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November/December 2018
IN THIS E-BULLETIN
FOUR ARRESTED AT PENTAGON DURING HOLY INNOCENTS WITNESS
KINGS BAY PLOWSHARES UPDATE
ARRESTS AT ARMS FAIRS IN BELGIUM AND NEW ZEALAND
PLEASE SUPPORT IMPRISONED ANTI-NUCLEAR AND ANTI-WAR ACTIVISTS – THE NUCLEAR RESISTER NEEDS YOU!
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Four arrested at Pentagon during Holy Innocents witness
About 20 peace activists, including members of the Atlantic and Southern Life communities, gathered for a nonviolent witness in Washington, D.C. on the rainy morning of December 28 to commemorate the Massacre of the Holy Innocents, past and present. The group brought their signs and banners to the southeast entrance of the Pentagon, and were escorted to the designated protest area by police. After prayer, song and blessing, four people walked toward the five-sided building to deliver copies of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to a Pentagon official and request that the U.S. ratify it. Joan Wages, Bill Frankel-Streit, Janice Sevre-Duszynska and Dave MacMillan began to read the Treaty aloud, and were soon arrested after refusing to leave. They were charged with disobeying a lawful order, processed and released.
Read more here.
Kings Bay Plowshares update
A trial date has still not been set in the case of the Kings Bay Plowshares, seven nuclear disarmament activists facing federal felony charges for their April, 2017 action inside the Kings Bay Trident submarine base in Georgia. The court in Brunswick, Georgia is not expected to set a date until it rules on an historic motion that was the subject of two day-long pre-trial hearings in November, seeking to bring consideration of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) into their defense. The seven Roman Catholics were able to testify in court about the religious motivations for their action, as were several other witnesses.
Elizabeth McAlister, Fr. Steve Kelly and Mark Colville remain at the Glynn County Detention Center in Brunswick, Georgia (addresses and correspondence regulations here). Carmen Trotta, Patrick O’Neill, Martha Hennessy and Clare Grady are out on bond with ankle monitors.
Arrests at arm fairs in Belgium and New Zealand
BELGIUM
The European Defence Agency’s 2018 Annual Conference in Brussels was devoted to unmanned and autonomous systems. As part of the ongoing I Stop the Arms Trade campaign, the Belgian group Vredesactie (Peace Action) organized nonviolent direct actions at the conference. While dozens demonstrated outside on opening day, November 29, nineteen European citizens entered the conference hall with the delegates. When they continued to protest, police roughly evicted and arrested them. They were held for seven hours and had their identities registered before being released.
One week later, two activists entered an arms lobby event and took the stage, preempting the scheduled event. While one held a banner proclaiming “No EU money for arms dealers”, the other addressed the assembled war merchants, bureaucrats and politicians. She reminded them of the thousands already killed by war and 85,000 children dead from starvation in Yemen, a war and famine fueled by weapons made by Raytheon, one of the conference underwriters. As the man with the banner was led away into custody, she persisted, condemning the influence of war suppliers on defense policy before she, too, was led away from the podium and escorted out of the building. Both were briefly held for identity checks and told not to come back.
Read more here.
NEW ZEALAND
Peace activists in New Zealand have their country’s arms industry on the run. A few years of solid community organizing, public education, skill-building and persistent nonviolent direct action drove the industry’s annual expo out of Auckland in 2016, and then out of Wellington’s Westpac Stadium last year. The movement followed it this year to Palmerston North, between the two larger cities on the North Island.
The tactics of choice for countering the New Zealand Defense Industry Association event on October 31 and November 1 were nonviolent direct actions that sought to delay, disrupt and otherwise deny entry to delegates seeking to attend the conference. On day one, fences and gates of a temporary roadblock that illegally closed access to nearby businesses were torn down by protesters and laid across the road. This was followed by rolling blockades of delegate buses and occupations at entry gates. These blockades delayed the start of the conference by about three hours. Police arrested eight people on charges of obstruction or disorder, and two for assault. The eight were released with a warning, and one of those charged with assault took the option of diversion from prosecution when she came to court a few days later.
Read more here.
Please support imprisoned anti-nuclear and anti-war activists – The Nuclear Resister needs YOU!
The Nuclear Resister is a bare bones operation that depends on grassroots support to chronicle anti-nuclear and anti-war resistance, and support the women and men in prison for their acts of conscience. We need your help to continue this work – please read more here!! Or go directly here to make a secure online donation and find information about how to send a check. Each and every donation, large or small, will be gratefully received – thank you!