defending these illegal actions, with the following crimes: extrajudicial killings, violation of due process, wars of aggression, violation of national sovereignty, and the killing of innocent civilians.”

http://warisacrime.org/content/indictment-drone-warriors
Adams’ statement, made in court at the trial of the Hancock 38 last November is available online:
http://warisacrime.org/content/elliott-adams-member-hancock-38-and-new-hancock-34-made-statement-trial-november-1-2011

As is his statement at the sentencing hearing:
http://warisacrime.org/content/elliott-adams-sentencing-statement-november-11-2011
Adams told the judge: “I am proud to accept the consequences of my acts and any jail time. I do not want any suspended sentence. If you give me one, also please let me know how I can violate it before I leave the courtroom.” The judge, however, gave Adams a suspended sentence and probation conditions. Adams has not ceased protesting drone wars.

Veterans For Peace was founded in 1985 and has approximately 5,000 members in 150 chapters located in every U.S. state and several countries. It is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization recognized as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) by the United Nations, and is the only national veterans’ organization calling for the abolishment of war.
———–
Update:
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Activist-brings-campaign-against-drones-to-Albany-3504155.php#photo-2851855

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04/onondaga_county_sheriffs_depar_2.html

Good Friday In A Nuclear World: 10 arrested at the Nevada National Security Site

Press Release
Nevada Desert Experience
Friday, April 6, 2012
Contact: John Amidon or Jim Haber, 702-646-4814 (office),
518-312-6442 (mobile John) 415-828-2506 (mobile Jim)

Good Friday In A Nuclear World:
10 arrested at the Nevada National Security Site

Nevada Desert Experience (NDE) concluded its 26th annual Sacred Peace Walk this morning at 11:00am. Thirty people participated in this year’s walk from Las Vegas to the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). Ten were arrested in an often-repeated act of civil resistance standing for global nuclear abolition and Western Shoshone sovereignty in this region. The peaceful and prayerful demonstration included dozens of participants, with the final element of ten who crossed the line and were arrested by the Nye County Sheriffs and Wackenhut Security forces guarding the infamous nuclear testing grounds.

NDE continues its mission of supporting “personal renewal through desert spirituality, reconnecting with each other and the earth to end subcritical tests and other war-making preparations at the Nevada National Security Site and preventing the return of full-scale nuclear testing.” The NNSS continues its mission of promoting global domination through nuclear weapons prowess, as supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. Today’s activities began with a Western Shoshone sunrise prayer service led by Shoshone Chief Johnnie Bobb. The weekend will continue the formation of a reunion of former peace- campers from the 1980s gathering at the Peace Camp across US Highway 95 from the NNSS Mercury Exit. Earlier this week, the Sacred Peace Walkers held vigil at Creech Air Force Base as well, prior to the vigil for peace at the NNSS.

The ten NDE participants arrested today are Miki Tracy of WI, Rev. Felicia Parazaider of CA, Fr. Louie Vitale of CA, Laura-Marie Taylor of CA, John Amidon of Albany, NY, Theo Kayser of Los Angeles, CA, Erik Johnson of TN, Dennis Duvall of Prescott, AZ, and local Las Vegans Charlie Smith and Robert Majors. Two days prior to this prayer-action which ended in arrests at the NNSS, four of the above-named Sacred Peace Walkers were arrested at Creech Air Force Base while standing for international human rights (see the NDE news release) after serving an indictment to Col. James Hecker for violations of human rights.

"Hancock 38" Defendants Found Guilty for Bold Army Base Protest Against U.S. Drone Attacks Abroad

From: DemocracyNow.org:

Thirty-one of 38 accused activists were found guilty on Thursday for their role in a protest against U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The activists were arrested on April 22 at the New York Air National Guard base at Hancock Field near Syracuse, New York, after trespassing to protest the MQ-9 Reaper drones, which the 174th Fighter Wing of the Guard has remotely flown over Afghanistan since late 2009. The protesters draped themselves in white clothes splattered with blood-red pigment and then staged a “die-in” at the main entrance to the base. They said their act of nonviolent civil disobedience aimed to visualize the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan by drones operated by personnel sitting in front of computers thousands of miles away. The group calls themselves the Hancock 38 Drone Resisters. Following the guilty verdict, four of the activists were sentenced to 15-day terms in prison while a number of others were given fines and community service. We speak to Ramsey Clark, the former U.S. attorney general turned outspoken human rights activist, who testified at the trial that the drones violate international law. We’re also joined by Harry Murray, one of the Hancock 38 and a co-defendant in the trial. “Having a drone control center established at Hancock Air Base has really brought the war home to central New York,” Murray says. “Having people who are actually killing human beings in Afghanistan working right in Syracuse really makes Syracuse and upstate New York a war zone.” Clark says drones are “a weapon of extreme provocation and extreme danger, extreme inaccuracy… International law, I believe, does prohibit the use of drones.”

