Conscience Of Our Nation Says Stop Droning #Afghanistan, 17 Years: Enough!

Screenshot from "Beale Air Force Base Gate Blockade" YouTube

Report back from peace workers in the Nevada desert. Posted here with gratitude and admiration for their acting as the conscience of our nation, a nation which kills innocent people regularly without much attention being paid to that fact.

URGENT NEWS ADVISORY
Contacts:   Shirley Osgood:  (941) 735-8865
Toby Blomé  510-501-5412

BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, near Wheatland – Four demonstrators were arrested early Tuesday, Oct. 30, as they opposed the ongoing 17-year U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan and U.S. occupation of one of the poorest countries in the world. 

Screenshot from "Beale Air Force Base Gate Blockade" YouTube

Traffic was backed up for 1/2 mile or more down two merging roads, for nearly an hour as protesters – arriving in the dark of early morning – blocked the main entrance road into Beale Air Force Base, South Beale Road, near Wheatland, California. 

Activists stretched a large banner across the road that said:  STOP DRONING AFGHANISTAN;  17 YEARS ENOUGH!  

Screenshot from "Beale Air Force Base Gate Blockade" YouTube

Four protesters were arrested, and held for 2.5 hours in military jail cells on the base. They face misdemeanor trespassing charges in U.S. Court with a maximum penalty of six months in federal prison. Those arrested were Michael Kerr, Bay Point, CA; Mauro Oliveira, Montgomery Creek, CA; Shirley Osgood, Grass Valley, CA and Toby Blome, El Cerrito, CA.

Afghanistan, referred to as “the most droned country on earth,” has over 40,000 foreign troops, including U.S. military, allied forces and private mercenaries.

“Mission Accomplished” was declared by two previous U.S. Administrations, Bush and Obama, yet, after October 7, the 17th anniversary of the U.S. invasion, the bombing campaign continues under President Trump, with no end in sight. 

Beale Air Force Base is intimately involved in the U.S. drone assassination program.  Airmen at Beale who are in the covert unit that controls the U.S. Global Hawk surveillance drone work cooperatively with armed drone operators elsewhere to surveil, target, and execute drone strikes remotely in foreign countries.  Thousands of civilians have been killed, and funerals, wedding parties, mosques, schools and other public gatherings have been attacked by U.S. remotely controlled planes, known as drones.  



Just two weeks ago, on Oct. 12, over 75 Somali new young “recruits” with Al-Shabaab were killed by a single U.S. drone attack.  “We oppose the use of armed drones in all killing attempts.  This type of remotely controlled aggressive violence, without any imminent threat, has become normalized in U.S. foreign policy.  To whose benefit?” asks Toby Blomé, one of the arrestees.  “What world is being created?”  

Most often these strikes occur unannounced, without any warning.  Bodies are often charred beyond recognition.  “The relatives of the dead, the sons, fathers, cousins and even friends of the killed, could easily become the next recruits for any militant organization.  This is no solution, and only further destabilizes any community,” says Ms. Blomé.

Activists arrested said they are committed to continue their ongoing anti-drone campaign at Beale AFB, Creech AFB and other U.S. drone bases until the cruel, illegal and immoral practice of drone killing ceases.

Videos of the protest and arrests: https://youtu.be/DWjVcru1IPA

Photos: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/31179704@N03/30699238327/in/dateposted-public/

Plowshares Reflection: We See Nuclear Weapons As A Cocked Gun Needed To Maintain White Supremacy

Official seal covered in blood at Kings Bay Naval Base, the biggest nuclear submarine base in the world.

I sent off postcards earlier this week to the seven Kings Bay Plowshares activists who protested at a nuclear weapons naval base in Georgia on April 5.

Information on how to do that yourself:

Camden County Detention Facility, P.O. Box 699, Woodbine, GA 31569

Clare Grady 65197
Patrick O’Neill 65205
Elizabeth McAlister 65198
Stephen Kelly 65201
Martha Hennessy 65206
Mark Colville 65200
Carmen Trotta 65203

“Inmates may only receive plain white pre-paid postcards. Postcards may not have any pictures nor backgrounds on them. Plain white postcards may be purchased at any Post Office. All postcards are subject to search and /or screening. Postcards should have a return address in situations where the post card must be returned. Inmates cannot receive letters or e-mail.”

