Quotable

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones
-Albert Einstein (contemplating nuclear devastation)

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Videos of Nuclear Resisters Speaking in Court

Friends,

If you've been keeping track of the nuclear resisters who blockaded the Bangor Trident nuclear ballistic missile submarine base on August 6th, we have a surprise.  In addition to the written statements (for some of the defendants) published in an earlier post, we now have videos of all ten resisters who appeared in court on November 9th.

The first video covers the contested hearings for Malcolm Chaddock and Bernie Meyer.  The second video covers the eight mitigation hearings.  In order of appearance, they are: Leonard Eiger, Mack Johnson, Tom Rogers, Betsy Lamb, George Rodkey, Brenda McMillan, Michael Siptroth and Elizabeth Murray.

Now you can see and hear each resister's reasoning for participating in the August 6th action.

We are thankful to videographer Rodney Herold for joining us in court that day and recording the proceedings.

You can also read a summary of the hearings in the November 12th news release.

Toward a Nuclear Free World,

Leonard

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Contested Hearings for Malcolm Chaddock and Bernie Meyer

 
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Mitigation Hearings: Leonard Eiger, Mack Johnson, Tom Rogers, Betsy Lamb, George Rodkey, Brenda McMillan, Michael Siptroth and Elizabeth Murray 

Monday, November 12, 2012

Nuclear resisters speak out in court

Nuclear resisters spoke out against U.S. nuclear weapons policies in a Kitsap County courtroom.
 
On November 9, 2012 ten nuclear resisters associated with Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington, appeared in Judge Stephen J. Holman's courtroom at the Kitsap County District Court. 
 
The ten had participated in a nonviolent direct action along with six other individuals on August 6, 2012. The sixteen resisters engaged in a rolling blockade of the main entrance to the Bangor Trident nuclear submarine base in Silverdale, Washington. All sixteen resisters were briefly detained by Washington State Patrol officers and cited for “Walking on roadway where prohibited.”
 
Holding banner (l to r): Betsy Lamb, George Rodkey and Ann Havill
The Trident submarine base at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, just 20 miles from Seattle, Washington, contains the largest concentration of operational nuclear weapons. Each of the 8 Trident submarines at Bangor carry as many as 24 Trident II(D-5) missiles, each capable of carrying up to 8 independently targetable warheads. Each nuclear warhead has an explosive yield up to 32 times the yield of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
 
In speaking to the resisters’appearance in court, Leonard Eiger, communications coordinator for Ground Zero said, “We were there [in the courtroom] to speak on the public record as to our government's obligations to make sincere efforts toward nuclear disarmament, something that is not occurring based on the evidence, and is pushing the world (once again) toward the inevitable accidental or intentional nuclear war.”
 
Two of the defendants, Malcolm Chaddock, Portland, OR and Bernie Meyer, Olympia, WA contested the charge.
 
Early on in his testimony Chaddock invoked international law. The prosecutor objected on grounds that this was a civil (traffic) case. After some clarification Judge Holman allowed both Chaddock and Meyer wide latitude in what could be included in their testimony. 
 
In his testimony, Meyer reinforced the issue of international law. “I have risked arrest because of a higher law. We symbolically blocked the access road to the platform releasing nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons which are a threat to life on earth and are illegal. If the Court believes I am guilty, punish me to the full. If the Court sees the urgency and purpose of international law incorporated by US law, including International Humanitarian Law, join the effort to save life.”
 
Both Chaddock and Meyer were found guilty of the charge, and the judge reduced their fines to $25.
 
Holsing banner (l to r): Constance Mears, Brenda McMillan,
Elizabeth Murray and Bernie Meyer
The remaining eight defendants did not contest the charge, and chose mitigation in order to be able to speak on the record as to the reasons for their August 6th action. Those choosing mitigation were Tom Rogers, Poulsbo, WA; Michael Siptroth, Belfair, WA; Betsy Lamb, Bend, OR; Leonard Eiger, North Bend, WA; Brenda McMillan, Port Townsend, WA; Mack Johnson, Silverdale, WA; George W Rodkey, Tacoma, WA and Elizabeth Murray, Bellingham, WA.

Elizabeth Murray began her testimony with a perspective on what brought her to Bangor for her first action there. “Prior to retiring I served for 27 years as a political analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency. The last position I held was Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East at the National Intelligence Council. I am therefore keenly aware of the need to protect and safeguard our country. However, the past 10 years - particularly in the wake of 9-11 - have shown that it is time to embrace a new paradigm of "strength through peace" - and that includes nuclear disarmament.”
 
Betsy Lamb spoke to her direct intention on the morning of the action. “My purpose was to remind them [workers arriving at the base] of the implications of their labors, to provide them with a moment to stop and think, and perhaps reconsider what they were doing, or at least what they were contributing to.” 
 
