The Nuclear Resister

Photo by Joshua McElwee, Staff Writer for the National Catholic Reporter

From Frank Cordaro:

Eight peace activists were arrested on September 8 at the “Plant Peace, Not Nukes! – Groundbreaking for Works of Mercy, Not Works of War” held at the entrance of the planned site for the new nuclear weapons parts plant in Kansas City, Missouri. It was an alternative ground breaking ceremony to the billion-dollar replacement for the Honeywell nuclear weapon parts plant that was taking place at the same time, with local and national officials touting the new plant’s local economic and national strategic importance to 500 guests. The eight peace activists broke off from the larger group of 70 “Peace Planters”* and stood or knelt in front of three large VIP buses trying to come onto the site and attend the official ground breaking ceremony.

Four of the eight people who blocked the entrance to the current plutonium processing facility at the Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Lab, New Mexico, August 6. Photo by Felice Cohen-Joppa

The 65th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were observed around the world on August 6 and August 9.  A handful of the memorial events across the United States included acts of civil resistance calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Arrests were reported at nuclear weapons laboratories in Livermore, California (31) and Los Alamos, New Mexico (8); at the nuclear war merchant Lockheed-Martin’s facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (7); at the missile launch test site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California (7); outside the Pentagon (8) and the strategic nuclear command center at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska (4); and blocking the entrance to the Trident nuclear missile launching submarine base in Bangor, Washington (9).  The full report on these memorial actions and more will be in the next print edition of the Nuclear Resister.  Please subscribe, or to receive a free sample copy of the next issue by first class mail, hot off the press, e-mail your postal mailing address to nukeresister@igc.org.

For links to action reports,

Carlos Stewart, photo via NWTRCC

Another man (hot on Frank Donnelly‘s heels), who had privately resisted payment of federal income tax, for reasons of conscience in opposition to war, has recently been prosecuted and sent to prison.  With belated serendipity, Carl (Carlos) Steward learned about the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC) too late to avail himself of the experience, knowledge and counselling available, but not too late for the positive publicity and moral support that this network and clearinghouse for conscientious military tax refusal is well-prepared to offer.  On Hiroshima Day, August 6, Stewart reported to the federal prison camp on Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama to serve a two-year prison sentence

Israeli Nuclear Whistleblower Out of Prison Again

By DANIELLA CHESLOW (AP) – August 8, 2010

JERUSALEM — An Israeli nuclear whistleblower who spent 18 years behind bars was released from jail Sunday after serving an additional three months for violating his release terms.

(From Larry Dansinger, Maine War Tax Resource Center, via NWTRCC.org)

About 40-50 people rallied in Bangor, Maine, in support of war tax resister Frank Donnelly on June 14, 2010. Donnelly, who had pled guilty in 2009 to tax fraud, appeared in court and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. He self-reported to the federal prison at Estill, North Carolina on July 26 to serve his sentence.

Frank Donnelly on sentencing day

Frank Donnelly is not a typical war tax resister, most of whom try to express their values of nonviolence directly to the IRS. Some send letters to the IRS, some fill out a return but do not pay, and some don’t file at all. Donnelly knew he could not pay for war, but he did that by under- reporting his income. The IRS interpreted that as tax fraud and prosecuted him in federal criminal court.

His statement to the court was simple; he declared that he should have presented his war tax resistance differently, more openly. But, he was clear his refusal to pay sprung from his opposition to all wars.