The Nuclear Resister

Fr. Louis Vitale completed a six month prison sentence for trespass at Ft. Benning, Georgia, on Friday, July 23.  He walked out of the federal prison at Lompoc, California.

Read about Vitale’s November 2009 arrest here.

Also on July 23, Richard Sauder was convicted in federal court in Minot, North Dakota, of trespassing at a nuclear missile silo last April.  He was sentenced to time served, 100 days, and released.  Sauder spent most of his time on federal hold at the Heart of America Correctional and Treatment Center in Rugby North Dakota.

Sauder wrote to the Nuclear Resister:

I want to thank everyone who wrote to me in jail to voice their support. It was very meaningful to me. Jail is a very isolating place and a psychopathic, harsh environment, so letters of support are and were an extremely welcome and vital tie with the outside. I also want to thank all who wrote to the jail administration to express concerns about the poor diet. The jail security chief informed me after my release that the food service company that prepares the inmates’ meals does so at a cost of 60 cents per inmate per meal. And that one factoid speaks volumes about the unpleasant conditions at the heart of America.

(from smashedo.org.uk)

Elijah Smith, decommissioner of EDO MBM/ITT, is free after a year and a half in Jail. Well Done Elijah!

Elijah Smith, free after 18 months in prison for diarmament action

All Decommissioners acquitted -Resisting War Crimes is Officially not a Crime

The EDO Decommissioners have all walked free after unanimous acquittals following the three week trial which concluded on Friday (2nd July) at Hove Crown Court. What began as a trial of the Decommissioners effectively ended up with the Brighton arms manufacturer, and the war crimes of the Israeli state, in the dock.

Memorial for slain torture victims, Capitol Rotunda. Beth Brockman photo

On Monday, June 14, twenty-four activists with Witness Against Torture were acquitted in Washington, D.C. Superior Court of charges of “unlawful entry with disorderly conduct.” The charges stemmed from demonstrations at the US Capitol on January 21,2010 – the date by which President Obama had promised the closure of the Guantanamo detention camp.

Defendant Joy First wrote about the trial:

The trial was scheduled to start at 9:30 am. Once we were seated in the courtroom, there were some preliminary matters to deal with before the trial started. Most notably, Bill Quigley argued a motion we had entered for an acquittal, but if we were not acquitted he argued that we would be allowed to use international law and the necessity defense.

I hadn’t been feeling too anxious up till then, but when we sat down in the courtroom and the judge began dealing with some of the preliminary matters, I could feel the anxiety rising in my stomach and moving up to my chest.

On Thursday, June 17, only three days after he was sentenced to six months of federal prison for carrying the protest against the School of the Americas onto Fort Benning, Michael Walli was released from jail.

Early Thursday, Michael was ordered to pack up his belongings from his jail cell. He expected that he would be  transferred to a federal facility but was then told by the wardens that he is free to go, without any further explanation.

From the jail, Michael managed to get to Father Roy Bourgeois’ apartment at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia. The two celebrated his release and Michael before Walli boarded a bus headed to his home in Washington, DC.

According to the Columbus Ledger Enquirer, U.S. Magistrate G. Mallon Faircloth reduced Michael’s sentence to time served, stating, “After further consideration of his hardships I determined that time served was an appropriate sentence.”