The Nuclear Resister

Toby Blomé, Pamela Osgood, Shirley Osgood and Mauro Oliveira, just after being released. Photo by Janie Kesselman

from Occupy Beale Air Force

In the rainy, dark early morning hours of October 25, nine Northern California activists stood with large banners and blocked the main gate at Beale Air Force Base (AFB) for over 30 minutes to protest the ongoing extrajudicial and secret U.S. drone killing program. Traffic was backed up for over a mile, while one activist approached the drivers, most of them airmen. Leaflets were handed to each driver, informing them about the horrible consequences of the drone program and the execution last month of 15 Afghan civilian men who were illegally killed by drone missiles last month in eastern Afghanistan while sleeping in their beds.

Scott Schaeffer-Duffy arrested at Creech drone base, photo by Felice Cohen-Joppa

by Felice Cohen-Joppa

On Sunday, October 9, 120 people from 17 U.S. states plus Mexico, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands concluded a Catholic Worker gathering in Las Vegas with protests at the nearby Nevada National Security Site (NNSS, formerly known as the Nevada nuclear test site) and Creech Air Force Base.

A morning liturgy was held in the desert just outside of the main entrance to the nuclear test site. An activist marching band then led the group as they carried signs, banners and colorful butterflies down the road to the gate. Thirty-one of the activists crossed onto NNSS property and were arrested for trespass. They were soon cited and released.

photo of Laura-Marie Taylor (holding a sign quoting Catholic Worker co-founder Dorothy Day, taken by Ming Lai

The Nevada Desert Experience hosted a Justice for Our Desert event during International Peace Day weekend, September 24-26. For several days, participants gathered for music, discussion, meals and community building before going to the Nevada National Security Site (formerly known as the Nevada nuclear Test Site) on Monday, September 26. Six of the seven of those present were moved to cross the boundary line onto the site. Laura-Marie Taylor, Ming Lai, Susan Dillion, Clementine Cat, George Killingsworth and Robert Majors were arrested for trespass and released on site.

Then, following lunch at the Sekhmet Temple, the activists held a peaceful vigil at Creech drone base.

The group spent the weekend together with the intent to “Invest in PEACE, not war-making and nuclearism! CELEBRATE the advances in nonviolence and the protection of life in our precious desert region! Dance, Sing, Play, Pray, Love enemies, and bring about long-awaited environmental justice to our desert.”

Photo by Paula LeRoy

On September 26, activists associated with the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (NCNR) went to the Pentagon to seek a meeting with decision-makers in the Pentagon chain of command, including Secretary Ashton Carter. The group told Pentagon police they wouldn’t leave until they spoke to an official in a position of authority about war crimes committed by the U.S. They asserted that they were following their obligations under the Nuremberg Principles to draw attention to these crimes of U.S. government elected and appointed officials. Although the activists were nonviolent, the Pentagon police placed 21 men and women under arrest and charged them with “violation of a lawful order”.

from FreeChelseaManning.org

BREAKING: Chelsea Manning ends hunger strike after Army agrees to provide her with gender reassignment surgery – Still faces indefinite solitary confinement for suicide attempt

Supporters, including REM’s Michael Stipe and Daniel Ellsberg, launch new campaign at FreeChelsea.com demanding U.S. government drop charges stemming from suicide attempt

LEAVENWORTH, KS––Chelsea Manning has ended a hunger strike that she began five days ago, after the U.S. military has agreed to move forward with the recommended treatment for her gender dysphoria. However, the Army is continuing to threaten Chelsea with solitary confinement for charges directly related to her attempt to take her own life, even though it was the government’s own mistreatment of Chelsea that drove her to it.