Lamb also spoke to a fundamental reason for nonviolent direct action in this case. “Writing my legislators and signing petitions had not succeeded in eliminating the Trident deployments. It was necessary to take my protest a step further, which I did on August 6 when I was in the roadway at the gates of the Base that deploys these Tridents.”
George Rodkey provided a perspective on the importance of individuals taking personal risk for the greater good. “We often hear about various governments and their attempts to gain nuclear weapons (Iran, North Korea), but seldom or never do we hear of the growing non-governmental organizations, groups and individuals acting to bring an end to nuclear weapons. Our acting is, in part, then, to be a catalyst for even greater changes and initiatives to take place. This is a reasonable expectation because taking a personal risk such as this, with altruistic motive, gets peoples’attention like nothing else. Thus the necessity of our action.”
 
Retired Navy Captain Tom Rogers was direct. "I'm here because I believe our country’s national security strategy based on the threat of nuclear annihilation is a dangerous Cold War relic.” Rogers spoke extensively, based on this naval experience, on the relevance of international law to this issue. He cited the 1996 International Court of Justice opinion in which “the conclusion is that use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is contrary to international law and in particular to the principles and rules of humanitarian law.”   

Rogers justified his actions within the context of setting precedent. “If this unlawful threat of use of nuclear weapons is unchallenged, then the violation will become moot. I blocked the road to challenge deployment of the Trident Weapons System as a violation of international law.”

Rogers concluded by invoking the Nuremberg Principles. “When nations fail to challenge unlawful behavior by other nations, it falls on individual citizens to act. The Nuremberg Principle of Individual Responsibility recognizes the right of ordinary citizens to challenge the unlawful behavior of their governments. Among other things, the Principle is intended to protect citizens engaged in reasonable non-violent protest from the legal violence of the state.”
 
Mack Johnson, who focused on the law and the duty to uphold Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution, spoke of the U.S. Government’s selective enforcement of international rulings, applying them only when they are“expedient for our national security.”
 
In his testimony, Eiger spoke to the continuing modernization of the Trident weapons system, including the planned Trident submarine replacement. “A new ballistic missile submarine program (even with fewer missile tubes) will continue to foster our nation’s reliance on the false security inherent in the concept of nuclear “deterrence”, and will quite likely further destabilize efforts at disarmament and nonproliferation.”
 
Michael Siptroth brought out the tremendous human and economic costs of militarism and nuclear weapons spending. He stated that the cost of one Trident submarine ($3 billion) could fund 50,000 teachers each year. “We have a choice. We can educate children or we can build nuclear weapons.”
 
In the conclusion to her statement, Brenda McMillan summed up the resister’s sentiments, "Silence means consent."
 
After hearing everyone’s statement, Judge Holman made a brief statement in which he said that, “If your intention here today was to provoke me to think, then you did.” He went on to say that he is constrained by the law (confined to this specific statute) and that his decision must be based on only the issues that relate to it.
 
Judge Holman reduced everyone’s fine to $25.

In reflecting on the day in court, Ground Zero spokesperson Eiger said, “The judge’s reduction of everyone’s fine is, in some sense, a vindication of our actions. Although constrained by the rules of the court, the judge recognized that we had acted in accordance with our conscience and our understanding of well established legal precedent, including the Nuremberg Principles.”

Most of the defendant’s full court statements are available, and can be accessed at http://psnukefree.blogspot.com/2012/11/august-6th-nuclear-resisters-in.html
 
For over thirty-five years Ground Zero has engaged in education, training in nonviolence, community building, resistance against Trident and action toward a world without nuclear weapons.
 
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Saturday, November 10, 2012

August 6th Nuclear Resisters in the Courtroom: Their Statements

Dear Friends,

Yesterday was a good day in the courtroom.

Ten nuclear resisters from Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action appeared in Judge Stephen J. Holman's courtroom at the Kitsap County District Court, along with a full complement of supporters (fifteen) to witness the proceedings.

We were there to speak on the public record as to our government's obligations to make sincere efforts toward nuclear disarmament, something that is not occurring based on the evidence, and is pushing the world (once again) toward the inevitable accidental or intentional nuclear war.

Each of us was there by choice as the result of our nonviolent direct action at the Main Gate of the Bangor Trident submarine base (Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor) on August 6th in which 16 of us blockaded the entrance with banners in both a symbolic gesture of closing the base and as a message of that need to people working on the base.

The August action was coordinated with a simultaneous leafleting action at the other Bangor base gate intended to reach people from the base with our message of peace, nonviolence and nuclear abolition.

Pre-hearing strategy session. from left: Mack Johnson, Tom Rogers,
Malcolm Chaddock and Elizabeth Murray
Two of the yesterday's defendants, Malcolm Chaddock and Bernie Meyer, contested the charge (all of us received citations for "Walking on roadway where prohibited").  Their testimonies were not restrained by the judge, even after an initial objection by the prosecutor to limit testimony on international law.  In the end both were found guilty, although the judge reduced their fines.

The remaining eight of us were there for mitigation hearings wherein we did not contest the charge, although we wished to make a statement to the court regarding our reasons for engaging in our action, knowing full well the potential legal consequences. 

from left: Rodney Herold, George Rodkey, Michael Siptroth, Bernie Meyer,
Betsy Lamb and Sue Ablao.  Rodney was videotaping the proceedings,
and Sue was an observer 
Each of us made a statement to the court, and each one was as unique as the makeup and life experience of this diverse group of peacemakers - teachers, retired submarine commander, public health professional, retired CIA political analyst, and more.  One of the lessons I have learned in this work is that any generalization about or marginalization of people involved in peacemaking (peace activists) is meaningless.

