Arrests in Two States for Drone War Foe

Posted on December 9, 2021
A principal organizer for more than a decade of periodic protests at two U.S. drone warfare bases was arrested with little warning as she held signs near the entrance of each base this fall. 
The first of Toby Blomé’s two unintended arrests came during the Shut Down Creech actions held September 26 – October 2 outside Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada. Creech is the heart of training and operations for all U.S. remotely-piloted armed warplanes.  This year, more than two dozen people – including members of Veterans for Peace, CodePink and Ban Killer Drones – greeted the “chair force” commuters twice a day, morning and evening. With banners and dramatic tableaus depicting innocent victims, they demanded an end to U.S. drone attacks and a ban on “killer drones.” Other messages urged the military personnel to follow their conscience, and visit askvets.org for support to leave warmaking behind.

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Nuclear resister John LaForge’s May 2021 testimony to Cochem District Court, Germany

Posted on December 8, 2021

Cochem District Court
Ravenestrasse 39
56812 Cochem

Re: 2010 Js 60864/18

John Michael La Forge
31 May 2021

Testimony To the Court:

My name is John La Forge. I am 65 years old, am a U.S. citizen, and I’ve worked in the peace and anti-nuclear movement since 1979. I have been employed by the peace organization The Progressive Foundation in the U.S. since 1992 as a researcher, editor of its Nukewatch Quarterly, and co-director. In my first job for Nukewatch, I traveled about 30,000 miles over a 3-month period to visit all 1,000 land-based intercontinental ballistic missile sites then in the United States. The research was for the Nukewatch book Nuclear Heartland which featured the first pubic atlas detailing the exact locations of the giant ICBMs.

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Digging for Peace –  Resisting Nuclear Weapons

Posted on December 8, 2021

photo by Susan van der Hijden

by Brian Terrell

November 18, 2021

On Wednesday, October 20, I joined “Vrede Scheppen,” “Create Peace,” about 25 peace activists from the Netherlands, Germany and Austria at the airbase at Volkel, Netherlands, making a plea for an end to nuclear weapons. This base is home to two Dutch F16 fighter wings and the United States Air Force 703rd Munitions Support Squadron. In violation of international and Dutch law and part of a “sharing agreement,” the U.S. Air Force maintains 15-20 B61 nuclear bombs there and in violation of the same laws, the Dutch military stands ready for the order to deliver those bombs.

Besides our small multinational protest, on that same day the Dutch and U.S. militaries at Volkel were participating in another international collaboration, this one for a different purpose than ours, the annual NATO exercise “Steadfast Noon,” literally a rehearsal for the extinction of humanity.

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Nuclear disarmament activist Sr. Megan Rice dies at age 91

Posted on October 27, 2021
Sr. Megan Gillespie Rice, S.H.C.J., Presente!
January 31, 1930 – October 10, 2021

photo by Felice Cohen-Joppa

May her memory be a blessing. ❤
Peace and nuclear disarmament activist, Catholic nun and member of the Transform Now Plowshares, Megan was arrested several dozen times for acts of nonviolent protest at military and nuclear weapons sites. She spent time in prison for actions at the Y-12 nuclear weapons complex and for protesting torture at Ft. Benning’s U.S. Army School of the Americas.
Dear friend, we are thinking of times spent with you over the years in courtrooms, around our kitchen table and at protests (at the Nevada Test site, Ft. Benning, Los Alamos, Y-12, Bangor nuclear sub base and elsewhere). Being with you was such a gift.
With gratitude for the example and witness of your life, and for all you did to build a peaceful and nuclear-free world.

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Daniel Hale’s sentencing statement released; GoFundMe started to support him in prison – please help if you can!

Posted on September 24, 2021

photo by Bob Hayes

from Stand with Daniel Hale

Posted below is the statement read by Daniel Hale at his sentencing on July 27, 2021, written by hand in his jail cell after having pled guilty to one count under the Espionage Act of 1917, along with an article by Kevin Gosztola in the Dissenter.

Daniel’s core support team has started a GoFundMe to cover his prison expenses and create a welcome home fund to get him on his feet again upon release. Please donate if you are able! CLICK HERE TO DONATE.

