Kabat’s de-fence of nuclear weapons plant
Carl Kabat returned to the Kansas City Plant on July 4 (as he did last year). He named his action the 85% Pruning Hooks action. Here’s two reports and his statement:
from Chrissy Kirckhofier
Update on Carl Kabat’s action in the early morning of July 4 at the new nuclear bomb plant in Kansas City: He has been charged with 2 counts of trespass and one charge of property destruction. He is being detained in the Kansas City detention center on a $750 bond. It is antipated that he will appear before the judge via court TV at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning (July 5).
Carl’s intent was to do prep work in the days prior to Interdependence Day by cutting as much of the fence perimeter of the 170 acres as possible, to in his words “allow all of the Holy One’s deer and other animals that once used the former bean field for its habitat”. He continued, “Besides the bolt cutters to de-fence the property, I intend to take a claw hammer which could be used for whatever need arises and some sugar with me….what I would like to do and what I will be able to do are two very different things. May the Holy One bless us and have mercy on us.”
Fr. Carl Kabat, OMI has continued his life’s work of doing “nonviolent public resistance to evil” by embodying Isaiah’s prophecy of beating swords into plowshares. He has spent over 18 years in prison for this witness. May we be inspired by Carl’s witness today as we celebrate Interdependence Day, grateful for the witness of those willing to take a risk for all of Creation. He stated “In place of defense, I would like to de-fence.”
xxx
‘Interdependence Day’ action
Priest trespasses at new nuke-parts complex
By Jane Stoever
Carl Kabat, 78, a priest from St. Louis who belongs to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, continued his life’s witness against nuclear weapons on “Interdependence Day,” July 4. Under cover of darkness, way before dawn, he entered the well-fenced 170-acre complex in southern Kansas City, Mo., a new facility for making parts for nuclear weapons. Kabat slept several hours and, with daylight, took a long walk across the property, eventually drawing close to the front entry. “A guard saw me and drove toward me in a golf cart, asking, ‘Want a ride?’ So I went with him” to the entry, Kabat later said. He was under arrest for about 32 hours.
On July 5, Kabat pleaded not guilty to charges of trespass and property destruction. His arraignment is set for Aug. 21 at 1:30 p.m. in KC Municipal Court at 1101 Locust. He expects to request a later trial where he can explain his action to the judge.
According to a friend of Kabat, he said he wanted to open up the fencing to “allow all of the Holy One’s deer and other animals that once used the former bean field for its habitat. … In place of defense, I would like to de-fence.” On July 5, after his release, he said the fencing was 10 feet high and sturdy, not permitting much de-fencing.
In a formal statement developed before the action, Kabat mourned the deaths caused by the Nazis in World War II and by the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. “One of our Minuteman III’s could kill approximately three million of our sisters and brothers,” said Kabat. “We have perfected the ‘art’ of killing and burning. … Four Minuteman III’s could kill twelve million of our sisters and brothers. … The opinion of the International Court in 1995 states that nuclear weapons are a Crime Against Humanity!”
Kabat’s first anti-nuke, pro-peace action in Missouri was to occupy a nuclear missile silo 45 miles east of KC, close to Hwy. 70. He and three other activists used a jackhammer to damage the concrete cover over the missile—a plowshares action, in line with Isaiah’s mandate to beat swords into plowshares. For that action, he served 12 years in federal prison. Reflecting on the missile site event, Kabat said July 5, “We shut down that missile silo for a month.”
I, Fr. Carl Kabat, omi, have decided to celebrate Independence Day
July 4th, 2012 (better named Interdependence Day) at the New Nuclear
Bomb Factory in Kansas City, Missouri. Eighty-Five percent (85%) of
the nuclear bombs we (the US Citizens) own were made in Kansas City
and 85% of all our future bombs will be made at this new factory in
Kansas City.
The bombs we dropped on Japan have killed over one hundred thousand
(100,000) of our Japanese sisters and brothers, plus five of our own
Air-force personnel being held in jails there. This includes those
sisters and brothers immediately vaporized and those who died slow
deaths over the following weeks, months even years.
The Nazis killed and burned approximately six million (6,000,000) Jews
and five million (5,000,000) others. One of our Minuteman III’s could
kill approximately three million (3,000,000) of our sisters and
brothers. We have perfected the “art” of killing and burning of
sisters and brothers to the point that what the Nazis accomplished in
years, we can do in minutes. Four Minuteman III’s could kill twelve
million (12,000,000) of our sisters and brothers. We (and others) have
perfected the killing of sisters and brothers to the ultimate.
Dum-Dum Bullets and poison gas are outlawed by International Law. The
opinion of the International Court in 1995 states that nuclear weapons
are a Crime Against Humanity!
Fr. Carl Kabat, omi