L to R: Theo Kayser, David Omondi, Fr. Louie Vitale, OFM, Jeff Dietrich, Jesse Lewis, Mariah Klusmire

On August 6, forty Catholic Workers and friends gathered at the front gate to commemorate the 66th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Near the end of the one and one-half vigil, six people, including L.A. Catholic Workers Theo Kayser, David Omondi, Jeff Dietrich, and Jesse Lewis, along with Guadalupe Catholic Worker Mariah Klusmire, and Franciscan priest, Fr. Louie Vitale OFM, crossed the line and knelt down to pray for peace and a disarmed U.S. Empire. All six were immediately arrested, taken to a building on the base, cited and released at Pioneer Park in Lompoc an hour and one-half later. All have pending court dates. See photos HERE.

Posted: August 12th, 2011 under News.
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The July 27th test missile launch by USA in violation of Non Proliferation Treaty failed!

Fr. Louie Vitale and MacGregor Eddy were arrested at 1:20 am July 27, cited, and released for trespass while protesting the launch of a nuclear weapon delivery system from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The missile was destroyed by Vandenberg Air Force Base over the Pacific Ocean because of a malfunction.

Jim Haber and Mary Lou Anderson of the Nevada Desert Experience as well as world war II veteran Bud Boothe and legal observer Kelly Gray also attended. The nuclear capable, solid fuel, high speed test missile was set to land in Kwajalein atoll, the Marshall Islands.

Posted: July 29th, 2011 under News.
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Fr Louie Vitale, O.F.M. and Dennis Apel court date was postponed until Sept 15. 2011. Fr. Louie and Dennis did appear for arraignment in Santa Barbara Federal Court on June 16. However, due to a 9th District Court ruling on a different but similar case, it was believed that the charges would be dropped. The court, however, decided to uphold the charges and the new date was set.

Posted: July 12th, 2011 under News, Upcoming Events.
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A Test launch of a Minuteman III ICBM (nuclear warhead delivery system) from Vandenberg Space Command to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands is scheduled for the early morning hours of July 27. Join us to uphold the good faith of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

We will gather at 11:55 pm, Tuesday, July 26, at Vandenberg Space Command main gate at the Intersection of Hwy One and Lompoc Cas Melia Rd. nine miles north of Lompoc on Highway One in Santa Barbara County.

11:45 pm – Meet for briefing at Vandenberg Village parking lot. (3734 Constellation Road, Lompoc).

See MacGregor Eddy’s blog for more info or contact MacGregor Eddy via e-mail: macgregoreddy@gmail.com or call 831-206-5043, Scott Yundt at 925-443-7148 or Jim Haber at 415-828-2506

Posted: July 12th, 2011 under News, Upcoming Events.
Comments: 1

Twelve conscientious citizens went to trial in federal court in Knoxville, Tennessee on Monday, May 9, on charges of criminal trespass for their July 5, 2010 act of nonviolent civil resistance in protest of continuing nuclear weapons production at the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After the three day trial, on Thursday, May 12, the jury went into deliberations for less than three hours and came back with a unanimous guilty verdict.

The defendants include: Catholic Worker Steve Baggarly of Norfolk, Virginia; Brad Lyttle of Chicago, Illinois; Jackie Hudson of Ground Zero Community in Poulsbo, Washington; Catholic Worker Fr. Bill Bichsel, S.J.  of Seattle Washington; Bonnie Urfer of Luck, Wisconsin; Mary Dennis Lentsch of Washburn, Tennessee; Beth Rosdatter of Lexington, Kentucky, Carol Gilbert and Ardeth Platte of Jonah House in Baltimore, Maryland; Catholic Worker Michael Walli of Duluth, Minnesota; Dennis DuVall of Prescott, Arizona; and Jean Gump of Bloomington, Michigan. See story here. See coverage from local newspaper Knoxville News.

Posted: May 13th, 2011 under News.
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The five Disarm Now! Plowshares activists that entered the Kitsap-Bangor Navy Base on the feast of All Souls, November 2, 2009, to symbolically disarm the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the U.S., were sentenced on March 28 in the Tacoma, WA federal court.

Sentenced were: Sr. Anne Montgomery, 83, a Sacred Heart sister from New York – 2 mos in federal prison and 4 mos electronic home confinement; Fr. Bill Bischel, 81, a Jesuit priest and Catholic Worker from Tacoma, WA – 3 mos in prison and 6 mos electronic home confinement; Susan Crane, 67, a member of Jonah House community in Baltimore, MD – 15 mos in prison; Lynne Greenwald, 60, a nurse from Bremerton, WA – 6 mos in prison; Fr. Steve Kelly, 60, a Jesuit priest from Oakland, CA and Catholic Worker in Guadalupe, CA – 15 mos in prison. They were ordered to pay $5,300. each and serve an additional year on supervised probation. Bischel and Greenwald also are active members of Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, WA, a community resisting Trident nuclear weapons since 1977.