Guests:
Ramsey Clark, lawyer and former U.S. attorney general.

Harry Murray, one of the Hancock 38 Drone Resisters and a co-defendant in the trial. He is professor of sociology and anthropology at Nazareth College, where he also serves as director of the peace and justice studies major.

Read the whole interview here…

Unmasking the Illusion – Drones on Trial

The Hancock 38 dramatically put drone warfare on trial in Dewitt Town Court, (near Syracuse, NY ) on November 1-6, 2011. While the verdict will not be rendered until December 1, 2011 it is clear that each of the Hancock 38 was lead by conscience, refusing to be complicit with the immoral and illegal assassinations and killings committed by the USAF and other US government agencies. Please join us in court on Dec. 1, 2011 to support the Hancock 38.

We are asking everyone to send this video to elected officials and military personnel. It is about the trial of the Hancock 38. Click on the arrow inside the Youtube to get it started:

The Hancock 38: Drones on Trial: November 1st, Syracuse, NY

See here for a short article on the “Drone Trial.”

October 9th Prayer Action: CatholicWorker arrests: 59 at the Nuclear Test Site (NNSS) and 18 at Creech Air Force Base

(photos: Mary Lou)

From: the CatholicWorker:
October 9th CW arrests: 59 @ the Nuclear Test Site (NNSS) & 18 @ Creech Air Force Base

NEVADA NATIONAL SECURITY SITE PRAYER-ACTION The NNSS (formerly the NTS & NPG) has been unlawfully occupying Shoshone land for over 60 years, conducting nuclear bomb tests and other international criminal violence. It’s a place needing much prayer and radioactive remediation. The people working there need our prayers too. This week is also Keep Space for Peace Week, so today’s actions at the NNSS and Creech are supporting a peace-zone around the planet, including in the outer space currently occupied by US weapons satellites. Therefore, Catholic Workers have come here for decades on special dates, so that the violence may stop, and national resources may be used for the common good, especially for poverty relief for those among the 99% of the people affected by the 1% who are making bad decisions.

CREECH AFB PRAYER-ACTION Creech Air Force Base is the headquarters of the USAF’s 432nd Air Wing of Predator and Reaper drones which operates armed remotely piloted aircraft in various foreign countries. The NNSS continues to support the country’s nuclear weapons programs, has a mandate to restart full-scale nuclear bomb tests within two years if so ordered by the President, and receives and stores radioactive waste on land that legally belongs to the Western Shoshone Nation. Therefore, Catholic Workers have decided to help halt these offenses, so that the violence may stop, and national resources may be used for the common good, especially for poverty relief for those among the 99% of the people affected by the 1% who are making bad decisions. This week is also Keep Space for Peace Week, so today’s actions at the NNSS and Creech are supporting a peace-zone around the planet, including in the outer space currently occupied by US weapons satellites.

\

List of arrestees at Creech still awaiting charges:

Matt Campbell (24) from Arizona
Huntley Hoffman (25) from Arizona
Nancy Mancias (41) from Arizona
Betsy Lamb (72) from Arizona
Fr. Jerry Zawada, (74) ofm from Arizona
John Heid (56) from Arizona
Toby Blome (56) from California
Mike Wisniewski (62) from California
Fr. Louis Vitale, ofm (79) from California
Mary Moody (47) from Iowa
Brian Terrell (56) from Iowa
Rosalie Riegle (74) from Michigan
Rebecca Lambert (28) Minnesota
Theo Kayser (21) from Missouri
Robert Majors (24) from Las Vegas, Nevada
Jim Haber (49) from Las Vegas, Nevada
Rachel Winch (27) from Wisconsin
Christine Nelson (64) from (North America)

From LVRJ: Activists appreciate nation where everyone has a say

Well done and thank you Jim and Linda, for your Work…

By John Przybys
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Jul. 3, 2011

Jim Haber’s and Linda Faso’s names might seem vaguely familiar to you, even though it’s unlikely you’ve ever met them in person.

