National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance Year 2008 Report on Resistance Against U.S. Policies

National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance

Year 2008 Report on Resistance Against U.S. Policies

 

 Thanks to all of you who were able to risk arrest or to support such protests against the occupation of Iraq, the war in Afghanistan or other atrocities involving policies of the U.S. government.  Let us continue to take the risks of peace.  This list of appeals, arrests and legal cases is not all-inclusive.  Please send additions, corrections and updates to mobuszewski at verizon.net. 

 

DECEMBER 2008

 

29—[SPARTA, WI] Three anti-war activists were arrested on trespass charges at the main gate of Ft. McCoy during a protest of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Organizers said the action was a condemnation of the “killing of innocents,” and those arrested were Bonnie Urfer,   Cassandra Dixon and Gail Vaughn.    

 

15—[WDC] Superior Court of the District of Columbia Judge Robert Morin sentenced five Ghosts of the Iraq War, Ellen Barfield, Tim Chadwick, Max Obuszewski, Manijeh Saba and Eve Tetaz, to one day in jail, which was suspended, and a payment of $50 to the Victims of Violent Crimes Fund.  On Oct. 24, a jury found the other five Ghosts of the Iraq War not guilty.  Before sentencing, Morin scheduled a post-verdict hearing on Nov. 7, since the government failed to provide in a timely manner all discovery, including a purloined email written by Obuszewski.

 

. At the hearing, Eric Orsini of the U.S. Capitol Police testified he found Obuszewski’s email on Protest.net.  This was untrue, but Morin accepted his testimony and rejected the defendants’ motion for dismissal.  The ten ghosts were arrested in the gallery of the U.S. Senate on Mar. 12 and charged with disorderly conduct/disruptive conduct, which carries a possible sentence of six months in jail and/or a $500 fine.

 

10—[Salem, OR] Gov. Ted Kulongoski finally spoke with Michelle Darr who received two trespass citations while praying and fasting round the clock outside Oregon’s Capitol building for more than two weeks.  On Nov. 14, she was first arrested during her protest designed to get a meeting with the governor to discuss the deployment of 3,500 members of the National Guard to a war zone.  When she returned to the steps, she received a second citation for trespass.

 

8—[Geddes, NY] Ed Kinane had his charges of trespass and disorderly conduct dismissed, as the judge argued the defendant had a right to freedom of expression.  Kinane was arrested on Jan. 9 at the New York State Fair, while wearing an orange jump suit and carrying a sign CLOSE GUANTANAMO.  Since he refused to post $1500 bail, he spent seven days in jail.

 

5—[Alexandria, VA] Five people arrested on Aug. 6 [Hiroshima Day] were convicted in U.S. District Court.  The defendants informed the judge of their refusal to pay the fine, but he did not feel it was his concern.      

 

5—[Colorado Springs, CO] Three women, Sisters Barbara Huber and Mary Ann Cunningham and Esther Kisamore, made a no contest plea.  Two days earlier, the judge ruled against their affirmative defense.  On Aug. 8, they were arrested on a charge of trespass outside Peterson Air Force Base when they tried to take a letter to the commanding general.  They were sentenced to community service.

 

NOVEMBER

 

??—[Bangor, WA] Lynn Greenwald pled guilty to trespass at the Trident nuclear submarine base, and her sentence was a $100 fine, court costs and 50 hours of community service.  She was arrested on May 10 in a Mother’s Day protest. 

 

??—[Raleigh, NC] A charge of disorderly conduct was dismissed against Daniel Foster.  He was arrested on April 26 during a “Salute to Our Troops” parade when he laid down in front of an armored vehicle and stopped the parade.

 

26—[Anchorage, AK] Don Muller, from Sitka, lost his appeal of a conviction for trespassing related to a Feb. 20, 2007 demonstration at the Fairbanks office of Sen. Ted Stevens. The demonstrators spent about three hours reading aloud the names of the war dead.  Three were arrested after refusing to leave at closing time. The two others had their charges dropped.

 

 Muller went to trial on Apr. 20, 2007 and a jury found him guilty.  The judge sentenced him to a $1000 fine, 3 years probation and either 120 hours of community service or 90 days in jail with 75 suspended.  Don told the judge that his efforts to stop the war were examples of community service and chose a jail sentence.  He served eight days in the Fairbanks Correctional Center. 

 

In the Court of Appeals opinion, the court rejected Muller's claim that the judge erred in his instructions to the jury, because Muller did not raise any objection at the time.  The appeals court also decided that the necessity defense should never have been allowed. A necessity defense "cannot be raised if the human harm sought to be avoided is a legal act" the opinion says, and "a protest aimed at political change does not generally present the type of emergency situation that entitles a defendant to a necessity defense."