Photo credit: Alice Bach

Several of the activists are sleeping on mattresses on the floor of an overcrowded prison as Chief Magistrate Jennifer E. Lewis denied bail for the two felony charges --  possession of tools for the commission of a crime and interference with government property -- and set it at $50,000 for the misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass. These state charges may be replaced by federal charges according to the legal team, but in the meantime they are appealing the bond decision.

How do these charges stack up against the war crimes of the U.S. military? is a question that the judge who made sure the seven would stay in jail should consider.

But in these Kafka-esque times, the real crime is challenging the mighty U.S. military and its right to consume resources and life at will.

Clare Grady has written the following reflection that is being shared by Catholic Worker friends and family:

We say, 'the ultimate logic of Trident is omnicide', and yet, the explosive power of this weapon is only part of what we want to make visible. We see that nuclear weapons kill every day by their mere existence. Their production requires mining, refining, testing, and dumping of radioactive material, which poisons sacred Earth and Water, all on Indigenous land. 

We see the billions of dollars it takes to build and maintain the Trident system as stolen resources, which are desperately needed for human needs. 

We see nuclear weapons as a cocked gun, the biggest gun, used 24/7 to ENFORCE the many layers of state-sponsored violence and deadly force required to maintain white supremacy, global capitalism, and global domination. 

We invite others who have been privileged by these systems to join us in withdrawing consent from their deadly function and purpose.

We live with hope for a nuclear-free, decolonized world.

According to Nuclear Resister, "This is the latest of 100 similar actions around the world beginning in 1980 in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.".

For more information you can see my previous post of their statement at the time of the action. To follow this case, you can go to the Kings Bay Plowshares Facebook page. 

The Ultimate Logic Of Racism Is Genocide Say Plowshares Activists Arrested At Nuclear Sub Base

Press Release for Kings Bay Plowshares

Seven Catholic plowshares activists were detained early Thursday morning at the Kings Bay Naval Base St. Mary's Georgia.

They entered the night of April 4. Calling themselves Kings Bay Plowshares, they went to make real the prophet Isaiah's command: "beat swords into plowshares".

The seven chose to act on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who devoted his life to addressing the triplets of militarism, racism and materialism.

In their statement, which they carried with them, the group quoted King, who said: The greatest purveyor of violence in the world (today) is my own government."

Carrying hammers and baby bottles of their own blood, the seven attempted to convert weapons of mass destruction.

Kings Bay Naval base opened in 1979 as the Navy's Atlantic Ocean Trident port. It is the largest nuclear submarine base in the world. There are six ballistic missile subs and two guided missile subs based at Kings Bay.

Photo credit: Alice Bach

The activists went to three sites on the base: The administration building, the D5 Missile monument installation and the nuclear weapons storage bunkers.

The activists used crime scene tape, hammers and banners reading: The ultimate logic of racism is genocide, Dr. Martin Luther King; The ultimate logic of Trident is omnicide; Nuclear weapons: illegal - immoral. 

They also brought an indictment charging the U.S. government for crimes against peace.

The activists at the nuclear weapons storage bunkers were Elizabeth McAlister,78. Jonah House, Baltimore; Steve Kelly, S. J.,69 Bay Area CA; Carmen Trotta, 55, NY Catholic Worker.

The activists at the Administration building were Clare Grady, 59, Ithaca Catholic Worker; Martha Hennessy, 62, NY Catholic Worker.

The activists at the Trident D5 monuments were Mark Colville, 55, Amistad Catholic Worker New Haven CT; Patrick O'Neill, 61, Fr. Charlie Mulholland Catholic Worker Garner NC.

All activists are being detained and as of  Thursday morning were acknowledged by the Camden County, Georgia jail as “on the way.” No one was injured.

This is the latest of 100 similar Plowshares actions around the world beginning in 1980 in King of Prussia, PA.

----

KINGS BAY PLOWSHARES

Plaintiff,​​ 

​​​​​vs.​​​​

​​​​​UNITED STATES OF AMERICA​​​​​

Defendant.​

​​​

Today, through our nonviolent action, we, Kings Bay Plowshares—indict the United States government, President Donald Trump, Kings Bay Base Commander Brian Lepine, the nuclear triad, and specifically the Trident nuclear program.

WHEREAS, This program is an ongoing criminal endeavor in violation of international treaty law binding on the United States under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article VI, Section 2):

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

WHEREAS, The United States is bound by the United Nation’s Charter, ratified and signed in 1945. Its preamble affirms that its purpose is to “save future generations from the scourge of war”. It directs that “all nations shall refrain from the use of force against another nation”. Article II regards the threat to use nuclear weapons as ongoing international criminal activity.