See story at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/28-14
Keep updated about activists and Ground Zero at: http://www.gzcenter.org/
Read about the activists and action and keep updated at: http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com/

Posted: April 2nd, 2011 under News.
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On January 5, 2011, the U.S. government mysteriously withdrew all charges against the seven people arrested at the Hiroshima/Nagasaki commemoration on August 7, 2010.

Of the seven people arrested, five were cited for trespass, two for ban and bar violations. The five that crossed the line to “pray for peace” included: Rev. Louie Vitale, OFM, Rev. Steve Kelly, SJ, and Jeff Dietrich, David Omondi, and Rebecca Casas of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker. The two arrested for a ban and bar violation included, Dennis Apel, of the Guadalupe Catholic Worker, and Mike Wisniewski, of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker.

Posted: March 5th, 2011 under News.
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Monday, December 13, 2010: The federal criminal trial of five veteran peace activists that began December 7 ended today after the jury found them guilty on all counts. The five defendants, called the Disarm Now! Plowshares, challenged the legality and morality of the U.S. storage and use of thermonuclear missiles by Trident nuclear submarines at the Kitsap-Bangor Naval Base outside Bremerton Washington.

In their defense the peace activists argued three points: the nuclear missiles at Bangor are weapons of mass destruction; those weapons are both illegal and immoral; and that all citizens have the right and duty to try to stop international war crimes from being committed by these weapons of mass destruction.

The five were charged with trespass, felony damage to federal property, felony injury to property and felony conspiracy to damage property. Each defendant faces sentences of up to ten years in prison.

On trial were: Anne Montgomery, 83, a Sacred Heart sister from New York; Bill Bischel, SJ, 81, a Jesuit priest from Tacoma Washington; Susan Crane, 67, a member of the Jonah House community in Baltimore, Maryland; Lynne Greenwald, 60, a nurse from Bremerton Washington; and Steve Kelly, SJ, 60, a Jesuit priest from Oakland California. Bill Bischel and Lynne Greenwald are active members of the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, a community resisting Trident nuclear weapons since 1977.

After the verdict was read and Judge Settle was about to dismiss the jury, Fr. Steve Kelly stood and announced that the defendants would like to bless the jury. Steve and all of his co-defendants stood with their hands raised in blessing as he said, “May you go in peace and have a safe, happy holiday.”

Sentencing is scheduled for March 28, 2011 at 9:00 am.

For more information on the trial and the Plowshares peace activists please see the site for Disarm Now! Plowshares \ or Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action

Contact: Leonard Eiger, Media & Outreach Coordinator Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action (425) 445-2190 – e-mail: subversivepeacemaking@comcast.net

Posted: December 14th, 2010 under News.
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The five plowshares activists who entered the U.S. Navy’s nuclear weapons storage depot in Washington State on November 2, 2009 were arraigned on October 8 in U.S. District Court, Tacoma, Washington before Magistrate Judge Karen L. Strombom.

Anne Montgomery, RSCJ, Steve Kelly, SJ, Lynne Greenwald, Bill “Bix” Bichsel, SJ, and Susan Crane were all present to enter their not guilty pleas before Judge Strombom.

The government brought many serious charges against each of the Disarm Now! defendants for their peaceful November 2, 2009 Plowshares action. They include Conspiracy, Trespass, Destruction of Property on a Naval Installation and Depredation of Government Property.

The major consequences for the various individual charges range between 5 and 10 years in prison, and from $50, 000 to $250,000 in fines, as well as up to 3 years of supervised release, and/or up to 5 years probation.

Additionally, the judge made it clear that should the defendants be convicted on multiple charges, the court could order them to serve consecutive sentences, thereby greatly increasing the number of years they might spend in prison. The five co-defendants firmly believe there is sufficient legal doctrine substantiating their invocation of the necessity defense, and that the “Defendants’ actions are just and not at all illegal,” and therefore the case should be immediately dismissed.

The judge set a trial date for December 7, 2010 at 9:00 AM in the United States District Court, Western District of Washington at Tacoma.  A pre-trial conference date is set for November 22, 2010.

Visit Disarm Now! Web site for complete information, including biographical statements and links to the work of the Disarm Now! Plowshares members.

Posted: October 10th, 2010 under News, Upcoming Events.
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The trial for Fr. Louie Vitale, OFM, and Sr. Megan Rice will be Thursday, Nov. 18. at 1:30 PM at the Santa Barbara Federal Court – 1415 State St., Santa Barbara, 93101

Fr. Louie and Sr. Megan were arrested on August 22 2009 at a night test launch of a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (hydrogen bomb delivery system) that went from Vandenberg AFB to Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Please come to Santa Barbara to support Fr. Louie and Sr. Megan. For more info see MacGregor Eddy’s Blog for breaking news or call 831-206-5043.

Posted: October 10th, 2010 under News, Upcoming Events.
Comments: 1