The Nuclear Resister

28 Arrested During Annual Protest Weekend

Four protesters arrested and charged with federal trespass at Ft. Benning, Georgia on November 20 and 21 were in court on Tuesday, November 23.  Arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Hyles, Nancy Smith and Christopher Spicer pled not guilty.  Their trial is set for January 5.  Fr. Louis Vitale, OFM and Michael David Omondi pled no contest and were sentenced to the maximum 6 months in jail (no fine).  Both men were moved from a Georgia county jail on December 14 and 15.  Omondi is in Atlanta, likely waiting transport.  Vitale was moved to Victorville, California on December 16.

Until we know that both men are at their final destination, cards and letters to David may be sent to his community for forwarding: The Los Angeles Catholic Worker, 632 N. Brittania St., Los Angeles, CA 90033.  Louie’s mail may be send to the Nuclear Resister for forwarding at P.O. Box 43383, Tucson, AZ 85733. 

Hundreds of people were arrested October 29, protesting the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) on India’s west coast.  The project is the crown jewel of the U.S./India nuclear partnership, and, if  realized, it would be the world’s largest nuclear energy park.

Six huge French-designed reactors producing 10,000 MW of electricity for Mumbai and Goa would displace thousands of village farmers and fishers. Compensation payments for the targeted villagers have been refused en masse, and in October a large police escort kept locals  from confronting a visiting committee of site-selection experts. When a regional government official declared that locals did not oppose the project and outside instigators were at work, the people’s organization Janhit Seva Samiti called for a satyagraha action October 29 in remote Madban Village, at the heart of the area coveted by the JNPP. Warrants were issued for the arrest of Janhit Seva Samiti leaders, and some were detained while others went underground.

Military police have again arrested nuclear abolitionists vigiling along a public highway outside the main gate of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where missiles to launch nuclear war are tested. California Highway 1 passes through the base, with the main gate actually in the interior of the sprawling installation along the coast north of Santa Barbara.

Art Laffin,  Bill Frankel-Streit, Chrissy Nesbitt and Nancy Gowan went to court on October 22 for their August 6 arrest at the Pentagon.  The following report is from Art Laffin.

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers as we once again went before the court to proclaim the Gospel of Nonviolence. Bill and I were prosecuted, while Chrissy and Nancy had there charges dropped due to no previous convictions for Pentagon protests.

Felice Cohen-Joppa. Photo by Joshua McElwee, Staff Writer for the National Catholic Reporter

Published by CommonDreams.org

by Felice Cohen-Joppa

The judge found me guilty.  Even after I’d testified under oath that I had committed no crime when standing in front of a bulldozer in a muddy soybean field being cleared for the new Kansas City Plant, arm in arm with 13 others.  On August 16, we had tried to stop preparation of the site for the first U.S. nuclear weapons plant to be built in 32 years.  That’s what brought us to Judge LaBella’s Kansas City courtroom on October 7.

Many people I’ve talked to in the past year are not aware that while President Obama talks about the importance of nuclear disarmament, he and his administration are planning to replace and rebuild the nation’s entire industrial capacity for nuclear weapons production