 

25—[Hempstead, NY] All charges were dropped against the Hempstead 15. The Nassau County district attorney, possibly under pressure, decided not to try ten members of Iraq Veterans Against the War and five of their supporters, who were arrested on Oct. 15 outside Hofstra Univ. during the last presidential debate. IVAW never received a response to the letter sent to a CBS moderator to ask questions regarding veteran’s benefits. So they decided to demand entry to the debate. They were met by some 50 police in riot gear including about eight on horseback. The police were out of control, and IVAW member Nick Morgan was not only arrested but trampled under a police horse. He was knocked unconscious and hospitalized with a broken cheekbone and possible damage to his eyesight.  These are the other members of the Hempstead 15: IVAW members Matthis Chiroux, Kristofer Goldsmith, Adam Kokesh, Mike Spinato, Geoff Millard, Marlisa Grogan, Nathan Peld, James Gilligan and Jose Vasquez and supporters • Ryan Olander, Paul Blasenheim, David M. Disimino, Lianne Gillouly and Megan Day. 

24—[Olympia, WA] Today was the last date in the arraignment of protesters arrested on Nov. 13, 2007 who were recently charged with attempted disorderly conduct and obstruction. The Oly 26 are 25 women and 1 man, who demonstrated against the Port of Olympia’s militarization.  The government, in trying to break up group solidarity, scheduled five separate arraignments.

 

21—[Des Moines, IA] The four Iowans arrested, on July 25, while attempting to do a citizen's arrest of Karl Rove were found guilty of trespass in district court in Polk County.  Rev. Chet Guinn, Edward Bloomer, Kirk Brown and Mona Shaw were arrested at the Wakonda Country Club in Des Moines, where Rove was scheduled to speak at a Republican Party Fundraiser. 

 

The four presented Des Moines Police with an arrest complaint citing Iowa Code provisions for making Citizen's Arrests as well as citing federal statute violations they claimed Rove had violated.  The four maintained during the trial they were acting within the guidelines of Iowa Code that obligate private citizens to make such an arrest if they believe a felony was committed. 

 

Instructions to the jury allowed that a citizen's arrest was potentially justification for the defendants to refuse to leave the property and that if it was reasonable for the defendants to believe the subject of their arrest had committed a felony that then they should find the defendants not guilty.  The six-person jury returned a guilty verdict for each defendant nonetheless. Sally Frank, attorney for the defendants, said in court that she will file a motion to set aside the verdict and that the verdict will be appealed if the motion is denied. Three of the defendants were sentenced to the minimum $65 fine plus court costs.  Brown stated he could not in conscience pay the fine and was sentenced to one day in jail.

 

17—[Fort Carson, CO] Anthony Anderson pled guilty and was sentenced to 14 months in jail.  Daniel Sandate followed with a guilty plea and got 8 months, and had already served 4 1/2 months in the El Paso County Jail.

 

 Anderson enlisted in the delayed entry program and did basic training between his junior and senior year in high school.  He skipped his last semester in school and joined the Army in Jan. 2008.  In June 2008, he was ordered to go to Iraq, but his conscience would not allow him to go.  His chaplain told him he did not qualify as a conscientious objector, so he was charged with failing to deploy and disobeying an order.  The judge also gave him a Bad Conduct discharge.

 

 Despite Sandate’s mental illness, and his numerous suicide attempts, the Army accepted him.  He was injured in an IED attack in Iraq and received a serious back injury at Fort Carson.  He probably suffers from PTSD, and decided to go to Canada after receiving unsatisfactory treatment for his mental and physical problems.  After spending two years in Canada, he returned to face charges as a deserter.  He also received a Bad Conduct discharge.

 

17—[WDC] Six veterans climbed down a 9-foot retaining fence and ninety-foot high scaffolding in front of the National Archives. They climbed up on Nov. 15 and displayed two immense 450 square foot banners stating, “DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!" and "WE WILL NOT BE SILENT.”  The event was organized by Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out and staged outside the home of the Constitution. While they were threatened with arrest, they managed to remain for the weekend.  

 

16—[Fort Huachuca, AZ] More than 200 people rallied against torture at Veterans Memorial Park and then marched two miles to the main gate of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center where interrogators are trained. Three from the group entered the base to deliver messages to base Commander Major General John Custer and his soldiers, opposing the cruel treatment and abuse of detainees from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Sr. Megan Rice, Fr. Louie Vitale and Dennis Duvall were quickly stopped and taken into custody.  They were released within the hour with a formal letter barring them from entering the base for one year.  A base spokesperson told reporters, "We're trying to keep this as low key as possible."

 

14—[Omaha, NE] Michael Walli, arrested with seven others in the Oct. 8 die-in, was found not guilty.  He had spent 38 days in jail after the arrest. He was represented by a public defender, and the government failed to prove that he was warned to leave or be arrested. The public defender made a motion to dismiss because of "insufficient evidence,” which the judge accepted.  At the time of his arrest, his bail requirement was set at $2,500.  It would be later re-set for $15,000.

