Summer 2015
IN THIS E-BULLETIN
FIVE SUPPORTERS OF NUCLEAR DEAL WITH IRAN ARRESTED AT ALBANY FEDERAL BUILDING
NINE DRONE PROTESTERS ARRESTED AT VOLK FIELD
RESENTENCING OF TRANSFORM NOW PLOWSHARES TRIO TO HAPPEN BY PHONE
ACTIVISTS ARRESTED AT NUCLEAR WEAPONS SITES ACROSS U.S., marking 70th anniversary of atomic bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
THREE ACTIVISTS DETAINED AFTER INFILTRATING U.S./AUSTRALIAN MILITARY TRAINING SITE
SPANISH ANTI-NUCLEAR CAMPAIGNER FINISHING UP 17 WEEK PRISON SENTENCE
JOHN DEAR, ON WHY WE HAVE TO NONVIOLENTLY RESIST NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PLEASE SUPPORT IMPRISONED ANTI-NUCLEAR AND ANTI-WAR ACTIVISTS – THE NUCLEAR RESISTER NEEDS YOU!
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Five supporters of nuclear deal with Iran arrested at Albany federal building
Five women, including an 89 and 90-year-old, had a sit-in at the Albany, NY federal building on August 26 to protest Senator Chuck Schumer’s decision to oppose the nuclear deal with Iran. They wanted to let him know it wasn’t too late to change his mind. The peace activists were arrested when they refused to leave the federal building.
Read more here.
Nine drone protesters arrested at Volk Field
Peace activists concluded a 90 mile walk on August 26 with a protest at Volk Field, an Air National Guard Base in Wisconsin where Shadow drone training takes place. When nine of them stepped onto the base, they were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and trespass, and processed and released from jail with a September 30 court date.
Read more here.
Resentencing of Transform Now Plowshares trio to happen by phone
The September 15 resentencing of Sr. Megan Rice, Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed on their remaining depredation conviction for their July 2012 Transform Now Plowshares action at the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, will be held by teleconference. Their attorneys will ask the judge to forgo probation and to drop the restitution required in the original sentencing. The prosecution has indicated that it will NOT ask for more prison time.
Read more here.
Activists arrested at nuclear weapons sites across U.S., marking 70th anniversary of atomic bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
Groups of nuclear disarmament activists were arrested during nonviolent resistance actions at the Pentagon, Lockheed Martin, Bangor Trident Base, Kansas City nuclear weapons plant, Livermore Lab and Vandenberg Air Force Base, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, and to say Never Again.
Read more here.
Three activists detained after infiltrating U.S./Australian military training site
Three men infiltrated a U.S.-Australian military training exercise at Shoalwater Bay in Australia before dawn on July 8. Range Control for the Talisman Sabre war rehearsal exercises was notified that civilians were present and asked to call a ceasefire. The protesters were found later that morning by military police, and then handed over to local police.
Read more here.
Spanish anti-nuclear campaigner finishing up 17 week prison sentence
A Spanish anti-nuclear campaigner was sent to prison for 17 weeks for refusing to pay €6,000 for what he called “energy and harmful pollutants” as a protest against the Almaraz nuclear power plant, located west of Madrid in the Spanish Extremadura. On May 6, 2010, Máximo González García chained himself to the entrance of the plant to protest a ten-year extension of its operating license, which was granted in June, 2010. He was arrested several times at the gate since then. The activist was ordered to turn himself in at the prison on May 7, 2015 for his refusal to pay the electric rate. He instead once again chained himself to the nuclear power plant gate.
González García’s son, now an amputee, is the only survivor among up to nine people in the region diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer, following a 1988 radiation leak at the plant.
Read more here.
John Dear, on why we have to nonviolently resist nuclear weapons
…Remember what Mahatma Gandhi said 70 years ago shortly after the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima: We have seen the physical effects of the atomic bomb on the Japanese people, but it is too early to see the spiritual effects on the people who made and used the bomb, the Americans.
That’s what we are living through today — the dire spiritual consequences of vaporizing hundreds of thousands of people at Hiroshima and Nagasaki; as well as building tens of thousands of nuclear weapons since then, and continuing time and time again to threaten to use them…
These weapons are the ultimate evil. They do not make us safe, they do not protect the earth, they do not promote the common good or insure our health or create global peace. They only serve the one percent, so they need to be abolished. Now.
What we need are people who are not afraid to wake up, to be aware, to be mindful, to be nonviolent, to be alert to what has happened and what continues to happen. We don’t need to scream…, or to remain in mindlessness or despair or psychic numbing or become violent or give in to collective insanity. We need to practice peace, mindfulness and nonviolence, and to pursue together a new world without nuclear weapons.
Read more here.
Please support imprisoned anti-nuclear and anti-war activists – The Nuclear Resister needs YOU!
The Nuclear Resister is a bare bones operation that depends on grassroots support to chronicle anti-war and anti-war resistance, and support the women and men in prison for their acts of conscience. We need your help to continue this work – please read more here!! Or go directly here to make a secure online donation and find information about how to send a check. Each and every donation, large or small, will be gratefully received – thank you!