A portion of Elizabeth Murray's statement demonstrates this quite clearly.

Prior to retiring I served for 27 years as a political analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency. The last position I held was Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East at the National Intelligence Council. I am therefore keenly aware of the need to protect and safeguard our country.

However, the past 10 years - particularly in the wake of 9-11 - have shown that it is time to embrace a new paradigm of "strength through peace" - and that includes nuclear disarmament.


You can read Elizabeth's full statement at the link further on in this post.

The judge respectfully heard each of our statements, and when all was said and done he reduced each of our fines.  That in and of itself was, in some sense, a vindication of our actions.  Although constrained by the rules of the court, the judge recognized that we had acted in accordance with our conscience and our understanding of well established legal precedent, including the Nuremberg Principles.

Here are links to court statements of those who had statements prepared to read in court, listed by individual defendant.  Each link will take you to Google Docs, where you can read and download statement.  NOTE:  I will add people's statements as I receive them, so you may not yet see all eight listed.  I hope to have all available statements in a couple of days.

 
 
 

And so the cycle of resistance continues, thanks to a dedicated community of peacemakers.  Tomorrow people will come together at Ground Zero for the Annual Meeting, where we will reflect on the past year and plan for the future.  May the cycle be unbroken.

In Peace and Resistance,

Leonard

P.S. - Coutroom video coming soon.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Trident resisters to have their say in court

News Release
 
11/7/2012
 
For Immediate Release
 
Contact: Leonard Eiger, 425-445-2190, subversivepeacemaking@gmail.com
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
16159 Clear Creek Road NW Poulsbo, WA 98370
www.gzcenter.org
 
Peace activists who blocked entry to the main gate at the Navy’s West coast Trident nuclear submarine base in an act of civil resistance to nuclear weapons will appear in Kitsap County Court.
 
The activists were part of Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action's peaceful vigil at the main gate to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Silverdale, Washington on August 6, 2012 in protest of the U.S. government’s continued deployment and upgrading of the Trident nuclear weapons system. The vigil also commemorated the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
 
The Trident submarine base at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, just 20 miles from Seattle, Washington, contains the largest concentration of operational nuclear weapons. Each of the 8 Trident submarines at Bangor carry as many as 24 Trident II(D-5) missiles, each capable of carrying up to 8 independently targetable warheads. Each nuclear warhead has an explosive yield up to 32 times the yield of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
 
During the early morning vigil on August 6th four groups of protestors successively stretched banners across the roadway of the base entrance, stopping traffic entering the base during the rush hour. The banners contained messages including “Abolish Nuclear Weapons” and “Give Peace a Chance. No, Seriously.”
 
 
Each group of protestors complied with Washington State Patrol officers’ orders to leave the roadway, and all were escorted to the median where they were processed. A total of 16 persons were issued citations at the scene for “Walking on roadway where prohibited” and released.
 
Ten of those cited in the August action will appear on Friday, November 9th at 1:30 PM in Kitsap County District Court, Room 104 for hearings before a district court judge. They are Tom Rogers, Poulsbo, WA; Michael Siptroth, Belfair, WA; Mal Chaddock, Portland, OR; Betsy Lamb, Bend, OR; Bernie Meyer, Olympia, WA; Leonard Eiger, North Bend, WA; Brenda McMillan, Port Townsend, WA; Mack Johnson, Silverdale, WA; George W Rodkey, Tacoma, WA and Elizabeth Murray, Bellingham, WA.
 
 
Eight of the activists have requested mitigation hearings in order to be able to state, on the record, their reasons for engaging in the resistance action. The two other members or the action have chosen to contest their charges.
 
Bernie Meyer, one of the resisters who is contesting his charge and who has continuously resisted nuclear weapons, had this to say in defense of his actions after another recent action. “I am doing my duty as a citizen. I am calling citizens, government and military to account. I participated in blocking the road to symbolically close the base and prevent nuclear annihilation. My action is meant to be an expression of my duty as a citizen, even more an act of love for the people of this country and of this world, to democratically say to the government ‘live by the law, abolish nuclear weapons which are a threat to life on Planet Earth.’”
 
Ground Zero holds three scheduled vigils and actions each year in resistance to Trident and in protest of U.S. nuclear weapons policy. The group has been working to stop the Navy’s plan to build a $715 million Second Explosives Handling Wharf at Bangor, and with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility filed a lawsuit in Federal court to stop the project. Ground Zero is also working to de-fund the Navy’s planned next generation ballistic missile submarine, estimated to cost at least $99 billion to build.
 
For nearly thirty-five years Ground Zero has engaged in education, training in nonviolence, community building, resistance against Trident and action toward a world without nuclear weapons.
 
The Kitsap County District Courthouse is located at 614 Division Street in Port Orchard.
 
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Click here for the August 6th News Release.

You can learn more about Ground Zero through interviews, videos and photos of the August weekend by clicking here.