WHEREAS, The Nuremberg Principles, also promulgated in 1945, primarily by the U.S., prohibit crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. They render nuclear weapons systems prohibited, illegal, and criminal under all circumstances and for any reason.

WHEREAS, The U.S. government is obligated as well by the Non-Proliferation Treaty, in force since 1970 that requires the signers to pursue negotiations in good faith and to eliminate nuclear weapons at an early date. The U.S. government is also obligated by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits full-scale nuclear explosions.

WHEREAS, the members of the United Nations are currently negotiating a treat to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.

THEREFORE, the work being at done at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base violates all these agreements and is thus criminal.

Specifically, the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base refits and maintains submarines, which carry Trident D5 nuclear missiles. The Trident D5 is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), built by Lockheed Martin. The Navy currently operates 14 Ohio class submarines. Six have their homeport at Kings Bay. Each submarine carries the capacity to cause devastation equivalent to 600 of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima, Japan. Thus, the six Tridents maintained at Kings Bay have the capacity to cause the devastation of 3600 Hiroshima-scale attacks.

From the initial mineral mining through testing, storage, and dumping, the production and maintenance of these weapons harms human beings, destroys the environment, and violates international and God’s law. Moreover, each day this program steals from all in our nation and world by its theft of much-needed resources. Nor is the Navy or the nation retreating from this violation of international law. The Navy is currently preparing to spend at least $100.2 billion of the public’s money on a new class of 12 Trident ballistic missile submarines to replace the current Trident submarines.

Against these continuing violations of treaty law, we assert our right and duty to civil resistance against nuclear weapons. Furthermore, we affirm as crucial the human right to be free from these crimes. The Nuremberg Principles not only prohibit such crimes but oblige those of us aware of the crime to act against it. “Complicity in the commission of a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity…is a crime under International Law”. The United Nations Charter further reinforced this principle and made it part of binding international law. Similarly, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to which the United States is a signatory, makes it clear that private individuals can be held responsible for acts of genocide.

The ongoing building and maintenance of Trident submarines and ballistic missile systems constitute war crimes that can and should be investigated and prosecuted by judicial authorities at all levels. As citizens, we are required by International Law to denounce and resist known crimes.

For the sake of the whole human family threatened by nuclear weapons, and for the sake of our Planet Earth, which is abused and violated, we indict the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base and all government officials, agencies, and contractors as responsible for perpetuating these war crimes.

---

Link to video of the group reading their statement prior to the action.

Statement from the Kings Bay Plowshares

We come in peace on this sorrowful anniversary of the martyrdom of a great prophet, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fifty years ago today, April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee as a reaction to his efforts to address “the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism.”

We come to Kings Bay to answer the call of the prophet Isaiah (2:4) to “beat swords into plowshares” by disarming the world’s deadliest nuclear weapon, the Trident submarine.

We repent of the sin of white supremacy that oppresses and takes the lives of people of color here in the United States and throughout the world. We resist militarism that has employed deadly violence to enforce global domination. We believe reparations are required for stolen land, labor and lives.

Dr. King said, “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world (today) is my own government.” This remains true in the midst of our endless war on terror. The United States has embraced a permanent war economy.

“Peace through strength” is a dangerous lie in a world that includes weapons of mass destruction on hair-trigger alert. The weapons from one Trident have the capacity to end life as we know it on planet Earth.

Nuclear weapons kill every day through our mining, production, testing, storage, and dumping, primarily on Indigenous Native land. This weapons system is a cocked gun being held to the head of the planet.

As white Catholics, we take responsibility to atone for the horrific crimes stemming from our complicity with “the triplets.” Only then can we begin to restore right relationships. We seek to bring about a world free of nuclear weapons, racism and economic exploitation.

We plead to our Church to withdraw its complicity in violence and war. We cannot simultaneously pray and hope for peace while we bless weapons and condone war making.

Pope Francis says abolition of weapons of mass destruction is the only way to save God’s creation from destruction.

Clarifying the teachings of our Church, Pope Francis said, “The threat of their use as well as their very possession is to be firmly condemned … weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons, create nothing but a false sense of security. They cannot constitute the basis for peaceful coexistence between members of the human family, which must rather be inspired by an ethics of solidarity.”

