Author Archive for jack

Photo by Cristiane Danowski

from Nukewatch

U.S. Activist Ends 7.5-Month Prison Term in Germany;

Jailed for Protests Against U.S. “Nuclear Sharing”

by John LaForge

Susan Crane of Redwood City, California was released from prison in Koblenz, Germany on Friday, January 17, 2025, after spending 7.5 months incarcerated for trespass convictions and refusing to pay fines stemming from a string of nonviolent protests against U.S. nuclear weapons stationed at the Büchel air force base, southeast of Cologne.

On June 4, 2024, Crane began serving a 230-day sentence at the Wöllstein-Rohrbach prison in Rhineland-Palatinate, the longest term yet imposed in the decades-long campaign of protests against the American-made free-fall, gravity bombs known as B61s at the base. Dutch peace activist Susan van der Hijden from Amsterdam served 115-days along with Crane for similar convictions. After ten days at Wöllstein, the two were transferred to the Offener Vollzug or the “open prison” in Koblenz, a less severe system that permits daytime work release. Crane was welcomed by the Martin Luther Evangelical Church community of Koblenz and did light work around the church grounds for many weeks.

Photo by Jim Ulrick

from antiwar.com

‘People’s Arms Embargo’ at Travis Air Force Base

by Rick Sterling 

Seventy-five protesters gathered under threatening skies at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California at 6:30 am on Wednesday, November 20. Their mission: to speak out and briefly interrupt the shipment of weapons to Israel from this air base.

For 90 minutes, they showed banners such as “Stop Arms for War Crimes” and “Stop Travis: No US Weapons for Genocide. ” They delayed traffic on the busy six-lane roadway into the base by frequently pressing the button to allow pedestrian crossing.  Fliers were handed out to receptive drivers. The flyers asked “Why are we blocking access to Travis Air Base and messing up your day?”.  It was explained that while November 20 is World Children’s Day, weapons to Israel from Travis are being used to kill children. Bombs loaded onto planes at Travis and other US air bases have killed many thousands of children.

On October 14, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Catherine Hourcade crossed the boundary line of the Nevada National Security Site and was arrested. She was given a citation for trespass with a notice to appear in Nye County Court on December 9.   

A short while earlier, she had joined with others in a Shoshone/Paiute sunrise ceremony, led by Jeremiah Jones. The group then walked the short distance to the entrance of the nuclear weapons test site. Carrying the tribal permit Jones had issued, granting Hourcade permission to be on Shoshone land, she entered test site property and handed the officer the permit along with her ID. He asked her why she had trespassed, and whether it was because of the Shoshone. “Yes!”, she replied, “This is sacred Shoshone land and you don’t belong here!” She told the officer about the contamination there because of nuclear bomb tests.