Author Archive for jack

Outside the courtroom: Fr. Bill Bichsel, Susan Crane, Fr. Steve Kelly, Sr. Anne Montgomery, and Lynne Greenwald. Photo by Leonard Eiger.

December 10, Tacoma, Washington – The federal criminal trial of five veteran peace activists facing several charges was recessed until Monday, December 13, after their jury announced late Friday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on one of the counts. The Tacoma Washington trial has been going on since Tuesday. The five defendants, called the Disarm Now Plowshares, challenged the legality and morality of the US storage and use of thermonuclear missiles by Trident nuclear submarines at the Kitsap-Bangor Naval Base outside Bremerton Washington.

28 Arrested During Annual Protest Weekend

Four protesters arrested and charged with federal trespass at Ft. Benning, Georgia on November 20 and 21 were in court on Tuesday, November 23.  Arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Hyles, Nancy Smith and Christopher Spicer pled not guilty.  Their trial is set for January 5.  Fr. Louis Vitale, OFM and Michael David Omondi pled no contest and were sentenced to the maximum 6 months in jail (no fine).  Both men were moved from a Georgia county jail on December 14 and 15.  Omondi is in Atlanta, likely waiting transport.  Vitale was moved to Victorville, California on December 16.

Until we know that both men are at their final destination, cards and letters to David may be sent to his community for forwarding: The Los Angeles Catholic Worker, 632 N. Brittania St., Los Angeles, CA 90033.  Louie’s mail may be send to the Nuclear Resister for forwarding at P.O. Box 43383, Tucson, AZ 85733. 

The periodic shipment of nuclear waste from a reprocessing facility in France to the burial dump at Gorleben, Germany, has long inspired mass nonviolent direct actions, and the scale and intensity of this year’s resistance eclipsed any previous mobilization.

German anti-nuclear sentiment has been stoked by the government’s recent decision to extend the lifetime of current nuclear power plants, guaranteeing even more waste production.

The latest special train bearing the massive “castor” storage casks left from France on Friday, November 5, for the 900 mile trip. The train was soon stopped for three hours near Caen, Normandy, where police arrested five activists who had chained themselves to the tracks and detained about 30 others. A banner in German displayed among hundreds of supporters nearby declared “Our resistance knows no borders.”

Military police have again arrested nuclear abolitionists vigiling along a public highway outside the main gate of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where missiles to launch nuclear war are tested. California Highway 1 passes through the base, with the main gate actually in the interior of the sprawling installation along the coast north of Santa Barbara.