Maybe you’ve run across their names in a photo caption or a newspaper story. Maybe you’ve driven by as they were holding picket signs or marching in demonstrations. And when you saw them, maybe you honked your horn in support, or yelled “Get a job!” or offered them a rude single-digit salute.

Haber and Faso are political activists, he for anti-war and pro-peace causes and she for animal rights. Singly and together, they’re the living embodiment of dissent, the bedrock American value that not only allows us to disagree — with each other, with our government, with mainstream society’s opinions — but encourages us to do so.

Independence Day weekend seems a good time to remember that our nation was founded in dissent, and that, even today, we remain happily, usefully and sometimes uncomfortably awash in it.

And it’s interesting to note how often in our history dissenting voices — over slavery, civil rights and women’s suffrage, to name a few issues — have evolved into mainstream thought, all because a handful of Americans got involved, spoke up and raised some democratic hell.

Faso and Haber certainly find it interesting. They’re even banking on it happening again.

Read the rest here…

This summer and autumn get ready for Peace Actions across the Globe!

From the Agenda of The Nuclear Resister:

July 22 – 29

NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION AT N.A.T.O. WAR GAMES

Ofog, the Swedish anti-militarist network, invites international activists to next summer’s action camp against military combat training in Luleå, northern Sweden.

July 26 will be the day for nonviolent direct action at NEAT, the North European Aerospace Test Range, during NATO war practice. Make a direct impact on the largest training ground for war in Europe and meet as organizations and activists to exchange experiences and knowledge and coordinate resistance in the future.

For more information, visit www.warstartshere.com and www.ofog.org or email info@ofog.org, phone +46 (0) 733 81 53 61.

August 5 – 9, 2011, HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI DAYS

STRATCOM
The Des Moines and Omaha Catholic Workers will sponsor their annual 3-1/2 day August 6-9 “shake and bake” vigil at the gates of Offutt Air Force Base, in Bellevue, Nebraska, home of the Strategic Nuclear (STRATCOM) and the U.S. Military Space Commands.

Vigil concludes August 9 from 8–11 a.m. with a ceremony and line crossing. Evening programs to be announced; come for an hour or the whole time.

Bring a bedroll for church floor space or call ahead for other hospitality. For more info contact Jerry Ebner at 402-502-5887 or email cwomaha@gmail.com.

LOCKHEED-MARTIN
Brandywine Peace Community will hold a Hiroshima Day commemoration and vigil, concluding with nonviolent civil disobedience beginning at noon on Saturday, August 6 at Lockheed Martin corporation on Goddard Boulevard, behind the King of Prussia Mall, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Call the Brandywine Peace Community, 610-544-1818, by July 25 if interested in participating in the Hiroshima Day civil disobedience. Check www.brandywinepeace.com for more info.

WASHINGTON, D.C.
Jonah House and the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Community will host a Hiroshima/Nagasaki Days Faith and Resistance Retreat in Washington, D.C., with nonviolent direct actions at the White House and Pentagon. Details pending.

For more information, contact Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, 202-882-9649, or check www.jonahhouse.org.

BANGOR TRIDENT SUB BASE
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action will commemorate the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nonviolent direct action at Kitsap-Bangor Navy Base, homeport of Trident nuclear submarines. Details pending, contact the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, www.gzcenter.org, email info@gzcenter.org, 360-930-8697.

LIVERMORE LABS
Planning is underway for a Hiroshima Day commemoration at the Livermore nuclear weapons lab in California, with civil resistance planned for Nagasaki Day, August 9. For more info as plans develop, contact Tri-Valley CAREs at 925-443-7148 or visit trivalleycares.org.

August 20, 2011

OLKILUOTO, FINLAND

Join this summer’s blockade of Europe’s largest, most expensive, new nuclear power plant at Olkiluoto, Finland. Plan to be there by August 20. Full details about the encampment, nonviolent direct actions, accommodation, legal consequences, maps and other information will be found at olkiluotoblockade2011.wordpress.com/english.

August 2011 through 2015

WALK FOR A NUCLEAR FREE FUTURE IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, U.S. AND JAPAN

The Walk for a Nuclear Free Future is actually a series of walks through Australia, Canada, the United States and Japan over a five year period. The walks will follow the deadly nuclear fuel path from uranium mines to nuclear reactors, waste dumps and nuclear weapons sites. The drug- and alcohol-free walks will range from two to six months, covering an average of 15 miles/day.

