The Nuclear Resister
April 2013
IN THIS E-BULLETIN:
- 31 ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN NY DRONE PROTEST bail fund donations needed
- CHINESE ACTIVIST DETAINED AFTER PROTESTING N. KOREA NUCLEAR TEST letters needed
- 47 PROTESTERS ARRESTED AT FASLANE TRIDENT NUCLEAR SUB BASE
- MORE ARRESTS, CONTINUED RESISTANCE TO NAVAL BASE BEING BUILT IN SOUTH KOREA
- 12 ARRESTS IN NYC GUANTANAMO PROTEST
- “BUSH” AND “CHENEY” ARRESTED IN TEXAS
- 6 ACTIONS IN 1 WEEK DEMAND CLOSURE OF VERMONT YANKEE NUKE
- PLOWSHARES TRIAL STARTS MAY 6
- 3 YEAR SENTENCE FOR NATO PROTESTER
- CLEAN UP U.S. NAVY BOMBING RANGE IN VIEQUES sign petition now
- 3 MEN ARRESTED DURING MARCH TO Y-12
- FR. STEVE KELLY, SJ ON THE MOVE
31 activists arrested in NY drone protest
bail fund donations needed
On April 28, over 275 people marched in a solemn funeral procession to demand that Hancock Air National Guard Base cease drone strikes. Thirty-one of the activists were arrested at the base on a variety of charges. High bails were imposed, and donations are being accepted for the bail fund. Some of the protesters were still in jail the following day (when this Nuclear Resister E-bulletin was sent out).
Read more here.
Chinese activist detained after protesting N. Korea nuclear test
letters needed
Urgent action issued by Amnesty International: Activist Liu Yuandong was detained on February 23 in Guangzhou, China after he took part in a protest against North Korea’s nuclear tests. He is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Letters are needed to officials asking for his immediate release.
Read more here.
47 protesters arrested at Faslane Trident nuclear sub base
Hundreds of people from across the U.K., France and as far away as New Zealand converged on Faslane Naval Base in Scotland, homeport to Trident, at 7 a.m. on April 15, blocking all three of its gates and shutting down access, bringing traffic on all roads into the nuclear weapons base to a halt for 3 hours.
Read more here.
More arrests, continued resistance to naval base being built in South Korea
April 8 and 9 – While company workers block the gates [of the site of a new naval base being constructed on Jeju Island, South Korea], police are intentionally silent about it. People are desperately keeping the gate. Company workers’ violence to people is a very high possibility. One young man was hit in the eye with glass and needed medical attention. One person was arrested yesterday.
Read more about arrests throughout April here.
12 arrests in NYC Guantanamo protest
Responding to reports that 84 men — more than half of those imprisoned at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay — are hunger striking to protest their indefinite detention, 12 concerned activists with Witness Against Torture were arrested on April 22 at approximately 3 p.m. in a “die-in” on the steps of the Federal Courthouse at Manhattan’s Foley Square.
Read more here.
“Bush” and “Cheney” arrested in Texas
by Stephen C. Webster, from The Progressive
Dallas, Texas — Two activists wearing large paper mache masks resembling former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney were arrested Thursday, April 25 for stepping into a street during a protest of the George W. Bush presidential library.
Read more here.
6 actions in 1 week demand closure of Vermont Yankee nuke
Accompanied by the drums and prayers of the monks and nuns of the New England Peace Pagoda, the Shut It Down Affinity Group concluded a weeklong series of gate-blocking presences at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on Earth Day, April 22. Vernon Police Sergeant Bruce Gauld arrested the women while the monks and nuns continued to pray at the site.
Read more here and here.
Plowshares trial starts May 6 in Knoxville
Next week, on May 6th, our friends from the Transform Now Plowshares community will begin trial before Federal District Judge Amul Thapar in Knoxville, Tennessee. Greg Bortje-Obed, Sr. Megan Rice and Michael Walli are facing two felony charges for their July 28 disarmament action at the Y-12 nuclear weapons complex, including a charge under the Sabotage Act. If convicted, they face up to 30 years in prison.
Read more here.
3 year sentence for NATO protester
Mark Neiweem, a 28-year-old Chicago activist, pleaded guilty in Cook County Court April 11 to felony charges brought on by interactions with undercover Chicago police officers who had infiltrated activist groups prior to protests at the NATO summit held in Chicago in May, 2012. Neiweem, who spent 329 continuous days in the notorious conditions of Cook County Jail while awaiting trial, will now serve out the remainder of a 3-year sentence in a state prison.
Read more here.
Clean up U.S. Navy bombing range in Vieques
sign petition now
After decades of protest and a campaign of nonviolent civil resistance that included the arrests of over 1,500 people, it’s now the 10th anniversary of the closing of the U.S. Navy bombing range in Vieques, Puerto Rico. But promises to clean up the toxic mess and address the health crisis faced by the people effected by the environmental disaster remain unfulfilled.
Please click here to sign the petition now!
3 men arrested during march to Y-12
The Oak Ridge, Tennessee city police joined forces with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in an effort to stifle any public voice in opposition to the proposed $6.5 billion Uranium Processing Facility (bomb plant) at Y-12 in Oak Ridge. One tactic was to erect a fence around Department of Energy (DOE) property to wall off the space used by protesters for more than 700 gatherings over the last 25 years; a second was to harass and intimidate marchers as they walked from the public park to the bomb plant. The Rev. Gyoshu Utsumi, Larry Coleman and Bill Ramsey were arrested during an April 6 march to the Y-12 nuclear weapons complex.
Read more here.
Fr. Steve Kelly, SJ on the move
Fr. Steve Kelly, SJ was arrested on Good Friday with 5 other nuclear abolition activists at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, California. When taken into custody, he was informed that he had an outstanding federal warrant, related to a parole violation from his Disarm Now Plowshares sentence. As of April 29, he is at a corrections facility in Pahrump, Nevada, on his way to the SEATAC prison in Washington state.
Read more here.
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