 

13—[San Francisco] Two CODEPINKers were arrested and charged with trespass for protesting Karl Rove at the Commercial Finance Association Annual Convention.  As Rove debated former senator John Edwards, Janine Boneparth walked on the stage handcuffed to Nancy Mancias.  Boneparth held up photos of dead soldiers killed in Iraq and blew a whistle.  Mancias held up crime scene tape and yelled, "Ladies and gentlemen, Karl Rove is a war criminal!" 

12—[Omaha, NE] Four Omaha peace activists were sentenced in the Douglas County courthouse for their involvement in the Oct. 8 "die in" inside the Qwest Convention Center to protest the annual "Space Weapons Bazaar.” The four activists were among eight who were charged with failure to leave.

 

 Peg Gallagher pled guilty and was sentenced to 20 hrs of community service. Kathy Peterson pled no contest and was fined $100 and assessed court costs of $44. Mark Kenney pled guilty and was fined $150 and assessed court costs of $44.

 

 Ebner did not make a plea but made a statement instead. The judge found him guilty and gave him a 30-day suspended sentence with a one year probation period in which he is obligated to pay a $500 fine, plus a $74 court cost and a $30 probation assessment fee.  Jerry eventually refused to cooperate with the judge’s order.

10—[WDC] A rally was held outside the Department of Justice organized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance.  In September, members of NCNR sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking to meet with him to discuss the indictment of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney.  There was no response to the letter, so the group went to the DOJ to seek a meeting.  Their request was denied, so fifteen of them engaged in an hour-long die-in on the sidewalk--Maria Allwine, Ellen Barfield, Lou Collins, Max Obuszewski, Malachy Kilbride, Pete Perry, Eve Tetaz, Dr. Arya Bhardwaj from India, Tim Chadwick, Christine Gaunt, Michelle Grise, Steve Mihalis, Don Muller, Phil Runkel and Manijeh Saba. There were no arrests.

 

 The group then marched to the White House with their Arrest Bush signs and tees shirts.  While marching, the group was visible when the Obama motorcade passed them.  The group then vigiled on Pennsylvania Ave., while Bush and Obama met. Some members of the group then engaged in direct action, but again the police did not arrest anyone.

 

9—[Mannheim, Germany] Robert Weiss, a conscientious objector, was released one month early from a U.S. military prison due to good behavior.

 

6—[Worcester, MA] Ken Hannaford-Ricardi and Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, members of the SS. Francis & Therese Catholic Worker community, were sentenced to community service.  At trial on Sept. 23, they were found guilty of failure to obey. However, citing their vow of voluntary poverty, they refused to pay the $250 fine.  The sentence was amended to 40 hours of community service for Schaeffer-Duffy and 25 for Hannaford-Ricardi.  They were arrested on Mar. 19 while praying for an end to the Iraq War with Mike Benedetti, Sandra McSweeney and Roger Stanley.

 

4--[Salina, KS] Janie Stein, Martin Bates, Sister Agnes Caroline Teter, Ralph Kresin and Sister Margaret Rourke pled guilty to criminal trespass.  Eight activists from "The Heartland Speaks” were arrested on Oct. 15 at the A-10 Warthog "Hawgsmoke" air show after "crossing the line" during a demonstration against increased U.S. militarization and the use of depleted uranium munitions. The arrested, part of a three-day gathering of about 40 activists from throughout the U.S., also included Frank Cordaro, Gerald Paoli and Wes Rehberg.

 

 Cordaro, Rehberg and Paoli were able to negotiate by telephone a sentence of 20 hours of community service in their respective home towns.  Those who appeared in court were able to make a statement. Janie brought up Nuremburg, Ralph, nonviolence, Martin, the need for the military to train for peace, Sr. Margaret provided facts about DU and Sr. Carolyn provided a summation.  They were also sentenced to 20 hours of community service and $70 in court costs.

 

3—[Norfolk, VA] In US District Court, Catholic Worker Steve Baggarly was found guilty of trespassing at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach. The judge gave Baggarly the one-day sentence requested by the prosecution, and two years of limited supervision.

 

Baggarly, Kristin Sadler, Beth Brockman and Susan Crane had climbed on top of a B-52 on display at the annual air show with anti-war banners which read, "We Shalt Not Kill", and "Weapons of Mass Destruction are nothing to celebrate". The three women and eight other observers were arrested and given letters barring them from going onto any naval installation from Maine to Virginia. Baggarly violated a previous letter and was charged with trespassing.

 

3—[Des Moines, IA] Six high school students were charged with trespass following a sit-in at Sen. John McCain’s campaign headquarters.  Students Beyond War wrote to the campaign with questions about Iraq, Iran and the draft.  Receiving no response, the students refused to leave the office.  They were cited for trespass, and released in the custody of their parents.  They agreed to deferred prosecution and community service which would clear the record.

