The Nuclear Resister networks the anti-nuclear and anti-war resistance movement while acting as a clearinghouse for information about contemporary nonviolent resistance to war and the nuclear threat. Our emphasis is on support for the women and men jailed for these actions. This website is the online companion to the quarterly Nuclear Resister newsletter, a more comprehensive chronicle.
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photo by Leonard Eiger
Louis John Vitale.
This Franciscan friar, advocate for peace and justice and nuclear resister died on September 6, 2023 at age 91.
A man of kindness and love and gentle strength, with his heart and faith and conscience always leading the way.
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(courtesy of KCTU)
from Hankyoreh
by Kim Yoon-ju, staff reporter
Two made it atop the statue in Gwanghwamun while two others were caught while attempting to climb the statue
Four Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) members were arrested by police around 1 p.m. on Saturday, August 12 while staging a demonstration near the statue of King Sejong the Great on Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, carrying signs with messages opposing Japan’s dumping of radioactively contaminated water into the ocean.
Police said the four KCTU members, who included Vice President Kim Eun-hyeong, were arrested that day after being caught in the act of violating the Assembly and Demonstration Act.
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photo by Theo Kayser
On August 14, 11 activists (two from the Netherlands, three from Germany, one from Italy and five from the U.S.) blocked the gate of Büchel air base in Germany that is used for construction work to prepare the base for new nuclear bombs and new fighter bomber jets.
U.S. veteran Dennis Duvall wrote in pink paint on the driveway “Tatort” (crime scene) and “Atombomben” (atom bombs) to indicate that nuclear weapons are a crime under the German Constitution and International Law.
The group also pasted Articles 1 and 2 of the Non Proliferation Treaty on the access road.
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photo by Karol Milner
by Mary Gleysteen, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
Ten nuclear weapons abolition activists were removed from the roadway at 7 a.m. on August 7 by the Washington State Patrol after blocking the entrance to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, site of the world’s largest concentration of deployed nuclear weapons.
The civil disobedience followed a demonstration at the entrance to the Trident submarine base by Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, which involved approximately 50 nuclear weapons abolitionists ranging in age from 16 to elders in their 80’s, and featured a flash dance in the roadway to the song, ”War: What is it Good For?”
Mourning the victims of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and detonated in the Marshall Islands following World War II, and holding banners reading, “Abolish Nuclear Weapons” and “The Use…and Possession of Nuclear Weapons is Immoral – Pope Francis,” Sue Ablao (Bremerton), Susan Delaney (Bothell), Deacon Denny Duffell (Seattle), Carolee Flaten (Hansville), Rev. Anne Hall and Dr. David Hall (Lopez Island), Mack Johnson (Silverdale), Sean Makarin (Port Orchard), Michael Siptroth (Belfair) and Caroline Wildflower (Port Townsend), refused to leave the roadway. They were apprehended by the Washington State Patrol, issued citations pursuant to RCW 46.61.250, Pedestrians on roadways, and released.
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photo by Margaret Ferguson
by Margaret Ferguson
10th August 2023 at Faslane Peace Camp, Scotland
There were three arrests yesterday on Nagasaki Day, for blocking the North Gate while we were doing our weekly Wednesday Vigil – this one commemorating the victims of the Nagasaki bombing – extended so that we were able to support the folk in the blockade by ensuring safety measures were in place, food and drinks supplied, legal observation throughout, medication and health checks made available, etc. – until they were in the police vehicles and on their way to Clydebank Police Station 27 miles away. So two actions side by side – from 16.00 till 23.00, in darkness – attended by UK Ministry of Defence Police and Police Scotland Officers; as well as National Health Service ambulance crews on this occasion to ensure health was not compromised.
The first lock-on tube did not need to be cut and was taken away by police; however the process of cutting the second tube took hours to arrange and carry out – very carefully done using various grinding, poking and scraping tools – going through numerous layers which included very thick plastic, chicken wire in binding material, soft and hardened tar, more plastic and metal (a work of art from one of our Camp residents).
Digging For Life:
For an End to Military C02 Emissions & the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
Today, August 9, the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, 16 nuclear abolitionists and climate activists were arrested when they started to dig a tunnel under the fence of Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands. The international group of Dutch, German, Italian and American activists meant to occupy the runway and again call to abolish nuclear weapons and CO2 emissions by the armed forces. U.S. nuclear weapons are stockpiled at Volkel as part of NATO’s “nuclear sharing” practice that continues in contradiction of the 1970 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
“Again” because yesterday ten participants of a Peace Camp at Volkel blocked the runway after climbing over the fence, and were then arrested. Today the intent of a “pink shovel action” was to create an entrance that allows everyone, including those with disabilities, to engage in the life-affirming action. Sigrid Hossbach came out of her wheelchair to take up a pink shovel and start digging.
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BLOCKADE THE RUNWAY OF VOLKEL AIR BASE:
NO (NEW) NUKES & STOP MILITARY C02 EMISSIONS
In the Netherlands, on the morning of August 8, ten peace and climate activists (six from the U.S., three from the Netherlands and a German doctor) entered Volkel Air Base, where about 15 U.S. nuclear bombs are stockpiled. They knelt on the runway, prayed for peace and glued down copies of Article 1 and 2 of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on the runway.
They were taken into custody and later released with a small fine, which no one paid.
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Jack Cohen-Joppa, Dan Ellsberg, Nancy Doub in court for Rocky Flats protest trial, 1978
Where We’re At
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photo by Cody Boston
Sorrow and hope at the heart of annual Memorial Day remembrance
by Kristin Scheer
PeaceWorks Kansas City held its 13th annual Memorial Day event this year at the Kansas City National Security Campus (NSC), where parts for nuclear weapons are made and procured. That day, May 29, was warm and sunny, and 63 of us gathered to march, mourn, rally, and picnic to object to the work that happens there. At the end of the event, 14 persons crossed the purple line separating the NSC property from public property. Eleven of our 14 retreated when warned of arrests. Three remained; they were arrested, taken to a police station, processed, and soon released. Their Kansas City, Missouri Municipal Court hearing is June 28.
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World BEYOND War photo
from World BEYOND War
OTTAWA — On May 31, over a hundred people have disrupted the opening of CANSEC, North America’s largest military weapons convention in Ottawa, where 10,000 attendees were expected to gather.
Activists carrying 50 foot banners saying “Stop Profiting from War,” “Arms Dealers Not Welcome” and holding dozens of “War Crimes Start Here” signs blocked vehicle and pedestrian entrances as attendees attempted to register for and enter the convention centre, preventing attendees from getting in for Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand’s planned opening keynote address. In police efforts to remove the protesters, they grabbed banners, and handcuffed and arrested one protester, who was later released without charges.
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