Nuclear weapons ruined my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way – by Frida Berrigan

Posted on April 10, 2019

Liz McAlister and Phil Berrigan with baby Frida

From Waging Nonviolence 

Nuclear weapons ruined my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way

As someone deeply embedded in a life of anti-nuclear resistance, I know the only way to get rid of these weapons is to never stop thinking about them.
by Frida Berrigan
April 4, 2019

I want to offer you something different than the barrage of facts and figures around nuclear weapons. But let’s establish the basics. There are nine countries that possess them: France, China, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea and — of course — Russia and the United States. Together these nine countries possess a total of 14,575 nuclear weapons, with the United States and Russia accounting for 92 percent of them.

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Message from the Kings Bay Plowshares on the one year anniversary of their nuclear disarmament action

Posted on April 4, 2019
MESSAGE FROM THE KINGS BAY PLOWSHARES
ON THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR ACTION

Like most of you who have been supporting and praying for The Kings Bay Plowshares, the seven of us are very surprised that a year has passed since our April 4, 2018 faith witness at (Trident) Naval Station Kings Bay in St. Mary, Georgia.

It appears our decision to apply the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to our defense has slowed down the works. We were last in court November 19, and we are still awaiting the government’s response to several of our motions. 

On the bright side, our lawyers think the delay is a good sign that we have stumped the system by making it work hard to deny us our rights.

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Six peace activists arrested blocking Creech drone base’s front gate 

Posted on April 3, 2019

Photo by John Amidon

from Shut Down Creech

Week-long Actions Protest Killing of Civilians in Expanding U.S. Killer Drone Program
  
CREECH Air Force Base, Nevada – Six people – holding up bloody hands to illustrate everyone’s complicity in war crimes – were arrested at Creech drone base about 7:50 a.m. on Wednesday, April 3 as they stood at the entrance to Creech Air Force Base drone center in an attempt to stop the killing of civilians in the ever-expanding, worldwide U.S. killer drone program.

Two women and four men – two of whom are military veterans – were arrested and taken to the Clark County Jail on misdemeanor counts. When arrested they were holding a banner reading:  “Drones = Blood on our Hands.” The theme of the protest was “No more blood on our hands. Stop the terror. Stop the drone wars.”

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Jordanian anti-nuclear and environmental activist Basel Burgan released on bail after a week in detention

Posted on March 25, 2019
Basel Burgan has been released on bail after seven days in detention by Jordanian authorities. Basel became the focus of concern in Jordan when he was put into administrative detention on Tuesday, March 19.  He was detained and then arrested that day during a meeting where he and his lawyer had voluntarily gone in for questioning with the state prosecutor after being summoned. 
The case against him is rooted in Jordan’s Cyber Crimes Law. Essentially, he is alleged to have “spread false information that leads to concern and affects a public institution,” according to Article 75 of the Communications Law, and Article 15 of the Cyber Crimes Law.
Basel Burgan posted a statement on Facebook in January 2019 where he called into question the safety of the construction that houses a test nuclear reactor inside the Jordan University of Science and Technology and he referenced a report that had been leaked and published by a former employee and expert of the Nuclear Commission residing in the United States. This was the cause of his recent detention.  

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Eight arrested blockading Des Moines drone command center on St. Patrick’s Day

Posted on March 21, 2019

photo by Ryna-Ria Ignacio

from the Des Moines Catholic Worker

Veterans for Peace and Catholic Workers from across the Midwest converged on the Iowa Air National Guard Drone Command Center in Des Moines on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day at 1 p.m. Eight activists were later arrested for blocking the entrance.

The Midwest Catholic Workers – a loose collection of dozens of autonomous communities spread out in urban shelters, soup kitchens and rural farmsteads across the region – were holding their annual “Faith and Resistance Retreat” March 15-17 in Des Moines. This year’s focus was the two year Des Moines Catholic Worker and Veterans for Peace “Close the Des Moines Drone Command Center” campaign.