Nuclear weapons eviscerate the rule of law, enforce white supremacy, perpetuate endless war and environmental destruction and ensure impunity for all manner of crimes against humanity. Dr. King said, “The ultimate logic of racism is genocide.” We say, “The ultimate logic of Trident is omnicide.” A just and peaceful world is possible when we join prayers with action. Swords into Plowshares!

Elizabeth McAlister
Mark Colville
Clare Grady
Martha Hennessy
Stephen Kelly S.J.
Patrick O’Neill
Carmen Trotta

Link to: Kings Bay Plowshares Facebook group

Sen. Susan Collins' Staff: It's Not Worth It; Tax Bill Protesters: Au Contraire

Mainers continue to struggle against tax laws that benefit only the wealthy.

Three Maine women -- Sharon Dean of East Machias, Ridgely Fuller of Belfast, and Jessica Stewart of Bass Harbor -- were arrested at Senator Susan Collins’ Bangor office last December demonstrating against her support for a very bad federal tax bill.

Their belief that the tax bill would harm Maine’s most vulnerable people led the three to remain in the office after they were asked to leave. Collins' staff called Homeland Security and had the three arrested.

"Protesters outside U.S. Sen. Susan Collins' Bangor office on Monday. Gail Leiser is dressed as 'Darth Traitor" to protest Collins' support of the Republican tax overhaul bill." Bangor Daily News 12/18/17

All have vowed to keep speaking truth to power until Collins is accountable to all Maine people. Fuller said in a statement to local reporters after the first day of their trial on March 21, 

The health care component of it that [Collins] is addressing today is one component of a really disastrous tax bill that will promote inequality throughout our country.

logan@belfastcriminallaw.com

Their attorney, Logan Perkins of Belfast, argued that calling in federal law enforcement was "meant to intimidate people from exercising their first amendment rights in her office as well as punishing political speech," according to an email sent to me by Fuller. Sen. Collins' office staff have called in the Bangor police during previous sit-ins, but the District Attorney subsequently refused to press charges.

Perkins is the attorney who represented Stewart and myself at our trial for criminal trespass at Bath Iron Works earlier this year. She achieved a victory for the 1st Amendment when Justice Dan Billings granted her motion to acquit saying that, when BIW holds an event open to the public, it cannot exclude people solely on the basis of protected political speech.

Defendant Stewart shared her written reflection with me after their day in court this week. Both sides in that trial now have until April 7 to file briefs outlining their views of the 1st Amendment issues at stake in the case.

There Comes a Time

by Jessica Stewart

At the close of our trial, the prosecutor, Andrew Lizotte, walked to the podium and  began dramatically, “There Comes a Time...” Shocked, I imagined him about to launch into the words of Mario Savio. But no, he wanted to anticlimactically explain that “there comes a time to leave a congressional office.”

In fact, there comes a time RIGHT NOW, that we need to walk into our congresspeople’s offices, our public squares, and our streets to lift up a vision for a more fair world and lessen preventable suffering and hardship.

As we were in Senator Collins’ office, just before the DHS police arrived, Collins’ staff person, Carol Woodcock, lectured us that the tax plan “wasn’t worth it, was not worth staying in the office over...” Those words galvanized my commitment more than any of the recycled, incorrect explanations for the tax bill that had been tossed around all afternoon. Maybe none of this is “worth it” to Senator Collins or her staffers. But to those of us whose family, loved ones, and friends will be harmed by the tax bill, it is beyond worth it. Maybe it does not seem so to Senator Collins’ staff, but the tax plan is a life and death matter for some people in our communities. Tax policy choice means the difference between people getting critical medical care or suffering, even dying without, children going to school hungry versus universal access to healthy food, prison versus college for young people, families becoming homeowners versus becoming homeless.

We are all co-creators of our society and our world. If we do not ask for a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world, it will not happen.

If we believe compassionate and fair economic policy is possible and attainable, we are called to breathe life into that possibility through action. We must also offer a passionate, loving, and firm No when we see wrong being done in our names. However, more than saying no, when I stayed at Senator Collins’ office, I was saying YES to a world where we ensure everyone in community has healthcare, where social mobility is possible, where we build sustainable infrastructure to allow young people from all communities to thrive, and where we care for elders.

