Squadron13 Aviation Museum
and Flights of Thought on War and Politics
12 arrested at Nuke base near Seattle
My arrest on federal charges of "trespass" on Saturday at the Bangor
Trident Sub base near Seattle was totally inspired by the "Plowshare
Five" who literally risked their lives to send us all an important
message, and have already been found guilty of charges that could put
most of them behind bars for life. They will be sentenced March 28th
in Tacoma, on the anniversary of the Three Mile Island disaster.
What was that important message? Here is my favorite video covering
their non-violent civil disobedience action of November 2009, a
humorous and educational video satire which was aired on Seattle's KING5 news:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63B_PaQatco
I've got a lot of video to process of Saturday's event, will post
more later, but here is a link to my picture collection from this
weekends event posted on my Facebook account:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=351111&id=744117817&l=f1b9680e7a
Anyone can see the pictures at this link, but if you want to comment
on the pics you'll have to "friend" me first.
Many thanks to the Eugene and Portland supporters who funded my trip
to Poulsbo Washington in support of the Ground Zero Center for
Non-violence, I could NOT have done it without your help!
Happy Martin Luther King day!!!
Gordon Sturrock
Radical Vet, for truth, justice and non-violence
Here's the official post action press release which includes links to
additional resources:
January 16, 2011
News Release
For Immediate Release
Poulsbo, Washington, Saturday, January 15, 2011 - The Seattle Raging
Grannies set the mood for honoring Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday,
Saturday at the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo,
Washington.
Eighty three people from the Center participated in a vigil at the
Kitsap Mall in Silverdale with the help of a full scale, 44 foot
long, inflatable Trident D-5 missile. Each D-5 missile, deployed on
Trident nuclear submarines, carries up to 8 warheads, each with an
explosive yield of up to 475 kilotons. Each D-5 missile costs
approximately $60 million.
Participants carried signs and banners calling for an end to war and
nuclear weapons. Notable was a quote by Dr. King: "When scientific
power outruns moral power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men."
Back at the Center for, Dr. David Hall, former president of
Washington Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, presented
the threats posed by these nuclear weapons stored at Strategic
Weapons Facility-Pacific and deployed on the Trident nuclear
submarines based at Bangor Navy Base in Kitsap County.
The Seattle Raging Grannies chorus entertained participants with a
series of musical parodies celebrating the day's theme of "Billions
for Life, Not Billions for Death." The theme reflected Dr. King's
words: "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money
on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching
spiritual death."
After nonviolence training 12 activists risked arrest by symbolically
closing the Trigger Avenue gate during the afternoon shift change as
an act of resistance to Trident, a first strike weapons system.
Blocking traffic symbolizes stopping the horrific threat of Trident
missiles, for a short time.
Rosy Betz-Zall, 60, of Seattle, WA; Anne Hall, 65, of Seattle, WA;
Larry Kerschner, 64, of Centralia, WA; Brenda McMillan, 77, of Port
Townsend, WA; Denny Moore, 66, of Bainbridge Island, WA; and Shirley
Morrison, 88, of Seattle, WA walked onto Trigger Avenue with a banner
reading "BILLIONS FOR LIFE, NOT BILLIONS FOR DEATH."
Kitsap County Sheriffs arrested the six protesters. After initial
processing they were transported by Sheriff's van to the Kitsap
County Jail for further processing. They were issued citations for
blocking traffic and released.
Then another six Ground Zero Center activists crossed the 'blue line'
designating federal control. Patricia "Patti" Bass, 63, of Poulsbo,
WA; Carolyn Dorisdotter, 72, Seattle, WA; Norm Keegel, 71, of
Bainbridge Island, WA; Gordon Sturrock, 52, of Eugene, WA; Sam Tower,
68, of Tacoma, WA; and Robert Friend Weber Whitlock, 32, of Olympia
were arrested by naval security personnel, processed and released
after being issued citations for trespassing.
Relating to the day's theme of "Billions for Life, Not Billions for
Death, according to Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation,
"Washington State is planning to cut schools, health care, public
safety and other programs by more that $4 billion. While Washington
State taxpayers have paid $28.6 billion so far for the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan." That figure does not include the annual defense
budget or nuclear weapons spending.
The Trident submarine base at Bangor, just 20 miles from Seattle, is
home to the largest single stockpile of nuclear warheads in the U.S.
arsenal, housing as many as 2000 nuclear warheads. In November 2006,
the Natural Resources Defense Council declared that the 2,364 nuclear
warheads at Bangor are approximately 24 percent of the entire U.S.
arsenal. The Bangor base houses more nuclear warheads than China,
France, Israel, India, North Korea and Pakistan combined. For over
thirty-three years Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action has
engaged in education, training in nonviolence, community building,
resistance against Trident and action toward a world without nuclear weapons.
Contact: Leonard Eiger, Media and Outreach
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
www.gzcenter.org
subversivepeacemaking@gmail.com
(425) 445-2190
###
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Leonard Eiger, Media and Outreach
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action www.gzcenter.org
Disarm Now Plowshares http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com
Email: subversivepeacemaking@gmail.com
Blog: http://nuclearabolitionist.blogspot.com
Blog: http://subversivepeacemaking.blogspot.com
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