The Nuclear Resister

World BEYOND War photo

from World BEYOND War

OTTAWA — On May 31, over a hundred people have disrupted the opening of CANSEC, North America’s largest military weapons convention in Ottawa, where 10,000 attendees were expected to gather. 

Activists carrying 50 foot banners saying “Stop Profiting from War,” “Arms Dealers Not Welcome” and holding dozens of “War Crimes Start Here” signs blocked vehicle and pedestrian entrances as attendees attempted to register for and enter the convention centre, preventing attendees from getting in for Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand’s planned opening keynote address. In police efforts to remove the protesters, they grabbed banners, and handcuffed and arrested one protester, who was later released without charges.

from the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action

photo by Glen Milner

Activists blockaded the entrance to the U.S. Navy’s west coast nuclear submarine base, which is home to the largest operational concentration of deployed nuclear weapons, in a nonviolent direct action the day before Mother’s Day.

Eight peace activists from the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, holding banners reading “The Earth is Our Mother, Treat Her With Respect” and “Nuclear Weapons are Immoral to Use, Immoral to Have, Immoral to Make,” briefly blocked all incoming traffic at the Main Gate at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Silverdale, Washington as part of a May 13th Mother’s Day observance.

From left to right: Inga Blum, Ernst-Ludwig Iseknius, Ria Makein, Johannes Willbold, Gerd Büntzly, Miriam Menzel-Krämer, Lies Welker, Christiane Danowski

On May 8, the day Germans commemorate the end of a fascist regime and the end of World War II, seven opponents of war entered the Büchel air base. They nonviolently disrupted the preparation for nuclear war by obstructing construction work for the new runway. The new runway is a prerequisite for the deployment of new nuclear weapons that will soon be stationed in Büchel. 

The participants from all over Germany, aged between 43 and 75, thus set a sign for life on the anniversary of the end of the war and demanded an end to the threat of mass destruction, which violates international law. They were arrested and taken to the police station in Cochem before being released.

photo by Shirley Tung

from Shut Down Drone Warfare

Five Anti-Drone Warfare Activists – Including Three Veterans – Arrested Wednesday Morning at Main Gates of Holloman Air Force Base Drone Training Center Near Alamogordo, New Mexico

HOLLOMAN AFB, NM (Wednesday, April 19) – Five anti-drone warfare activists – including three military veterans – were arrested here shortly after dawn on Wednesday morning for allegedly blocking the entrance to the main gates of Holloman Air Force Base, site of the largest U.S. killer drone training program in the U.S. (700 killer drone pilots/operators graduate annually).

Toby Blomé, Ken Mayers, Elliot Adams, Michael Kerr and Richard Bishop were arrested by Otero County, New Mexico deputies, and charged with misdemeanor obstruction of a roadway. A trial was set for May 15 in Otero County, New Mexico.

photo by Margaret Ferguson Burns

by Margaret Ferguson Burns

This morning, 5th April – an early start and a fine action.

Lying in a lock-on, enjoying the sounds of the gate sliding shut behind us, the warning klaxon overhead, high above the electrified, barbed wire topped main entrance to HMNB Clyde (home of the UK’s nuclear powered and armed submarines of mass destruction) – and the merry call of “Bandit Alarm; North Gate closed; traffic within the base divert to…” blaring out from the loudspeakers.

The heavy rain splashing chill on our faces in the dull coldness, and creeping through the many layers of clothing.