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Eleven nuclear resisters arrested during blockade of Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, California

Posted on March 19, 2019

photo by Len Tsou

For the third time in nine years, the Pacific Life Community (PLC) met in Menlo Park, California for their annual gathering, each time concluding with a blockade of the main gate at the nearby Lockheed Martin factory in Sunnyvale that produces the intercontinental ballistic missiles for launching nuclear weapons from both U.S. and British Trident submarines.

On Monday, March 18, about 50 people from the Pacific Life Community were joined outside the Lockheed Martin gate by members of Code Pink and the Musicians Action Group, a marching ensemble of percussion and horns who enlivened the crowd of activists with rollicking renditions of Down by the Riverside and other peace and labor rights songs. A large banner made for the last PLC blockade at Lockheed Martin – four feet tall and long enough to block four lanes of traffic – was rolled out and carried around the intersection with a bold-lettered message for the auto and rail commuters passing by: Lockheed Weapons Terrorize the World.

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Two U.S. Veterans for Peace in Limerick Prison after action at Shannon Airport

Posted on March 19, 2019

Photo by Ellen Davidson

from Veterans for Peace

Two U.S. Veterans For Peace were refused bail at Ennis District Court 

Charged with Trespass and Causing Criminal Damage at Shannon Airport

A group of seven U.S. Veterans for Peace took part in a protest against U.S. Military Base at Shannon Airport on Sunday, March 17th. 

WHY? Shannon used for refueling troop planes bound for Middle East wars in which up to one million [1,000,000] children have died since 1991.

MARCH 29 UPDATE: At a preliminary hearing on March 28, Ken Mayers and Tarak Kauff were granted bail and after 12 days in Limerick Prison, released on March 29 pending trial. Their passports were taken and they were ordered to stay away from airports. The men may not be able to leave Ireland before their trial. 

Two U.S. veterans were arrested at Shannon Airport on March 17 for entering the airfield to inspect and investigate an OMNI Air International plane on contract to the U.S. military. The two, Tarak Kauff and Ken Mayers, were refused bail at Ennis District Court on March 18. (See below for support actions.)

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Chelsea Manning back in jail, refused to testify to a grand jury investigating Wikileaks

Posted on March 8, 2019
from BBC
Chelsea Manning: Wikileaks source jailed for refusing to testify
Former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning has been jailed for refusing to testify before an investigation into Wikileaks.

A Virginia judge ordered her taken into custody until the grand jury’s work is finished or she decides to testify.

Manning said she shared everything she knows during her court-martial.

Manning was found guilty in 2013 of charges including espionage for leaking secret military files to Wikileaks, but her sentence was commuted.

Manning, 31, told US District Judge Claude Hilton that she would “accept whatever you bring upon me”, but would not testify, the Associated Press reported.

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Two activists arrested crossing onto Beale AFB with “Let Venezuela Live” sign

Posted on March 2, 2019

Photo by Janie Kesselman

Report Back:  Occupy Beale AFB

February 28 – March 1, 2019 

by Toby Blomé

“STANDING WITH VENEZUELA at Beale Drone Base!”

2 Activists Arrested While Trespassing onto Beale AFB

On Thursday, February 28 and Friday, March 1, fed up with 17 years of endless wars, we were determined to bring our strong messages of solidarity with the people of Venezuela to one of the most important U.S. drone bases, Beale Air Force Base, home of the Global Hawk Drone and U2 spy plane, in Marysville, California.

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Sixteen activists, including Members of European Parliament, arrested at air base in Belgium where U.S. nuclear weapons are stored

Posted on February 23, 2019

Agir pour la Paix photo

Three Green Party politicians from Luxembourg, England and France were arrested with four Agir pour la Paix activists on February 20 in Belgium after climbing a fence to enter a military base where U.S. nuclear weapons are stored. After entering the Kleine Brogel base, they blocked the runway of F-16 fighter jets. The Members of European Parliament – Molly Scott Cato, Tilly Metz and Michele Rivasi – held a banner which read, “Europe Free of Nuclear Weapons”. The group was soon detained and taken into custody.

Nine supporters standing outside the base were also arrested, and authorities erased photos and videos from their cameras and phones.

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