 

OCTOBER

 

??--[Chicago] Police came to the home of Joffre Stewart and arrested him for failure to appear in court.  So he went limp.  After 24 hours of fasting and not walking, he was released.   He was unaware of the court date, which was a result of his arrest at the Chicago Jazz Festival on Aug. 28 for leafleting with his anti-war poems and flyers.   

 

31--[Olympia, WA] Shyam Khanna was convicted by a jury of obstruction and resisting arrest during a Nov. 13, 2007 protest at preventing war material from getting from Fort Lewis to the Port of Olympia.  Forty three people were arrested that day.  He was fined $680 and sentenced to ten days.  He could serve the time at home, in a day jail program or on a work crew.

 

29--[???] An Army appeals court heard arguments to overturn Camilo Mejia’s 2004 conviction for desertion.  He was the first Iraq War vet to refuse further Iraq duty because he witnessed war crimes.

 

28--[Fort Knox, KY] James Burmeister was released three weeks earlier than expected. On July 16, he was court-martialed and sentenced to six months.  Suffering from PTSD as a result of his tour in Iraq, he returned voluntarily from Canada.

 

27—[Omaha, NE] Greg  Boertje, also arrested at the Qwest Center on Oct. 8, entered a “no contest” plea to a charge of failure to leave and was sentenced to time served. Greg had his bail originally set at $2,500, but later it was raised to $10,000.  A public defender was able to arrange a plea hearing in advance of his Nov. 4 trial date.

 

24—[WDC] A Superior Court of the District of Columbia jury rendered a verdict in the case of ten members of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, arrested in the gallery of the U.S. Senate on Mar. 12 as the Ghosts of the Iraq War.  Found not guilty were Maria Allwine, Joy First, Judith Kelly, Art Landis and Linda LeTendre; the guilty were Ellen Barfield, Tim Chadwick, Max Obuszewski, Manijeh Saba and Eve Tetaz.  Most of the defendants stood up individually to announce "I am a ghost from the Iraq War.  While I died needlessly, I am here to demand an end to the funding of the war so that others do not have to die."  They were charged with disorderly conduct/disruptive conduct, which carries a possible sentence of six months in jail and/or a $500 fine.

 

Sentencing was delayed.  Since the government failed to provide all discovery, including a purloined email written by Obuszewski, Judge Robert Morin scheduled a post-verdict hearing on Nov. 7.

 

23--[Tacoma, WA] Charges were dismissed against Legrand Jones, an attorney, who was arrested for refusing to give his name to a police officer during August protests outside the gates of Port of Tacoma,  His attorney pointed out that the Washington Supreme Court had struck down a “stop and identify” statute.    

 

22--[Olympia, WA] Charges against Amory Ballantine, Joji Kohjima and Gabrielle Sloane were dismissed due to the prosecutor’s failure to provide all discovery, a video tape, relating to an action on Nov. 10, 2007 to delay war material from getting from Fort Lewis to the Port of Olympia.  Forty three people were arrested that day.  It was presumed that the tape was erased because it would show police brutality during the arrests.  Also charged with obstructing an officer was Davi Rios, but he accepted a plea agreement.

 

21—[San Francisco] When Karl Rove took the stage at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention at the Moscone Center, CODEPINK women in the audience staged a citizen's arrest under California Code 837. Janine Boneparth, Nancy Mancias, Rae Abileah, Keiko Schnelle and Blaine Clark were escorted out of the building by police without charges.

 

21—[Tacoma, WA] U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle ruled that if the Army chooses to re-try Lt. Ehren Watada, it cannot include the most serious charge of missing movement, nor two specifications of a second charge, conduct unbecoming of an officer.  The judge left standing possible prosecution on some specifications of the second charge.  Watada is doing desk duty at Fort Lewis, WA.

 

20—[Louisa, VA] Glenn Carroll, Rebecca Mann and Darci Rodenhi won an appeal of their conviction from an August sit-in at a visitor center for a nuclear power plant.  Once the original charge was reduced, they pled guilty to trespass and were sentenced to a $250 fine, a year probation and 30 days in jail, suspended.

 

16—[Anoka, MN] Eight people arrested on July 2 at a protest at the Federal Cartridge Co. were scheduled for a pre-trial hearing. The Project to Stop the War Industry (PSWI) organized the action in which activists locked themselves together in a human chain across the entrance to the company. Besides arresting the human chain, police also arrested the activists’ police liaison for obstructing justice. Seven adults and one juvenile were charged with unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct and disobeying a lawful order.

 

12---[Omaha, NE] Frank Cordaro, part of the Oct. 8 die-in at the annual "Strategic Space and Defense 2008 Conference" pled no contest to failure to leave.  The judge sentenced him to a $250 fine plus court costs.  Frank asked him for an alternative sentence of time served, which the judge in turn said four days in jail with time served.

