The Nuclear Resister

Jean Gump over the line at Y-12, July 5, 2010. Photo by Felice Cohen-Joppa

Y12 Resisters’ Sentencing Begins

report from the website of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance – http://orepa.org/first-report-on-sentencing-of-y12-resisters/

MONDAY morning, September 12, 2011 • Jean Gump

Jean Gump was the first of the July 2010 Y12 Resisters to be sentenced in federal court in Knoxville.  Jean was not present, but was represented by Francis Lloyd. After hearing from the prosecution, which requested a four month prison term to be followed by five years supervised probation, judge Bruce Guyton sentenced Jean to time served and ordered to pay a fine of $500 (along with a “special fee” of $25).

The prosecution sought to twist Jean’s absence into some kind of defiance of the court: “She shows her remorse and lack of contrition by her absence,” and asserted that her actions at Y12 put the safety of many people at risk as well as threatened our national security. The prosecutor berated Jean for traveling to Europe while awaiting trial but then being unable to attend court for her sentencing. Finally, she derided Jean’s “presumptuous” attempt to “create her own sentence,” by going to jail for a month. The government asked the judge to sentence Jean to four months in prison and five years’ supervised release.

Norman Lowry

Norman Lowry, jailed twice in recent years for protest at a military recruiting office in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was released Monday, June 27, after serving nearly 18 months for trespass and probation violation after his second arrest.

A few weeks later, Lowry wrote, “After searching God’s heart & being freed from the spiritual sludge of my last incarceration, I am convinced of God’s leading to simply stay the course & continue to say my simple & small ‘NO’.”  He returned to the recruiting office on August 1 with the following statement, and remained there until police were summoned and he was again arrested.

Lowry intended to refuse to post bond, and expects to remain in jail until trial.

Retired Navy Captain Tom Rogers, in custody after blocking entrance to the Trident nuclear submarine base in Washington state. Photo by Leonard Eiger.

Among the hundreds of meetings, church services, vigils, teach-ins and demonstrations across the world marking the 66th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, people engaged in acts of nuclear resistance were arrested at at least half a dozen places, including the world’s largest nuclear weapons profiteer, a nuclear weapons lab, nuclear military bases, and the Pentagon.

LOCKHEED/MARTIN

The Brandywine Peace Community and friends returned to Lockheed-Martin’s sprawling facility behind the King of Prussia Mall, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 6, the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The peace activists participated in a ceremony created for the occasion: Memory, Hope, & Peace – Incense, Water, and Sunflower Seeds.