Come healing

Here is some cheery news of recent direct action in the US collected by the very wonderful Nuclear Resister.

• On 26 September, 21 activists associated with the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance were arrested in Washington DC. They had refused to leave the Pentagon until they had spoken to an official in a position of authority about US war crimes. The 21, who declared that they were fulfilling their Nuremburg obligations, were charged with ‘violation of a lawful order’.
• On 25 October, nine Californian peace activists blocked the main gate at Beale air force base (AFB) for over 30 minutes in protest at the US drone assassination programme. Each driver in the mile-long tailback was given a leaflet informing them about the use of US drone missiles in September to kill 15 civilian men while they were sleeping in their beds in eastern Afghanistan. Toby Blomé, Pamela Osgood, Shirley Osgood and Mauro Oliveira then crossed the base boundary line to express their grievances about drone killings. They were arrested, charged with trespassing, and later released with a citation. Beale AFB controls the Global Hawk surveillance drone used to identify and track targets for the drone assassination programme.
• On 9 October, 31 Catholic Workers crossed onto the Nevada national security site (NNSS, formerly known as the Nevada nuclear test site) and were arrested for trespass. They were soon cited to appear in court and released. The Nuclear Resister writes: ‘The 1,360 square mile site is where the US tested over 1,000 above-and-below-ground nuclear blasts from 1951 to 1992. It is now used for experiments and safety training related to the nation’s nuclear stockpile. Just three days after the protest, an underground explosion was detonated there to test methods for detecting underground nuclear explosions. ‘The NNSS is on Western Shoshone Nation land, recognized by the US government in the Treaty of Ruby Valley of 1863. The Western Shoshone National Council has declared their nation a Nuclear Free Zone. They have resisted attempts by the US government to nullify the treaty, and have fought for their land to be returned to them.’ The October action came at the end of a Catholic Worker gathering that brought together 120 people from 17 US states as well as Mexico, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands. The Workers went on from the NNSS to blockade Creech air force base, a centre for drone warfare. Charged with unlawful assembly, 13 were taken to the brutal Clark county detention centre in Las Vegas.

More action news and inspiring testimony (subs £30/$35): www.nukeresister.org