Thousands of people have signed petitions demanding a Citizens Disarmament
Inspection of Lockheed Martin to determine if its Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
facilities are in compliance with the World Court opinion of July ‘96,
which declared that the threat or use of nuclear weapons are illegal, or
if these facilities operate as “international sites of crime.” Lockheed
Martin is the largest war contractor in the world, and the U.S.
government’s chief nuclear weapons contractor. After war contracts,
Lockheed Martin’s only other significant and growing business is the management
of state welfare departments and prisons.
Last January 18, Martin Luther King Day, some 40 people organized by
the Brandywine Peace Community attempted the inspection of three facilities
during a walk through the complex, proceeding mostly on Lockheed Martin
property. Throughout the walk, a sound van broadcast excerpts of
various speeches and sermons of Dr. King.
At Lockheed Martin Bldg.#9, the walk concluded as 15 people were arrested for insisting on a Citizens Disarmament Inspection and refusing to leave until it happens. All 15 were cited for criminal trespass and released.
Project ELF
Seventeen peace activists were arrested Sunday, January 17, at a northern Wisconsin nuclear weapons communications facility.
The arrests capped a weekend rally by activists from the United States, Canada, and Central America honoring the birthday anniversary of slain civil rights and anti-war leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday’s demo was the eighth annual King Holiday protest at Project E.L.F.
About 100 people traveled to the U.S. Navy’s Extremely Low Frequency (E.L.F.) radio transmitter, near Clam Lake, which is used by the Pentagon to signal U.S. and British nuclear-armed submarines around the world. Project E.L.F. is also used to direct submarines firing tactical cruise missiles, and is thought to have played that role in the December attacks on Iraq that killed thousands.
Nine of the arrested were released on site. Eight others were booked at the jail and then released. All 17 were ordered to court February 15. All are subject to a fine of $181 and loss of their driver’s licenses if they refuse to pay.
On May 11, Mary Alice Shemo of Pittsburgh, one of the 17, was convicted or trespass and sentenced to nine days in jail by Judge Robert Eaton. She was also fined $178 and had Wisconsin driving privileges revoked for five years. The jail sentence was a change of pace from what the northwoods resisters usually experience, with the court reluctant to jail even repeat resisters. None of the other King Day defendants returned to court, and they will be assessed the fine.
For more information, contact Nukewatch, POB 649, Luck, WI 54853,
(715)472-4185, fax (715)472-4184, email: nukewtch@win.bright.net