The Prophets of Oak Ridge

Posted on April 30, 2013

illustration by Jeffrey Smith

from the Washington Post

by Dan Zak

Last summer, in the dead of night, three peace activists penetrated the exterior of Y-12 in Tennessee, supposedly one of the most secure nuclear-weapons facilities in the United States. A drifter, an 82-year-old nun and a house painter. They face trial next week on charges that fall under the sabotage section of the U.S. criminal code. And if they had been terrorists armed with explosives, intent on mass destruction? That nightmare scenario underlies the government’s response to the intrusion. This is the story of two competing worldviews, of conscience vs. court, of fantasy vs. reality, of history vs. the future.

read the story here

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Conscientious objector Kimberly Rivera to serve ten months in prison

Posted on April 30, 2013

Rivera family (photo courtesy War Resisters Support Campaign)

From the War Resisters Support Campaign, Canada

TORONTO — On Monday afternoon, during a court-martial hearing at Fort Carson, Colorado, Kimberly Rivera was sentenced to 14 months in military prison and a dishonourable discharge after publicly expressing her conscientious objection to the Iraq War while in Canada. A pre-trial agreement capped the sentence at 10 months of confinement and a bad conduct discharge.

Private First Class Kimberly Rivera deployed to Iraq in 2006 and sought asylum in Canada in 2007 because she decided she could no longer be complicit in the war. A mother of four young children—including two who were born in Canada—she was forced back to the United States of America by the Conservative government after receiving a negative decision on her pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA).

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Trial to start on May 6, support needed for Transform Now Plowshares

Posted on April 28, 2013

photo from oakridgetoday.com

Dear Friends,

Next  week (May 6th) our friends from the Transform Now Plowshares community will begin trial before Federal District Judge Amul Thapar in Knoxville, TN.

Since last year their disarmament action has kept the government and its contractors hopping as they have sought to downplay the significance of this witness and kept the focus off the dangerous criminality of the nuclear arsenal itself and the role of the Oak Ridge Y12 plant in that continuing threat to creation.  For their truthfulness on July 28th and subsequently, Greg Bortje-Obed, Megan Rice and Michael Walli are facing two felony charges, including a charge under the Sabotage Act, and risking 30 years in prison.

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31 arrests at New York drone protest; donations needed for bail fund

Posted on April 28, 2013

photo by Maurice Morales

ACTIVISTS PRESS HANCOCK AIR BASE TO OBEY INTERNATIONAL LAW

from Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars

Thirty one members of the “Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars” were arrested on April 28 at Hancock Air Base protesting what they believe is the illegal use of drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries. Drones are flown from Hancock Field. Over 275 people marched in a solemn funeral procession to demand that Hancock Air National Guard Base cease drone strikes. People carrying banners and coffins identified countries where U.S. drone attacks have killed over a thousand innocent civilians. As they were arrested, some read the names of people who have died in the drone attacks.

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“Bush” and “Cheney” arrested!

Posted on April 28, 2013

from The Progressive

by Stephen C. Webster

DALLAS, TEXAS — Two activists wearing large paper mache masks resembling former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney were arrested Thursday, April 25 for stepping into a street during a protest of the George W. Bush presidential library.

The arrests, mere blocks away from the library on the Southern Methodist University campus, were the high-water mark of a protest that drew about 200 people, many of them wearing black clothing and white masks, carrying cards with the names of soldiers and civilians who died in Iraq, Afghanistan, and from suicide here in the U.S.

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Chinese activist detained after protesting N. Korea’s nuclear tests; at risk of torture

Posted on April 24, 2013

Liu Yuandong standing in front of Democratic Action banner, Photo: Wiebo

from Amnesty International

URGENT ACTION – April 19, 2013

Activist Liu Yuandong, a businessman, was detained on 23 February in Guangzhou, China after he took part in a protest against North Korea’s nuclear tests. He is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

Liu Yuandong, a 35-year-old businessman, protested with several other people against North Korea’s nuclear tests on 23 February in the southern city of Guangzhou. They were all detained, and given administrative detention orders ranging from seven to 15 days for violating the Law on Assemblies, Processions and Demonstrations. All but Liu Yuandong have since been released, and have told the media they were deprived of sleep in custody.

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Shut-It-Downers end series of protests with Earth Day presence at Vermont Yankee

Posted on April 24, 2013

Linda Pon Owens in police cruiser

from the Shut It Down affinity group

Vernon, Vermont—Accompanied by the drums and prayers of the monks and nuns of the New England Peace Pagoda, the Shut It Down Affinity Group concluded a weeklong series of gate-blocking presences at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on Monday, April 22. Vernon Police Sergeant Bruce Gauld arrested the women while the monks and nuns continued to pray at the site.

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Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark testifies at court hearing for Transform Now Plowshares

Posted on April 23, 2013

(l-r) Ramsey Clark, Anabel Dwyer, Sr. Megan Rice, Greg Boertje-Obed. Photo by Ralph Hutchison

by Ralph Hutchison, OREPA

HE WALKS AROUND WITH IT BY HIS SIDE

The judge interrupted the questioning of former Attorney General Ramsey Clark as he testified at a hearing in federal court in Knoxville, Tennessee on April 23 in preparation for the Transform Now Plowshares trial in May.

Bill Quigley, counsel for the defense, had just asked Clark if the threat of the use of nuclear weapons was imminent.

“It’s omnipresent,” said Clark.

“Excuse me,” the Judge said. “Are you saying the President intends to use nuclear weapons? Are you in a position to know that? Are you tied in with the President?”

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~ Prison letter from Brian Terrell, from Yankton

Posted on April 23, 2013

Drones, Sanctions and the Prison Industrial Complex

by Brian Terrell

In the final weeks of a six month prison sentence for protesting remote control murder by drones, specifically from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, I can only reflect on my time of captivity in light of the crimes that brought me here.  In these ominous times, it is America’s officials and judges and not the anarchists who exhibit the most flagrant contempt for the rule of law and it is due to the malfeasance of these that I owe the distinction of this sabbatical.

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Jailed NATO protester pleads guilty, begins three year prison sentence

Posted on April 22, 2013

Mark Neiweem

(Adapted from press releases at nato5support.wordpress.com)

Mark Neiweem, a 28-year-old Chicago activist, pleaded guilty in Cook County Court April 11 to felony charges brought on by interactions with undercover Chicago police officers who had infiltrated activist groups prior to protests at the NATO summit held in Chicago in May, 2012. Neiweem pleaded guilty to a probation violation charge from a previous conviction and to solicitation and attempted possession of an explosive or incendiary device.

Neiweem, who spent 329 continuous days in the notorious conditions of Cook County Jail while awaiting trial, will now serve out the remainder of a 3-year sentence in a state prison.

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