 

11—[Omaha, NE] Steve Jacobs, arrested at the Oct. 8 die-in and charged with failure to leave, pled no contest at his arraignment and was sentenced to 3 days in jail with time served.

 

8—[Omaha, NE] Eight peace activists engage in a die-in at the annual "Strategic Space and Defense 2008 Conference" at the Qwest Center, and are charged with failure to leave.  The four Omaha-area peace activists arrested were cited and released: Peg Gallagher, Kathy J. Peterson, Mark Kenney, and Jerry Ebner. The four out of towners were detained: Frank Cordaro, Greg Boertje, Michael Walli and Steve Jacobs.

 

7—[Cambridge, MA] Four students were taken into custody after locking themselves to the entrance to Citibank.  Rising Tide Boston protested outside Bank of America in Harvard Square to condemn its investment policies that threaten financial and environmental stability and seek profits from war.  The group then marched to Citibank to condemn that bank’s similar practices.

 

SEPTEMBER

 

??—[Martin, TN] Sara Gallimore and Brandon White were ordered to 200 hours of community service and to pay $100 restitution to the family of a soldier whose public monument they vandalized on Aug. 8. Gallimore and White repainted the life-size concrete statue of an infantry soldier in Iraq, which was placed in a community landscaping project by the family of Sgt. Dustin Laird, killed in Iraq in 2006.  The two vandals turned themselves in amidst the public outrage of their anti-war statement and pled guilty to vandalism.  The community service was to be served at Laird’s Tennessee National Guard 913th Engineer Company in Union City.

 

??—[Winona, MN] John Heid appeared before Judge Jeff Thompson and received credit for three days of jail time and was given one year of unsupervised probation.  Because of arrests in Feb. and March at a recruiting center in a local mall, the activist originally faced three charges, but was only convicted of trespass. During the anti-recruitment campaign, three others who were arrested paid fines.

 

24—[WDC] Five members of Veterans For Peace came down from a ledge outside the National Archives.  They climbed up on Sept. 23 to display an immense banner stating, “DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!" The Metropolitan Police declined to arrest them, so they maintained a 24-hour vigil and resolved to return.   

 

23—[Worcester, MA] Mike Benedetti, Ken Hannaford-Ricardi, Sandra McSweeney, Scott Schaeffer-Duffy and Roger Stanley were convicted of failure to obey, but acquitted of obstruction. In the lobby of the federal courthouse on Mar. 19, they prayed for an end to the war in Iraq. Officers allowed them to complete the prayers, before arresting them.  They faced a maximum sentence of a $5,000 fine and/or a 30-day jail sentence, but the judge sentenced them to a $250 fine and court costs.  Hannaford-Ricardi and Schaeffer-Duffy, members of the SS. Francis & Therese Catholic Worker community, refused to pay a fine.

 

23—[Louisa, VA] Paxus Calta, Spot Etal and Sue Frankel-Streit were found guilty of trespass after going into the public information center of the Dominion Virginia Power’s North Anna nuclear power plant on Aug. 7. While inside they used post-it notes to cover up company propaganda.  They were arrested with three others.  The other three climate change protesters pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 90 days in jail, suspended, two years unsupervised probation and a $2500 fine, half of it being suspended subject to terms of the probation.

 

For the three who went to trial, Calta received a 30-day sentence, 15 suspended, while Etal and Frankel-Streit were fined $1000 each, $700 suspended in lieu of payment.  Calta’s sentence is suspended pending appeal.

 

19--[Olympia, WA] A judge dismissed the case against Katie Hutchison, after it was determined that a police videotape was destroyed.  She and her Sister Patsy were charged with obstructing an officer.  Patsy had taken a face-full of pepper spray before police handcuffed her and threw her into a van. Her cries of pain from the spray were ignored by police, and when Katie implored police to get medical attention for her, she was arrested. Patsy negotiated a plea agreement. 

 

18—[Richmond, VA] Laura Van Dohlen and Lara Mack were scheduled for trial after being part of a blockade on June 30 with ten others in a climate change protest.  Those ten took a plea bargain and each one was ordered to do more than 200 hours of community service.

 

17—[Prescott, AZ] A judge gave up and released Dennis Duvall from jail, despite the protester’s refusal to pay a fine or do community service.  Duvall was arrested on Mar. 19 protesting the Iraq War at a military recruiting office.  Convicted of criminal damage in July, he was ordered to pay a $200 fine or do community service by Sept. 2. He was summoned to court on Sept. 16 and jailed as he refused to comply. The fine was turned over to a collection agency.

 

15—[Claremont, CA] A group of students at Claremont McKenna College formed a "Karl Rove Welcoming Committee" to mark the operative's appearance on campus. They displayed banners with the words "Face the Charges," a reference to Rove's refusal to testify before Congress, and "War Criminal." Some students tried to deliver a citizens' arrest. Police pepper-sprayed them.

