I spent yesterday pacing the hall outside the courtroom in New Hampshire where the Elbit 8 trial judge had sequestered me as an expert witness. Subsequently it appeared that the judge was so annoyed by the first expert witness that the team (including me) decided I should not testify about what Elbit specifically does at its Merrimack facility.
In a typical show of institutional ableism, the proceedings were largely inaudible to my husband -- shown above wearing his state-of-the-art hearing aids -- and other defendants with hearing loss. So, I need to get with people who were allowed in the courtroom before I can report much more than this: all eight were found guilty of criminal trespass, and five were found guilty of resisting arrest. One was further charged with damaging police property and the judge was annoyed at the prosecutor for not including that charge in yesterday's trial (it will be heard on November 1).Sentencing for the trespass and resisting verdicts is on Monday October 7 so it's unknown what fines will be levied. Jail time is not a possible consequence for this level of misdemeanor, but could be a risk for the alleged property destruction. Note that the Merrimack 4 recently accepted a plea bargain for 60 days in jail in exchange for the state dropping felony charges stemming from minor property damage at the same Elbit facility.
Exactly one media outlet covered yesterday's trial, WBUR. The one defendant they interviewed said after the verdict:
So, sitting there [on March 22] honestly I was really thinking about what was happening in Gaza.
It's not in the interest of anyone in New Hampshire that I can tell to be making, you know, machines of mass murder as opposed to literally any other technology that they could be making.
But, they neglected to cover the hour long protest on the street where about a dozen supporters stood with the Elbit 8.
So, more to come on the testimony of witnesses at the trial.
As I monitored the news for hours yesterday I felt like I was existing in three different worlds: the bland bureaucracy that is court with its pettiness and control for control's sake;
and U.S. officials claiming Israel was both victorious and deserving of our troops.
I felt like I had psychic whiplash.
Later I learned that people in Jordan were injured when the U.S. was allowed to operate missile defense in Jordanian air space and shrapnel fell on civilians. This might explain something my husband reported he had seen yesterday: treacherous King Abdullah in full military regalia. The king would be wise to fear the people's retribution for his government's consistent support for the Zionists carpet bombing Gaza and Lebanon.
War is hell. But, it's profitable. So it looks like we will be having much, much more of it.
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