Bath Iron Works Employee: You're On U.S. Government Property

Sometimes it seems to me that our corporate overlords learn nothing from experience. We've reached the stage where they now think glorifying the U.S. war on Vietnam is acceptable because most of the people who remember how brutal and unpopular that losing war was are dead. Here's some of the blathering about that in yesterday's coverage of a warship celebration at General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine:

The christening of the Patrick Gallagher honors the memory of a 23 year-old Irish citizen who was killed fighting for the U.S. in the Vietnam War..

“As a proud Irish-American myself, I want to thank you for strengthening the bonds between our two nations,” Sen. [Susan] Collins said during her remarks..

At other times, I see how General Dynamics manages its ceremonies in response to relentless protest and pressure from dissenting taxpayers. A brief list:

• The ceremony is no longer a public event. This is in response to a judge acquitting us of criminal trespassing charges from a protest in 2017 on the grounds that the sole reason we were arrested rather than allowed in to a public event was the content of our signs. Political speech is protected under the 1st amendment.

• The main parking lot at BIW has restricted access for attendees. This is in response to blockades of parking lot entrances, other gates, and the road running alongside the lot i.e. Washington Street.

• The U.S. Coast Guard is deployed on the Kennebec River side of BIW. What are they afraid of, a protest flotilla?

• A BIW security guard is posted across from the administration building very early on christening day. What are they afraid of, someone vandalizing the offices of the fat cats who profit from supporting genocide? 

A person I know who used to work in those offices reported that BIW execs spent a lot of time planning how to deal with the protesters they know are inevitably on hand when a celebration occurs. Nowadays I bet they also talk about whether they were awakened at dawn by activists calling out BIW execs as war criminals to their neighbors, and spilling non-toxic watercolor "blood" in the gutters in front of their comfortable homes. Who has received this attention? Who might be next?

Here's one thing they haven't learned: GD/BIW is not the U.S. government. (Don't they read my blog LOL?) The BIW employee in the plaid shirt warned me yesterday that I would be arrested for trespassing "on U.S. government property" when I sat down to block an entrance to the mostly empty main parking lot. Then he stepped away and a Bath Police officer cuffed me and put me on a school bus with my friends. We'll see what a judge has to say about that.

This great livestream captures some of the bystanders pointing out that cops should be arresting genociders, not those protesting genocide. "We're just doing our job," said some of the cops. "That's what Nazis at Nuremberg said though, isn't it?" asked a videographer who was on hand.

Some of those just following orders yesterday were Bath PD, county sheriffs and deputies, state police, and even a few cops from nearby towns. 

Not nearby Wiscasset, though. They stationed twenty officers on Route 1 downtown because about 30 of us showed up after Bath to hold signs and do some chanting.

Below, more images from yesterday and a newspaper story about the arrests of nine with a citation issued to a 10th protester, my husband, as he gathered up banners and other items left behind.

I'm especially grateful to artist Natasha Mayers who created the dead child puppet I was cradling. She created several puppets, a sign expressing solidarity with all the grieving parents, and this sadly beautiful collage called Flavors of Genocide.

I missed most of the rally, speakers, and music at yesterday's protest due to my arrest, but when I find documentation of those events I will share them.