Omaha cab driver and Navy veteran Mark Kenney reported to the federal prison in Duluth, Minnesota on Monday, April 16, to begin serving a six month sentence for once again crossing the line at Offutt Air Force Base to "plead for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons." Of seven protesters who were arrested last December 28, Kenney was the only one who was in violation of a previous ban and bar letter from the base.

Kenney entered a plea of no contest at his March 13 arraignment. He made a statement, reading from the Book of Matthew and quoting a Vatican II document: "The arms race is one of the greatest curses on the human race and the harm it inflicts on the poor is more than can be endured." He was sentenced to the maximum prison time, and at his request, released until after Easter.

Kenney is a regular witness for peace at Offutt's gate, and also at Omaha's SAC Museum, an exhibition of artifacts alleging to honor the history and mission of the Strategic Air Command, predecessor to today's StratCom, the nation's nuclear command center located at Offutt. On March 10, Kenney was joined at the highway exit to the museum by members of the Des Moines Catholic Worker Community, who held signs asking that "Catholic Charities Boycott SAC Museum" and "Christians Study War No More."

Later, the group leafletted people arriving for the annual Catholic Charities' benefit dinner: "Shame on the Archdiocese! You can't raise money for the poor and feast at the SAC Museum without blessing the bloody Cold War it represents, its weapons of mass destruction and its evil intent to use them. You also mock the poor we strive to serve."

As 1,000 dinner guests took their seats in full view of the weapons and war plans on display, Catholic Workers Ed Bloomer and Jerry Ebner entered through the kitchen. They waited for a sign, then walked to the center of the room and amended the Archbishop's invocation as he read from Matthew 25: "When I was hungry, you gave me food. When I was naked, you gave me clothes..."

"Brothers and sisters in Christ, we bring you a message from the Document of Vatican II," they declared. Ebner began reading the same quote that Kenney would read to the court a few days later. Both men were quickly grabbed and held for security guards by the charitable guests. The guards vigorously escorted the men to the door and threatened them with arrest if they returned. Content that the witness was successful, the two departed "with joyful hearts."

Kenney returns to federal prison almost five years after last serving a six month federal sentence for trespass at Offutt. His 1981 departure from the U.S. Navy as "unsuitable" for military service came as a result of an awakening that began as he walked among the nuclear missile silos aboard a submarine as part of his training for war.

Letters of support for Mark Kenney and his wife, Marie, may be sent to them at 1915 S. 44th St. #314, Omaha, NE 68105. Marie Kenney will forward letters to the prison.

(Thanks to via pacis, newsletter of the Des Moines Catholic Worker.)