“Unless God guards the city, in vain do the guards keep watch.” One of the four guard towers at the corner of the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, storehouse for nuclear weapons HEU, is inscribed with the words “Plowshares Please Isaiah.” The Transform Now Plowshares action reveals the illusory nature of the quest for security—the only true security is to abolish nuclear weapons.
PHOTOS OF PLOWSHARES PROTEST AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND NEW BOMB PLANT PROPOSED FOR Y-12 COMPLEX IN OAK RIDGE ARE RELEASED
The Transform Now Plowshares resisters, Michael Walli, Megan Rice and Greg Boertje-Obed, today release to the public photographs from their July 28, 2012, entry into the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Transform Now Plowshares action focuses attention on the ongoing production of nuclear weapons of mass destruction in Oak Ridge and the plans for a new $7.5 billion weapon production facility, the Uranium Processing Facility, at Y12.
Three high security fences enclose the facilities that engage in ongoing crimes against humanity—the production of thermonuclear weapons of mass destruction—at the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Oak Ridge, TN. These fences enclose the “deadly force” zone; motion sensors and cameras failed to alert guards to the presence of the Transform Now Plowshares resisters; the National Nuclear Security Administration notes guards were desensitized to the alarms by the natural activity of animals. “These fences are on land entrusted by the Creator for life-giving purposes,” said Greg Boertje-Obed. “Should we be grateful to nature for helping to raise awareness of false ‘security’ and impending global destruction?” The fences bear banners hung by the Plowshares resisters including the citation from the prophet Isaiah, “They shall beat swords into plowshares.”
“These photographs carry with them our message,” the three Plowshares activists affirm. “We came to Y12 in a spirit of hope, not fear. We were authorized—even required—to act by the responsibilities placed on us as citizens. The Nuremberg principles, codified by the United Nations after World War 2, require citizens to refuse cooperation with unlawful government acts insofar as it is morally possible. We also felt called, as children of God, to act on behalf of all God’s children, including and especially those who are threatened daily by the machines of war and the power of empire.”
The Plowshares resisters brought prophetic messages and other gifts to the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex as part of their action protesting the plans for a new $7.5 billion bomb plant and the ongoing production of nuclear weapons components. “The Fruit of Justice is Peace,” quotes the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Red crime-scene tape tied to cement pillars is embossed with the words “Caution” and “Nuclear Crime Scene.” The production of nuclear weapons is a crime against humanity; the blood of members of the Plowshares movement, reverently spread across the face of the HEUMF, is a sacred symbol, a reminder that the use of nuclear weapons will result in bloodshed beyond calculation and deaths beyond counting. The chipped concrete on the corner of the building is the result of symbolic (and real!) hammering, a rejection of nuclear weapons as a cornerstone of our national policy. The hammering resulted in the initial crumbling, the actual start of the deconstruction of the building which houses hundreds of tons of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium.
“In one sense, the pictures speak for themselves,” said the three. “But they don’t tell the whole story. The whole story is about more than the fact we got through the ultra high security ‘deadly force authorized’ zone. The whole story includes why we went there and the message we took. We carried with us a Bible, hammers, candles, bread, white roses and blood. We attempted to embody the prophecy God gave to Isaiah, to beat swords into plowshares. We tried to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ, who calls us to find our true security in love and compassion.”
The Transform Now Plowshares resisters are scheduled for trial in federal court in Knoxville, TN on February 26, 2013 on charges of trespass, destruction and depredation of federal property. The charges carry a combined penalty of up to sixteen years imprisonment.
The Transform Now Plowshares resisters can be reached at:
Greg Boertje-Obed 218 728 3771
Sr. Megan Rice 610 525 9900 ext 649
Michael Walli 202 882 9649
All pictures provided by US government sources in discovery stage of trial preparation.
Behind the fourth (and final) security fence, shown here cut by bolt cutters, Greg Boertje Obed (near) and Michael Walli (far) sit, cuffed, waiting with Sr. Megan Rice (not pictured) for transportation. In the background, the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility has been painted with the inscription “Woe to an Empire Of Blood.” The three members of Transform Now Plowshares, acting under the Nuremberg principles of citizen responsibility codified by the United Nations in 1950, entered the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex on July 28, 2012, to protest the continuing production of thermonuclear weapons of mass destruction at Y12 and the plans for a new $7.5 billion bomb plant at Y12 called the Uranium Processing Facility. (photo from government sources)
For more information about the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex, contact:
Ralph Hutchison 865 776 5050 | orep@earthlink.net
Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance
The low concrete wall on the outer edge of the PIDAS (Perimeter Intrusion Detection and Assessment System) which protects the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex, where the US manufactures thermonuclear secondaries for the W76 warhead, is painted with the words “DISARM, TRANSFORM” and “Peace Not War.” Before crossing the PIDAS, the Transform Now Plowshares resisters poured blood on the wall (visible between the A and R of DISARM). In the background, the HEUMF, with blood visible on the wall and scripture quotations covered by blue tarps, and security personnel who responded to the Plowshares incursion on July 28, 2012. The banners and words painted on surfaces were designed by the Plowshares resisters “to create an atmosphere of hope, not fear,” said Sr. Megan Rice.