Daniel Hale revealed to us once hidden truths about the shameful legacy of the US drone assassination program. A legacy that continues to this day. Drone warfare not only brings terror upon the world’s poorest, least deserving people but it also invites terror upon us as a nation making everyone less safe.
As a consequence of Daniel’s courageous whistleblowing, he has been saddled with debt, left precariously employed, and now made to serve more than 3 years behind bars. With his permission, this fundraising campaign has been organized by Daniel’s support team to help alleviate the financial duress caused by a decade’s long criminal investigation, prosecution and now, incarceration.
Some of the funds raised will go towards ensuring the safe housing and care of Daniel’s beloved cat Leila. A large portion of the dollars raised will be put towards paying off Daniel’s loans and student debts. The remaining twenty amount will provide Daniel with the funds needed to make phone calls and purchase commissary items so he can stay in touch with friends and family and live more comfortably while incarcerated for the years to come. Any additional funds raised will contribute towards Daniel’s efforts to secure employment, transportation and housing when he is released in 2024.
Daniel would like to express his immense gratitude towards the outpouring of support that he has received thus far.
Daniel wishes that you only contribute if you are in a financial position to do so.
If you are on a fixed income, not fully employed, or make less than 15 dollars an hour then Daniel asks that you please save your money or consider donating to a more needy cause.
Whether you are in a financial position to donate or not, you can contribute greatly by sharing this fundraising campaign on social media platforms and telling Daniel’s story.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE.

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Two activists arrested blockading Raytheon

Posted on August 15, 2021

Photo by Uprise RI

Early on the morning of August 12, members of the FANG Collective and RAM INC (Resist and Abolish the Military Industrial Complex) blocked entry and exit from the Raytheon Missiles and Defense factory in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Right at the gatehouse, they parked two old cars perpendicular to the four entry and exit lanes, and two people locked themselves onto the vehicles. Other members of the group held signs and banners across the roadway to greet arriving workers and live-streamed the action on Facebook.

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8 people cited at Trident nuclear submarine base at Bangor, Washington, marking the 76th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings

Posted on August 10, 2021

photo by Hieu Nguyen

from Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action

Thirty-one people were present on Monday, August 9 at a demonstration against Trident nuclear weapons at the Bangor submarine base in Silverdale, Washington. The demonstration, organized by the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, was at the Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor Main Gate during morning rush hour traffic.

At around 7:15 a.m., after peacekeepers entered the roadway and safely stopped traffic, eight demonstrators set themselves and their banners on the roadway blocking entry into the Main Gate. 

Mack Johnson, Silverdale; George Rodkey, Tacoma; and Denny Duffell, Seattle carried a banner reading “Hiroshima Nagasaki Never Again.” Michael Siptroth, Belfair; Mark Sisk, Seattle; and Gilberto Perez, Bainbridge Island carried a banner reading “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons/ Nuclear Weapons are Illegal/ Get them out of Kitsap County.” Sean Foley, Belfair; and James Manista, Olympia held a banner reading “Nuclear Weapons are: Immoral to use, Immoral to have, immoral to make.

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Thirty-seven arrests disrupting Australia’s Land Forces weapons expo

Posted on July 30, 2021

Photo from disruptlandforces.org

From late May into June, the seven-day Festival of Resistance outside the Brisbane (Australia) Convention Center was an organizing cauldron. More than 300 participants cooked up public education events and a smorgasbord of nonviolent direct actions to confront Land Forces 2021, the largest international weapons exposition in the Southern Hemisphere.

Over the previous year, community organizing in anticipation of the arms bazaar was led by Wage Peace, a group dedicated to “disturbing war and militarism in Australia.” Organizers brought many diverse constituencies from radical youth, Quaker grannies, Aboriginal leaders, refugees, veterans and more into the action planning. During the six months leading up to the events, protests were held at several Brisbane area weapons manufacturers.

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Three activists arrested during nonviolent action at Büchel nuclear weapons base 

Posted on July 28, 2021

Photo by Dietrich Gerstner

Stop the next disaster before it happens – abolish nuclear weapons!

On Monday, July 19, six peace activists from the U.S., the Netherlands and Germany began a nonviolent action at 11 a.m. under the motto “Stop the next catastrophe: No Nukes! Stop the next catastrophe – Abolish nuclear weapons!”. They began to dig a tunnel with the goal of reaching the runway of the Büchel air base in order to stop flight operations. They were accompanied by several supporters with banners, who reinforced their action with songs and short speeches.

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Forty-five months in prison for drone war whistleblower Daniel Hale

Posted on July 27, 2021

Daniel Hale – Codepink photo

On July 27, Daniel Hale was sentenced to 45 months in prison, having pled guilty in April to one count of violating the Espionage Act.

The 33-year-old Air Force veteran first spoke out publicly against drone warfare in 2013, and later shared government documents that blew the whistle on secret watchlists, targeted drone killings, and other abuses in the “War on Terror.” The information Hale shared revealed gross human rights violations in the preparation of target lists for deadly attacks where 90% of the people killed were not the intended targets. In 2014, his home was raided by the FBI. Documents and electronic devices were seized, but he was not arrested until May, 2019. He was charged with five counts of violating the Espionage Act. Hale changed his plea last March, days before his scheduled trial.

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