The tax plan, was and is, an act of violence toward the poor, the young, communities of color, people with disabilities, and any individual or community who lacks wealth and political power. It is also a paean to hopelessness about the possibilities of the human community. We live in a country with tremendous wealth, smart and innovative people, and a vast array of resources.  If only we choose to allocate our resources ethically and compassionately, we can afford to ensure that everyone has healthcare. We can provide an excellent education to all children. We can repair the racial wealth gap. We can make sure everyone has access to enough healthy food - and so much more. Shared prosperity and wellbeing are attainable.

But we cannot do it by funneling every more money to the wealthy. As we sat in Collins’ office, her staff reiterated disproven tropes about trickle down economics. We were asked accept that the best way to help our poorest community members was to funnel ever more money to the wealthiest individuals and corporations and trust that wealth would could magically trickle down to those of us nearer the bottom. This is like being told that the best way to help the Cratchett family and the poor of London  is by pouring money into Scrooge’s business.

In reality, the tax plan provides a permanent cut in the corporate income tax rate that overwhelmingly benefits people with significant capital, mostly the top 1 percent. While the plan included some temporary cuts that may potentially benefit some low- and moderate-income families, these benefits are both minimal and temporary, whereas the tax cuts for the largest corporations are large and permanent.

The net effect of the tax bill will be an increase in wealth inequality. 83% of the benefits will accrue to the top 1% by the time it is fully phased in, in 2027, according to the Tax Policy Center.

Defenders of the bill, such as Collins, argue that the benefits of corporate tax cuts will trickle down to workers in the form of faster productivity growth and higher wages, but this claim falls apart when compared to real economic data.

A large body of empirically sound research shows that the benefits of a cut in corporate income taxes accrue overwhelmingly to wealthy owners of capital instead of to workers and ordinary low and middle income people. In turn, capital ownership is extraordinarily concentrated at the top of the income distribution. For example, the top 1 % of households own roughly 40 % of all stocks.

Besides the permanent cut to corporate tax rates, the tax bill’s temporary cuts to individual income taxes includes a preferential rate for “pass-through” businesses—businesses that pay no corporate taxes but whose owners must pay taxes on profits on their individual tax returns when those profits are “passed through” to them. While this is often described as a tax cut for “small businesses,” it is in fact a tax cut for high income financial elites. Pass-through income is even more concentrated at the very top of the income distribution. 69% of pass-through income is claimed by the richest 1% of households. This means that most of those benefits will not go to small businesses like mom and pop restaurants or day care centers, but instead to hedge funds, large law firms, and big Wall Street consulting and accounting firms.

Years of top notch economics research tells us that trickle down economic policies do not lead to shared prosperity or economic growth, but to widening gap between rich and poor.

Likewise, wealth inequality is not an unfortunate abstraction of our era. It has agonizing and preventable real-world consequences. The people of Maine and this county deserve so much more.

Defendant Dean said at a press conference following Wednesday's trial:

I would just like to encourage people, average people, who are struggling in this country right now, with a lot of the stuff that's hitting us from all sides, from different fronts, that we all have to step up.

We all have to get out of our comfort zones.

Struggling with tears, Dean continued, "This isn't something that I set out to do, but when we care about stuff we've got to step up, we've got to do it."

Rather than pay a $130 fine, Dean and the others chose to go to trial. If they are found guilty of the charge of failing to obey a lawful order (i.e. to leave the offices) they could be sentenced to 30 days in jail and/or fined $5,000.

These women are my sheros. They speak up for people in Maine who are too sick or preoccupied with economic hardships to communicate with senate staffers in person. They use their white privilege to get arrested not beaten, or even killed, by police. They are all mothers who sacrifice their own comfort to struggle for a better life for their children and grandchildren's generations.

Too Scared To Protest, Or Too Foolish To Be Scared? #Aegis9

I learned with sadness that a former colleague had passed away. In my very first classroom -- an overcrowed trailer in Belgrade, Maine -- my Title I ed tech support for struggling readers was an experienced educator with a warm heart.

As a career change teacher I had a lot of adjusting to do to wrap my head around the often loony world of educating the whole public.

It began the day this ed tech took me aside and complained that a parent volunteer had her 5th grade daughter seated on her lap during reading group and was whispering the answers in the girl's ear.

Many years later I was the literacy coordinator at the district's middle school and my ed tech friend had transferred there as well. She stopped me in the hall to compliment a letter to the editor I had written supporting the importance of protecting Social Security under the W. Bush administration.

She described her own family's reliance on SS after her father passed away while the children were still growing up. I encouraged her to write a letter to the editor because people need to know that. She looked shocked and said that our superintendent "would not appreciate that." I countered that he had never said anything about my letters to the editor, to which her reply was "but that's you."