 

15—[Madison, WI] Cassandra Dixon, Bonnie Block and Joy First were arrested at the federal building during the Monday noon hour vigil for peace, now in its 26th year. About three dozen people took part, some chalking body outlines on the sidewalk representing Wisconsin soldiers

and Iraqis who needlessly died in Iraq. The three women were arrested when they laid down in the doorway. They were arrested for obstruction, cited and released.

 

10—[Bennington, VT] David Cowan pled guilty to a felony charge of injuring an historical marker, the 308’ tall Bennington Battle Monument. On Feb. 14, he spray painted a vulgar statement against George W. Bush to protest the war.  The landmark, an obelisk that is the tallest structure in the state, commemorates a critical Revolutionary War battle. In a plea agreement, the initial charge of felony mischief was dropped, sentencing was postponed for two years and restitution of $1,650 was to be paid.

 

5—[Richmond, VA] Two women were scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on trespass charges during an anti-climate change protest. On Aug. 11, they chained themselves to a Bank of America sign, as the financial institution is closely tied to the coal industry.

 

2—[Minnesota] Various police forces start making pre-emptive arrests at the Republican National Convention. An out-of-control militarized army of police arrested an estimated 650 people. Charges were filed against some 165 people.  At least 21 of them are facing felony charges, including 8 members of the RNC Welcoming Committee.

 

AUGUST

 

?—[Los Alamos, NM] A jury was unable to come up with a unanimous decision, and the prosecution declined to re-try Marcus Page of Trinity Nuclear Abolitionists (TNA).  He was arrested on Apr. 14 with Mike Butler during a 24-hour prayer vigil.  Butler pled no contest and was sentenced to 30-days probation.

 

??—[Germany] War resister Andrew Hagerty was released from a military brig.  He pled guilty to desertion and failure to obey a lawful order, and received a nine-month sentence.

 

25—[Denver, CO] Many of the arrests during the Democratic National Convention took place on this date.  The police shredded the Constitution during the convention and arrested some 154 people.  Very few of the arrests resulted in convictions.

 

22--[Colorado Springs, CO] Robin Long pled guilty to desertion from the Army, and the judge Col. Debra Boudreau wanted to sentence him to 30 months.  But the plea agreement limited the sentence to 15 months. Resisting the war, Long fled to Canada, but was deported back to the U.S.

 

13--[Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA] During a protest outside the gates, MacGregor Eddy was  arrested and charged with trespass for violating a 2005 ban from the base. 

11—[Bangor, WA] Five demonstrators were arrested while trying to display a banner on the freeway overpass near the main gate of the Trident nuclear submarine base.  Lynne Greenwald, Jack Fogelberg, Mary Gleysteen, Kim Wahl and Glen Milner were booked and released.  They were told they may be charged with failure to obey a law enforcement officer and face a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

8—[WDC] Sidney Bixler, office of the Attorney General, filed the government’s brief in response to the one filed on Dec. 29, 2007 by Mark Goldstone on behalf of Beth Adams, Ellen Barfield, Michelle Grise, Sherrill Hogen, Kathryn McClanen, Joan Nicholson, Max Obuszewski & Eve Tetaz with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.  They are appealing convictions related to protests on Sept. 26 or 27, 2006. 

 

On Feb. 16, 2007 some 30 defendants who appear before D.C. Superior Court Chief Judge Rufus King III are convicted and ordered to pay a $50 assessment fee.  One defendant was found not guilty. On Mar. 14, 2007 20 defendants who appeared before Judge King facing charges from either Sept. 26 or 27 are convicted and ordered to pay the $50 fee. 

 

9—[Baltimore] Participants in the Faith and Resistance Retreat organized a peace flotilla in the waters near the USS Sterett, a guided missile destroyer which was being commissioned. 

 

7—[Baltimore] Nineteen participants in the Faith and Resistance Retreat joined a tour of the USS Sterett.  They unfurled banners, tried to hand out leaflets and sang.  They were escorted off the boat and detained for an hour on the dock.  Still the activists continued their protest.   

 

4--[Tacoma, WA] A videographer, targeted while recording an anti-military demonstration, was arrested for trespass, and had his camera and videotape confiscated. The camera was returned later, but the tape was held as evidence.

 

3--[Tacoma, WA] Forest Student, involved in an anti-military protest, was hospitalized under arrest after being threatened and then shot with a taser by a police officer sitting in his patrol car. Initially charged with felony assault, Student was released the next day without charge.

 

1-2--[Tacoma, WA] Outside the gates of Port of Tacoma, in two days nine arrests were made as activists blocked various exits.  On Aug. 2, an organizer dropped off signs and a papier-mâché head of George Bush Jr. to be used at the National Day of Action Against the War with Iran.  He was arrested and charged with littering and obstruction.

