Electric Boat - Groton

In the bitter cold morning air of January 17, fifty people gathered at the gates of Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, to protest the "madness of militarism" which Martin Luther King so consistently condemned. The group called for a cancellation of the planned upgrade of four early Trident submarines to carry newer and more deadly Trident II missiles, as well as a proposal to turn four other Tridents into cruise missile platforms. Electric Boat may well receive contracts for both these projects.

Twelve of the demonstrators entered the Engineering Building where plans for these projects are being prepared. There they wove cloth and yarn on the outside of the door, symbolically closing the building. All were arrested on charges of criminal trespass. Two pled no contest the following day, and were sentenced to six months in jail, suspended, plus one year supervised probation and 100 hours community service.

No trial date has been set for the other ten defendants.