A support van with kitchen will accompany each walk. Walkers will educate themselves and the public about a nuclear free future using street theater, music, art, public forums, media, petitioning, letter writing and nonviolent direct actions.

This year, Walk Away from Uranium Mining in Southwest Australia, August 21 – October 30.

In 2012, Saskatchewan to Montreal, Canada.

2013, Minnesota to Buffalo, NY, and

2014, Miami, FL to Oak Ridge, TN.

2015: Oak Ridge, TN to Hiroshima, Japan.

Walk coordinator Footprints for Peace has for over a decade organized annual walks, runs and bike rides bringing thousands of people into the streets to create positive change through peaceful action.

For full information, visit www.nuclearfreefuture.com, or contact Footprints for Peace, 1225 North Bend Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45224, 513-843-1205, nffc@footprintsforpeace.net.

Week of September 13, 2011

DSEI ARMS FAIR, ENGLAND

This September, the world’s biggest arms fair returns to the conference center at London Docklands, England. Make no mistake; this is the big one – the nexus of 1,200 purveyors of capitalism, war and repression.

Join the Day of Action against DSEi on Tuesday, September 13, and other actions all week. In previous years there have been street parties, Critical Mass bike rides, die-ins, mock sales of “arms”, legs and even a tank; splashing fake blood across the entrances, engaging with arms dealers on the trains and platforms, invading the car park and rail entrance, blocking the roads, locking on to the trains, tripod and boat blockades to stop equipment from arriving at the arms fair and more. Find out where the arms dealers’ dinner is taking place on September 15 and spoil their party!

For more information, visit dsei.org.

October 3, 2011

BLOCKADE HINKLEY NUCLEAR POWER STATION, SOMERSET, U.K.

Hundreds of people are expected to non-violently blockade the access to Hinkley Point nuclear power station for one day.

While the blockade will be the key focus, there will be plenty of roles and activities for people who do not wish to risk arrest. Everyone who is anti-nuclear can come and join us on the day to express their opposition in many different ways. We will prepare ourselves for this blockade with non-violence training, and we will not be deterred by police trying to prevent our non-violent action.

The blockade will be inclusive, allowing people from all walks of life and with a wide range of experience in non-violent action – or no experience at all – to participate. We will organise a safe environment for everyone, built on trust for each other, but also on our determination to stop nuclear new-build.

In the days before the blockade, there will be local actions in Bridgwater. There will be a camp and local accommoda­tion for people over the weekend and non-violence training will be provided.

More information at http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk.

October 7-9, 2011

CREECH AIR FORCE BASE & NEVADA TEST SITE

A National Catholic Worker Gathering will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 7–9, 2011. Roundtable discussions, hikes, prayer, crafts, singing, opportunity for civil disobedience at the Nevada Test Site (nuclear weapons) and Creech Air Force Base (drone warfare). Hosted by the Las Vegas Catholic Worker at Christ the King Catholic Community. Confirmed attendance already from at least 100 Catholic Workers, families and friends in 27 states [NR editors’ note: including us!].

If you plan to attend, or for more information, please contact the Las Vegas Catholic Worker, 500 W. Van Buren Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89106, 702-647-0728, mail@lcnv.org.

Prison for Peacemakers in Tacoma, Washington

From Common Dreams, please also follow the blog http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com/ for updates!

Two Grandmothers, Two Priests and a Nun Go onto a Nuclear Base

by Bill Quigley

Two grandmothers, two priests and a nun were sentenced in federal court in Tacoma, WA Monday March 28, 2011, for confronting hundreds of US nuclear weapons stockpiled for use by the deadly Trident submarines.

Sentenced were: Sr. Anne Montgomery, 83, a Sacred Heart sister from New York, who was ordered to serve 2 months in federal prison and 4 months electronic home confinement; Fr. Bill Bischel, 81, a Jesuit priest from Tacoma Washington, ordered to serve 3 months in prison and 6 months electronic home confinement; Susan Crane, 67, a member of the Jonah House community in Baltimore, Maryland, ordered to serve 15 months in federal prison; Lynne Greenwald, 60, a nurse from Bremerton Washington, ordered to serve 6 months in federal prison; and Fr. Steve Kelly, 60, a Jesuit priest from Oakland California, ordered to serve 15 months in federal prison. They were also ordered to pay $5300 each and serve an additional year in supervised probation. Bischel and Greenwald are active members of the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, a community resisting Trident nuclear weapons since 1977.