Apparently my lot in life is to do the things that other people yearn to do, but are too scared to try.

I was raised by parents who encouraged this sort of thinking if not action, and my mother was famous for slapping my father's boss after he pinched her butt at a party. My father laughed as he bragged about it to us children the next day.

 Organizer Toby Blome being arrested for blocking access to Creech Air Base in Nevada October, 2017.

Actually I know many people who have a far more impressive track record than I do of civil disobedience, or civil resistance if you prefer that term. My whole rap sheet consists of one arrest at the White House protesting Obama's continuation of imperial wars (failure to disperse from the fence, fined and released by bored Capitol police honoring my privilege as a white middle class woman). And now being a member of the Aegis 9.

The Aegis 9 were arrrested in an April Fool's Day snowstorm at General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works shipyard.

A director of the school board I work for now tried to block my internal transfer after news of my arrest became public.

The board's lawyers billed some expensive hours explaining to them why they did not want to do that as my right to freedom of expression on my own time was protected by the Constitution.

This turn of events caused the publicity surrounding my case to spread through my union, the Maine Education Association; my school district; and the law firm that represents almost all the school districts in Maine. Not bad for a few hours of my time on April 1.

Many of the Aegis 9 continued to bring their messages to Bath Iron Works during Maine's annual peace walk in October.

But as experienced civil disobedience/resistance defense lawyer Phil Worden reportedly said, the process is the punishment. And we haven't gone to trial yet.

I'm already feeling guilty for leaving my students and current teaching partner in the lurch on November 9 as my presence is required in court for jury selection. 

Those interested in reading more background on our actions and the legal proceedings thus far can use the links on this list. 

Which Side Are You On In The Struggle Against Corporate Government? #Aegis 9

#Aegis9 Video + Corporate And Local News Coverage Of Arrests At Bath Iron Works

Denied Entrance To Warship Christening[sic], #Aegis9 Arrested For Criminal Trespass

Is "Good German" Status Quo The Order Of Our Day? #Aegis9'

It pains me to compare my departed colleague to the "good Germans" who permitted the rise of Nazi government and the Holocaust on their watch.

But I think the comparison is apt. Most Germans weren't Nazis, but they were scared, and their timidity mostly ensured their silent complicity in WWII. The above-linked essay by my co-defendent Jason Rawn does a good job of laying out this argument.

This former Nazi Party member refused to salute Hitler -- at a shipyard in Hamburg in 1936.

If you're in Maine and want to step out of your comfort zone to support the Aegis 9, you can do so in West Bath District Court on November 9 at 8:30am. Our actual trial date will likely be set at that time, and is expected to be either in November or December.

UPDATE: Jury selection was postponsed in November and actually goes forward today, Friday, January 5, 2018 and our trial date is now tentatively Feb 1 & 2, 2018.

Charges Dropped Against Capitol Activists After Police Chief Tweets Asking To Join Their Action

Stop the War Machine: Export Peace banner used by those arrested on the Capitol steps July 12, 2017. Photo: Art Laffin from The Nuclear Resister

Reposting news of this great action and the report back from Max Obuszewski in Baltimore (emphasis added via bold sections of text is mine):

The government decides not to prosecute the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance Six, arrested on the U.S. Capitol steps for pleading for an end to war funding

It was a long and winding road for six citizen activists arrested on July 12, 2017 by the Capitol Police, but the case was finally concluded on August 24 when our “Stop the War Machine: Export Peace” banner and a red sash were finally released from police custody.  On that oppressively hot July 12, the anniversary of Henry David Thoreau’s 200th birthday, Joy First, from Wisconsin, Malachy Kilbride, a Quaker from Maryland, Max Obuszewski from Baltimore, Phil Runkel, an archivist of Dorothy Day’s papers at Marquette University, Janice Sevre-Duszynska, also from Baltimore, and Alice Sutter, a retired nurse from New York City, visited the offices of the Senate and House leadership from both parties.

A petition pleading for an end to war funding was taken to the office of Sen. Mitch McConnell and later to Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office.  One of Schumer’s aides, who was of Pakistani heritage, engaged the group in a lengthy discussion, especially over the question of the legality of drone strikes.   From there, the petitioners went to Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office, where a staff person accepted the petition.  Our final stop was to the door of Rep. Paul Ryan’s office.  On Ryan’s door, which was locked, there was a sign “Only people with a scheduled meeting were allowed to enter.”  We knocked, but there was no answer.  So a petition was then slipped under the door with a flyer condemning U.S. military operations.  

