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November
17, 2006
Blood-Pouring Anti-Nuke Clowns Sent to
Prison
Weapons
of Mass Destruction Protected!
By BILL QUIGLEY
Three men protesting the presence of
weapons of mass destruction in North Dakota were sentenced to
federal prison terms of over three years and ordered to pay $17,000
in restitution by a federal judge in Bismarck. The three dressed
as clowns and went to the Echo-9 launch site of the intercontinental
Minuteman III nuclear missile in rural North Dakota in June 2006.
They broke the lock off the fence and put up peace banners and
posters. One said: "Swords into plowshares - Spears into
pruning hooks." They poured some of their own blood on the
site, hammered on the nuclear launching facility and waited to
be arrested.
The Minuteman III missile has
over 20 times the destructive power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima
and can reach a target within 6000 miles in 35 minutes. The
men called their action the "Weapons of Mass Destruction
Here Plowshares."
Dressed in faded black striped
prison uniforms and blue cloth slippers, they appeared before
the federal court for sentencing. Fr. Carl Kabat, 73, a catholic
priest from St. Louis with a life-long history of resistance
to nuclear weapons was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Greg
Boetje-Obed, 52, a former Navy officer living with his family
in the Catholic Worker community in Duluth Minnesota was given
a 12 month and one day prison sentence. Michael Walli, 58, also
with the Loaves and Fishes Catholic Worker in Duluth received
8 months. All were ordered to pay $17,000 restitution.
During their trial, the men
openly admitted try to disarm the nuclear weapon. They pointed
out to the jury that each one of these missiles was a devastating
weapon of mass destruction, a killing machine precisely designed
to murder hundreds of thousands. Testimony by experts about
the illegality of these weapons of mass destruction under international
law and their effects were excluded by the court and never heard
by the jury.
The 40 ton Minuteman III site
they damaged lies deep in rural North Dakota, at a site called
Echo-9 about 100 miles north of Bismarck. Coiled beneath the
surface of a bland concrete bunker, it is clearly visible from
the gravel road. In fact, the otherwise pastoral countryside
of farms and silos is full of nuclear weapon silos. One nuclear
weapon launching site lies just across the road from a big farmhouse,
another just down the road from a camp for teens. There are 150
other such nuclear launching facilities in North Dakota alone.
At the sentencing, Father
Carl Kabat, who has already spent 16 years in prison for peace
protests, spoke simply and directly to the court and prosecutor.
"I believe that you, brother judge and brother prosecutor,
know that the Minuteman III at E-9 is insane, immoral and illegal,
but your actions protected that insanity, that immorality and
that illegality. Brother judge, you could have possibly been
a Rosa Parks, but your actions said "no." We all can
openly and publicly condemn North Korea for nuclear bombs. We
can openly and publicly condemn Iraq for nuclear weapons and
go to war with them. We can openly and publicly condemn Iran
for nuclear buildup, but we do not publicly condemn the United
States for the same?"
Fr. Kabat then challenged
all of us, "What is the use of post marking our mail with
exhortations to "Pray for Peace" and then spending
billions of dollars on atomic armed submarines, thermonuclear
weapons and ballistic missiles?"
Michael Walli reaffirmed his
continuing conviction of the illegality and immorality of these
weapons. He pointed out that Irish Courts allowed juries to
hear about international law. Recently, after learning that
US jets were stopping at Shannon Airport to refuel on their way
to bomb Iraq, the Pitstop Plowshares went onto the runway, poured
their blood on it and started to take up the tarmac to prevent
additional flights. After two mistrials, these peace protestors
were acquitted on all counts earlier this year by an Irish jury
who heard an expert on international law and other witnesses
explain the illegality of the U.S. actions. To conclude his
sentencing statement, the Peace Prayer of St. Francis was read
into the record.
Greg Boetje-Obed appealed to the judge to consider the testimony
of the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki about the horrific effects
of a tiny nuclear weapon on their communities, testimony the
court would not allow the jury to hear. He asked the judge to
re-consider expert testimony from Professor Francis Boyle about
the criminality of nuclear weapons under international law and
the UN resolutions calling for nuclear disarmament, evidence
also kept from the jury.
The judge challenged Greg
Boertje-Obed's decision to take actions that risked a year in
prison instead of staying home with his family. "Why would
one leave a wife and daughter at home to engage in juvenile acts
of vandalism to protest nuclear weapons? I would think your
commitment to your family should far outweigh your calling to
such actions." Greg's wife, Michelle Naar Obed, was in
the courtroom during this exchange. After the sentencing was
over, Michelle shook her head and said, "If Greg had left
us his for a year and risked his life to go to war to kill people,
no one would question him they would call him a hero!
But, because he risked time in jail to act out his convictions
for peace, people question his commitment to his family. That
is a tragic."
What does it say about our
society that personal sacrifices to go to war to kill people
in war are praised, while personal sacrifices for peace are condemned?
What does it say that intentional destruction of cities and
communities and families and individuals are considered totally
legal, while actions trying to dismantle weapons of mass destruction
send people to prison? Until those interested in peace are
willing to make the same sacrifices as those interested in war,
peace will not prevail. These three men have proven they are
willing to pay the price for peace. Their courage and sacrifice
challenges us all.
While these men serve their
time in prison, one hundred fifty weapons of mass destruction
sit peacefully free and protected in the fields of North Dakota.
The law protects these weapons and finds those who try to protect
the world from their holocaust criminals. If the weapons are
ever used, the people of North Dakota will not need the news
to tell them. The thunderous fiery launch of these weapons will
signal the failure of justice and the end of life as we know
it.
For more information about
the men contact the Loaves and Fishes Community in Duluth at
218.728.0629 or Nukewatch at 715.472.4185. Copies of some pleadings
in the case, pictures, updates and addresses for the men are
posted on the Jonah House website http://www.jonahhouse.org
Bill Quigley is a human rights lawyer and professor
at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. Bill and Dan
Gregor assisted the defendants in this matter. You can reach
Bill at Quigley@loyno.edu
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