What did they do?

In the darkness of All Souls night, November 2, 2009, the five quietly cut through a chain link perimeter fence topped with barbed wire.

Carefully stepping through the hole in the fence, they entered into the Kitsap-Bangor Navy Base outside of Tacoma Washington – home to hundreds of nuclear warheads used in the eight Trident submarines based there.

Walking undetected through the heavily guarded base for hours, they covered nearly four miles before they came to where the nuclear missiles are stored.

The storage area was lit up by floodlights. Dozens of small gray bunkers – about the size of double car garages – were ringed by two more chain link fences topped with taut barbed wire.

USE OF DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED one sign boldly proclaimed. Another said WARNING RESTRICTED AREA and was decorated with skull and crossbones.

This was it – the heart of the US Trident Pacific nuclear weapon program. Nuclear weapons were stored in the bunkers inside the double fence line.

Wire cutters cut through these fences as well. There they unfurled hand painted banners which said “Disarm Now Plowshares: Trident Illegal and Immoral”, knelt to pray and waited to be arrested as dawn broke.

What were they protesting against?

Each of the eight Trident submarines has 24 nuclear missiles on it. The Ground Zero community explains that each of the 24 missiles on one submarine have multiple warheads in it and each warhead has thirty times the destructive power of the weapon used on Hiroshima. One fully loaded Trident submarine carries 192 warheads, each designed to explode with the power of 475 kilotons of TNT force. If detonated at ground level each would blow out a crater nearly half a mile wide and several hundred feet deep.

The bunker area where they were arrested is where the extra missiles are stored.

In December 2010, the five went on trial before a jury in federal court in Tacoma charged with felony damage to government property, conspiracy and trespass.

But before the trial began the court told the defendants what they could and could not do in court. Evidence of the medical consequences of nuclear weapons? Not allowed. Evidence that first strike nuclear weapons are illegal under US and international law? Not allowed. Evidence that there were massive international nonviolent action campaigns against Trident missiles where juries acquitted protestors? Not allowed. The defense of necessity where violating a small law, like breaking down a door, is allowed where the actions are taken to prevent a greater harm, like saving a child trapped in a burning building? Not allowed.

Most of the jurors appeared baffled when defendants admitted what they did in their opening statements. They remained baffled when questions about nuclear weapons were objected to by the prosecutor and excluded by the court. The court and the prosecutor repeatedly focused the jury on their position that this was a trial about a fence. Defendants tried valiantly to point to the elephant in the room – the hundreds of nuclear weapons.

Each defendant gave an opening and closing statement explaining, as much as they were allowed, why they risked deadly force to expose the US nuclear arsenal.

Sojourner Truth was discussed as were Rosa Parks, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King.

The resistance of the defendants was in the spirit of the civil rights movement, the labor movement, the suffragist movement, the abolition of slavery movement.

Crowds packed the courtroom each of the five days of trial. Each night there was a potluck and a discussion of nuclear weapons by medical, legal and international experts who came for the trial but who were largely muted by the prosecution and the court.

While the jury held out over the weekend, ultimately, the activists were convicted.

Hundreds packed the courthouse today supporting the defendants. The judge acknowledged the good work of each defendant, admitted that prison was unlikely to deter them from further actions, but said he was bound to uphold the law otherwise anarchy would break out and take down society.

The prosecutors asked the judge to send all the defendants to federal prison plus three years supervised probation plus pay over five thousand dollars. The specific jail time asked for ranged from 3 years for Fr. Kelly, 30 months for Susan Crane, Lynne Greenwald, 7 months in jail plus 7 months home confinement, Sr. Anne Montgomery and Fr. Bill Bichsel, 6 months jail plus 6 months home confinement.

Each of the defendants went right into prison from the courtroom as the spectators sang to them. Outside the courthouse, other activists pledged to confront the Trident in whatever way is necessary to stop the illegal and immoral weapons of mass destruction.

————–

Bill Quigley is part of the legal team supporting the defendants and was in Tacoma for the sentencing. You can learn more about the defendants at disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com.


Bill Quigley is Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights and a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. He is a Katrina survivor and has been active in human rights in Haiti for years with the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. Contact Bill at quigley77 @ gmail.com