The Nuclear Resister
E-bulletin, April, 2011
IN THIS E-BULLETIN:
1) PERSISTENT ANTI-NUCLEAR ACTIVISTS IN INDIA JAILED, SHOT BY POLICE; TABREZ SOHEKAR IS KILLED
2) THIRTY-SEVEN ARRESTED PROTESTING DRONES AT HANCOCK AIR BASE
3) BRADLEY MANNING MOVED TO FORT LEAVENWORTH
4) ELEVEN WOMEN TEMPORARILY CLOSE VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
5) TRIPOD BLOCKADE NEAR BUCKINGHAM PALACE DEMANDS NO NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS, 2 ARRESTED
6) MARK KENNEY BEGINS 6 MONTH SENTENCE FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROTEST
7) GOOD FRIDAY & EASTER ARRESTS AT LIVERMORE LABS, NEVADA TEST SITE, PENTAGON AND 10 DOWNING STREET, LONDON
8) TWENTY-SEVEN ARRESTED AT THE WHITE HOUSE CALLING FOR CLOSURE OF THE U.S. ARMY SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS
9) “DISARMAGEDDON” ACTIVISTS ROUSTED FROM PENTAGON, 8 ARRESTED
10) WRITE A NOTE OF SUPPORT TO ANTI-NUCLEAR & ANTI-WAR PRISONERS
11) UPCOMING NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTIONS
Persistent anti-nuclear activists in India jailed, shot by police; Tabrez Sohekar is killed
Opposition to the proposed six-reactor Jaitapur nuclear power complex at Maharashtra on India’s west coast reached new heights April 18 when police opened fire on more than 100 protesters, killing one – Tabrez Sohekar – and wounding eight others. The protesters, including many members of Shiv Sena, the opposition political party in Maharashtra state, tried to halt early construction at the site when the conflict turned deadly. Two days before, more than 50,000 people had rallied in opposition. Sohekar’s family continued the protest, refusing to claim his remains until the Maharashtra government dumps the nuke project.
Read more here.
Thirty-seven arrested protesting drones at Hancock Air Base
by Dave Tobin, The Post-Standard
Dozens of war protesters were arrested Friday afternoon, April 22 outside the main entrance of the New York Air National Guard’s base at Hancock Field. Thirty-seven protesters, draped with red-spattered sheets, had lain themselves in the main entrance roads to the base, off East Molloy Road. They were arrested by Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputies on charges of trespassing and obstruction of justice.
They were handcuffed and, after a 45-minute wait, were led to a jail transport bus that was supposed to take them to the Onondaga County Justice Center for processing. Two were in wheel chairs.
Read more here.
Bradley Manning moved to Ft. Leavenworth
Still awaiting trial, accused whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning has been moved from solitary confinement at the U.S. Marine base at Quantico, Virginia to medium-security status in the military brig at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The government denied that growing concern over the conditions of his confinement led to the move, which came days after nearly 300 of the top law scholars in the U.S. called on the Obama administration to end the torturous treatment of Bradley Manning.
Supporters can now write directly to Manning at the address listed here.
Eleven women temporarily close Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant
Eleven women from Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire chained and locked the main gate of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vermont on Friday afternoon, April 22. Police arrested the women and charged them with trespass.
The demonstrators carried two banners reading “No More Leaks / No More Lies / Shut It Down Now” and “No More Accidents / Shut it Down Now.” They also stretched yellow caution tape across the Entergy driveway and noticed that spray-painted warnings they applied several months ago are still visible.
Read more here.
Tripod blockade near Buckingham Palace demands no new nuclear power plants, 2 arrested
Campaigners brought rush hour traffic to a standstill on the morning of April 11 to protest against EDF Energy’s plans to build a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK. All four lanes of the A302 outside EDF Energy’s headquarters in Grosvenor Place – which runs alongside the gardens of Buckingham Palace – were sealed off shortly after 8 a.m. using 14-foot tripods. The cleared zone was then declared a “nuclear disaster area”.
After seven hours, the police called a specialist team to erect scaffolding to bring down the two activists who were on top of the bamboo tripods. Once they were down, the pair were arrested and taken to the Belgravia police station.
Read more here.
Mark Kenney begins 6 month sentence for nuclear weapons protest
by Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
A young sailor walks through his nuclear submarine, headed for the engine room. As he winds through the tight, crowded corridors he suddenly finds himself standing next to a nuclear missile launch hatch.
He reaches out an outstretched hand. Tentatively, he places it on one of the warheads.
Click. Something changes. The destructive power of a thermonuclear detonation is no longer an abstraction. It’s real. His hand is touching it.
Over the next few days, the sailor heads to his chaplain. He asks the same questions, over and over: What are we doing? How can we justify this?
Fast-forward thirty years. That ex-sailor, Mark Kenney, reports today to Duluth Federal Prison Camp for a six-month stint for an act of civil disobedience at Offutt Air Force Base. He walked about ten steps onto the property of the complex with three others after a vigil there August 6.
Read more here.
Good Friday and Easter arrests at Livermore Labs, Nevada Test Site, Pentagon and 10 Downing Street, London
Easter Sunday Service Ends in 16 Arrests at Nuclear Test Site
At 12 noon on April 24, 2011, 38 people gathered near the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The group held interfaith prayers and then eight women and eight men were arrested for alleged trespassing onto the NNSS. The prayer-action included local members of the Western Shoshone National Council, Buddhist Nipponzan Myohoji monks from Washington state and Catholic Workers from Nevada. Other demonstrators came from Arizona, California, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wisconsin, The Netherlands, and Japan.
Read more here.
Twenty-seven arrested at the White House calling for closure of the U.S. Army School of the Americas
On Sunday, April 10, 27 human rights activists were arrested in front of the White House when they staged a die-in on the White House sidewalk to call attention to thousands of Latin Americans who were murdered by graduates of the U.S. Army School of the Americas. The die-in followed a march of hundreds of human rights activists to the White House. The march included torture survivors, union workers, educators and students from across the Americas. Marchers carried banners, flags and large puppets, including a 14-foot tall Mother of the Disappeared, with them to the White House.
Read more here.
“Disarmageddon” activists rousted from Pentagon, 8 arrested
by Joy First
On April 8, 2011 at approximately noon, 25 civilian activists organized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance arrived at the Pentagon to deliver a letter asking for a meeting with Secretary of War Robert Gates in order to discuss bringing an end to U.S. wars and the destruction of the environment resulting from military policies.
Within less than three minutes, with the activists peacefully requesting that the Secretary’s office receive their letter, Pentagon police officers swarmed the scene, violently moving the activists from the area. They were violently pushed and shoved, the activists said. Several activists reported that the police almost knocked them over. A number of individuals had their arms forcefully and painfully wrenched behind their backs. Eve Tetaz, 80, was pushed to the ground. As the officers pushed the citizens towards the police vans, they did not ever announce to any individuals that they were being arrested.
Read more here.
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