 

JULY

 

31--[Highland Heights, KY] Dennis Channey, Northern Kentucky Univ. student, agreed to perform 15 hours of community service in return for dismissal of a disorderly conduct charge.  To promote Students for Change and its anti-war campaign, he tried to distribute condoms in front of signs stating “Bombing for peace is like ******* for virginity.”

 

30-31--[Tacoma, WA] With the return of a Stryker combat infantry brigade’s equipment to Fort Lewis via the Port of Tacoma, Port Militarization Resistance (PMR) and other groups again turned out to resist.  Six arrests took place.

 

25—[WDC] Two people, one a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, were arrested and removed from a House Judiciary Committee hearing on “Executive Power and Its Constitutional Limitations” where impeachable offenses regarding the Iraq war were brought to the record. At arraignment, they were informed that no charges had been filed.

 

22—[Chicago] Nine trainees with Christian Peacemaker Teams were arrested in Rep. Rahm Emmanuel’s office.  The trainees brought with them symbolic reminders of items damaged in a war. This was followed by a die-in amidst the debris. The arrested are facing a trespass charge.

 

19—[Pacific Heights, CA] Demonstrators converged on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mansion to protest a possible war with Iran. Toby Blome, Phoebe Sorgen and David Hartsough were arrested after they moved past police barricades to do a die-in on her sidewalk, “as examples of the death that will come to yet another country if the build-up toward war is not halted.”

 

17—[Santa Barbara, CA] Ed Ehmke and Larry Purcell were sentenced to one day with credit for time served.  They were arrested with Mary Jane Parrine on Mar. 2 for crossing the line at Vandenberg AFB.  They would all plead guilty, and she was fined $250 in May.

 

4 - [Charlottesville, VA] Protesters disrupted George W. Bush's July 4 address at Monticello during a naturalization ceremony at Thomas Jefferson's home.  The protesters called out "war criminal" and "impeach Bush."  Six of them were removed, handcuffed and released without charge.  Desiree Fairooz, Linda Lisanti, Gael Murphy and David Swanson were all removed.

 

JUNE

 

30 - [WDC] Paul Zulkowitz was granted a dismissal before judgment.  Ann Wilcox, the attorney, called it a victory because the government decided against expending the resources for a jury trial.  Also she opined that the government may not have wanted to grant the peace activist a forum to condemn the war.

 

Zulkowitz voiced opposition during a public hearing where Gen. David Petraeus testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Sen. Carl Levin on Apr. 8.  Zool stood and chanted “Bring them home, bring them home! . . . ,” was arrested and charged with one count of “disruption of Congress.” 

 

28 – [Des Moines IA] In solidarity with the eleventh annual 24-hour vigil hosted by Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition in Washington D.C., ten people gathered outside the federal courthouse in a solidarity vigil.  Eventually vigilers decided to walk through a farmers market and an arts festival. Taylor Hays, Christine Gaunt, Halsey Reynolds and Kirk Brown intended to return to the courthouse.

 

 A police officer escorted them through the market.  However, security stopped them from walking through the arts festival. During a dialogue, a police officer cuffed Reynolds.  Brown and Gaunt were also arrested. In the squad car, the police decided to charge them with "harassing a public official."  All charges were dropped.

 

26-[Sacramento, CA] Following a “Freeze-In for Peace,” where some two dozen people stopped in motion for five minutes as an anti-war statement, activists outside the governor’s office were arrested for illegally entering the Capitol and demonstrating without a permit.  At their arraignment, all charges were dismissed “in the interests of justice.”

 

24 – [Berkeley, CA]  Four CODEPINK women, including Toby Blome & Zanne Joi, were scheduled to begin their jury trial for a protest they held inside the Berkeley Recruiting Station commemorating the death of the 4000th US soldier killed in Iraq. The women were arrested on Mar. 24 and charged with trespassing and intimidating the Marines. They faced up to 6 months in jail & a $1,000 fine.

 

Judge Morris Jacobson from the Alameda County Superior Court reduced the charges to an infraction that will be dismissed in six months time. In addition, he dismissed all other pending charges against the women, including several charges for obstructing the sidewalk, an arrest for public nudity during a Breasts Not Bombs protest, and numerous parking tickets incurred during many months of protests.

 

Pam Bennett was charged with violating a local nudity ordinance when she removed her shirt for a second time during a June 13 Breasts Not Bombs protest at the Marine recruiting station. Others had complied when police demanded they put their shirts back on and keep them on. “War is indecent—breasts are not,” Bennett told the Berkeley Daily Planet. “Four million people displaced, lacking food and water is indecent—breasts are not.”

