Photo of Catherine Hourcade by John Amidon
During the Nevada Desert Experience’s annual Holy Week Sacred Peace Walk, protesters blocked the gate at Nevada’s Creech Air Force Base on April 16 at 7:15 a.m. About a dozen peace walkers stood in the road until the Las Vegas Metro Police declared it an illegal assembly and threatened to arrest them. Amaya Rodriguez, Catherine Hourcade and Sylver Pondolfino refused to leave the road and were arrested. The three activists were issued a citation for “pedestrian in the road way”, and were instructed to appear on May 28 in Las Vegas Municipal Court.
The group then continued the remainder of their 60 mile pilgrimage, which concluded at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS, formerly called the Nevada Test Site) at Mercury, Nevada. On April 18, Western Shoshone spiritual leader Johnnie Bobb held a traditional sunrise ceremony. After a Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession, the group walked to the NNSS boundary line and gathered in the road. They shared messages about their concerns: nuclear weapons development and testing, the Site’s illegal occupation of Western Shoshone land, the continued misuse of resources and environmental destruction.
Three of the peace walkers – Nathan Jerrell, Karen Pettit and Jon Klusmire – then crossed the line onto NNSS property and were issued citations for trespass by Nye County sheriffs. They have 60 days to respond.
Photo of Nathan Jerrell by John Amidon