We then proceeded to the steps of the U.S. Capitol, just across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court , and unfurled the banner and red sash, which represented the blood pouring out of the Capitol as our legislators consistently vote to fund the war machine.  We were wearing bloody tee shirts to signify what happens to the victims of war funding. Surrounded by Capitol Police officers, we took turns reading the petition.  We were given four warnings to cease or be arrested.  The reading kept getting interrupted as one-by-one, we were taken into custody.  Janice, a Roman Catholic woman priest, insisted to the police that she was going to finish reading the petition, and the police did not interfere. 

Alice, Janice and Joy at Paul Ryan's office in Washington DC

We were not handcuffed, were given cold water and were allowed to keep all possessions without  being frisked.  There was no fingerprinting, but a photograph of each activist was taken. Then tables and chairs were brought out of a police van, and the officers gathered our personal information before giving the defendants a citation release document. We were charged with Crowding, Obstructing and Incommoding and ordered to report on July 13 to U.S. Capitol Police Headquarters to request a court date.  Actually, we had fifteen days to report.   

Based on many arrests by the U.S. Capitol Police, I had never experienced one without being handcuffed.  I have no idea why someone in the Capitol Police hierarchy decided to follow this procedure.  I was arrested on those same Capitol steps during President Obama’s last State of the Union address in January 2016.  We spent 6 ½ hours in jail before being released.    

On July 13, four defendants did appear at the Capitol Police Headquarters, and were given an arraignment date of July 26 to appear in D.C. Superior Court. Janice and I went to the headquarters on July 16, and were given August 2 as our arraignment date.   On July 25, Mark Goldstone, a renowned First Amendment attorney, was informed by the U.S. Attorney’s office that Alice, Joy, Malachy and Phil had their cases no-papered.   On our arraignment date, Janice and Max went online and discovered that we were not listed on the Superior Court docket.  So we presumed our cases were also not papered.  Now we began the saga to get the banner and sash released by the Capitol Police.  It took four visits to police headquarters, and the assistance of an Assistant Attorney General, before Janice could pick up the property. 

Members of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR] petitioned the Congressional leadership on behalf of the voiceless, the poor, the middle class, the immigrants and people whose pleas are ignored.  And this was done on the 50th anniversary year of Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech at the Riverside Church in Manhattan, entitled “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” 

It was important, as well, to read the petition on the Capitol steps as part of the Rivers of Blood II action. On September 20, 2007, the original Rivers of Blood action included a die-in by 31 peace activists in the crypt of the U.S. Capitol. So what has changed in ten years? Congress still consistently  allocates tax dollars which go toward death and destruction in many parts of the world, most especially the Middle East.   

On July 11, Joy received an email from “Andrew:” “I am wishing for more information on the call for action at the Capitol tomorrow.

I have been arrested previously for non violent [sic] demonstrations and want to seek more justice.  What time are we expected to demonstrate and what specific location.  Thank you.” 

I had an opportunity to chat with the Capitol Police commander after the arrest and noticed his nameplate.  He was the mysterious Andrew who sent the email.  

Of course, it is unethical for a police officer to lie, but not illegal.  We intended to subpoena “Andrew” to appear in court to testify during the trial. Was this the reason the charges were no-papered?  Did the other arrests taking place in July inside the Senate and House of Representatives buildings over Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act overwhelm the court dockets? 

Regardless of the reason our cases were dismissed, the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance is gearing up for another action in the fall called Healthcare Not Warfare.  We will make a demand for improved Medicare for All. 

Let me know if you would like to join us.  Again the action is planned to be commemorative of the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s Riverside Church speech.Another anniversary to commemorate in 2017 is that of the ending of the Great War in 1917.  Randolph Bourne, a writer who died in 1918 of the flu epidemic brought on by World War I, understood a predicament which we are still protesting today: “War is the health of the State. It automatically sets in motion throughout society those irresistible forces for uniformity, for passionate co-operation with the Government in coercing into obedience the minority groups and individuals which lack the larger herd sense.” 

Have common sense, not larger herd sense, and join us in direct action calling for funding healthcare for all instead of the profiting from warfare by the few. 

Max Obuszewski is with the Baltimore Nonviolence Center 

“One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better" - Daniel Berrigan 

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/