 

23 – [Des Moines, IA] A trespass charge against Catholic Worker Kirk Brown was dropped. The charge stemmed from Brown's involvement in the delivery of a flag-draped coffin into the foyer of the Armed Forces Career Center on Mar. 19. The prosecutor confirmed the witnesses could not state with complete certainty that the protesters had blocked the entry. Eleven protesters occupied and briefly shut down the center.  Brown and Ed Bloomer refused to leave.  Bloomer pleaded guilty to trespass on Mar. 20 and was give a fine and a suspended sentence. 

 

20-[Miami, FL]  Lobbying for the U.S. Conference of Mayors to approve a Don’t Attack Iran resolution, two CODEPINK women were arrested and held for hours.

 

20—-[Alexandria, VA] Nine Faith and Resistance Retreat participants arrested at the Pentagon on Mar. 21, Good Friday, were scheduled for trial in federal court.  The group entered the Pentagon grounds in solemn, silent procession. Tim Fryett, Peter Pedemonti, Peter DeMott, Susan Crane and Steve Miller sought to block the entrance and were quickly arrested; Claire Grady and Eve Tetaz knelt on the grass and were also arrested.  All were charged with "disobeying a lawful order.” Two others were arrested, one as a result of a mistake, the other in solidarity so his brother would not be alone. 

The charges were dropped for seven of them.  Susan Crane and Peter DeMott then pled guilty and read statements before sentencing focusing on the use of depleted uranium munitions and the waste of money and lives in war. They were each fined $100.  

 

19- [WDC] An activist was arrested in the gallery of the House of Representatives when he threw down “bloody” money during the vote for more funding of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

18 – [WDC] The government dismissed charges against Steve Baggarly, Kristin Sadler, Bill Streit and Eve Tetaz who were arrested at the White House on Mar. 22.  The anti-torture activists were arrested for holding signs in the forbidden area.

 

16—[Portland, OR] Jesse Laird, Rhoda Moore and Tom Hastings are scheduled to appear in court, as a result of their arrests in Sen. Gordon Smith's office on May 16.  Smith's Oregon Chief of Staff made it known that no peace people were going to be welcome ever at Senator Smith's office. Moore, who attempted to make an appointment, asked why the scheduler had promised to call her back but never did. They promised to leave if Smith agreed to vote against any more war funding.  Instead, they were cuffed and stuffed and given a citation release.

 

9 – [Portland, OR] Two anti-war protesters who stood in front of a rose-laden tank during last year’s Grand Floral Parade had their legal troubles wiped away.  Bonnie Tinker and Sara Graham, members of the “Seriously P.O.’d Grannies,” were charged with disorderly conduct and interfering with police after they held anti-war signs in front of the tank. 

 

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Alicia Fuchs dismissed the case after Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Puskar asked for an additional day. Puskar said police officers scheduled to testify didn’t show up because they mistakenly thought the trial was set for June 10.

 

9 – [Madison, WI] Bonnie Block, David Nordstrom and Joy First appeared for trial before Judge Dan Koval in municipal court.  However, charges against the three were dismissed by Madison City Attorney Marcie Paulson when the military officer who had been subpoenaed for the trial failed to appear.

 

 On Mar. 19, the antiwar activists were arrested at a military recruiting station in Madison.  While other activists read names of the war dead on the sidewalk outside the recruiting station, the three went inside to talk to recruiters.  They were arrested and charged with trespassing.

 

4—[Tacoma, WA] Ten members of the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action were to be arraigned in U.S. District Court for a demonstration at the nuclear submarine base on Jan. 19. If the case would have proceeded, it would have been the first federal trial involving Ground Zero members since 1989.

 

2 – [WDC] Three members of the Christian Peace Witness, who were arrested in the Hart Senate Office Bldg on Mar. 7, were convicted in D.C. Superior Court.  Joan Nicholson, Ellen Arginteneau and Vicky Andrews were found guilty of unlawful assembly.  During the Interfaith Witness for Peace for Iraq, forty four members of various faith groups were arrested while appealing to Congress to shut off the funding. 

 

MAY

May 31—[Bangor, WA] Seven people as they knelt in prayer, Father Bill Bichsel, Jessica Smith, Joe Power-Drutis, Thomas Karlin, Denny Moore, Joe Marinello and Rev. Anne Hall, were arrested by the Trident sub base security. Bichsel, Karlin and Hall were charged with trespass. They brought a request to the base commander to begin a meaningful discussion regarding nuclear weapons and international law.

Another five wound up in custody for trying to display a banner on a freeway overpass: Lynne Greenwald, Sallie Shawl, Mary Gleysteen, Kim Wahl and Glen Milner. They were booked for disorderly conduct and failure to disperse.

30 – [WDC] Thirty four Witness Against Torture advocates were convicted in D.C. Superior Court by Judge Wendell Gardner.  David Barrows had his case dismissed, but the others were convicted after a four-day trial. Eleven of them were jailed, four for one day.  Susan Crane received the longest sentence—15 days.

Eighty WAT activists were arrested either inside or outside the Supreme Court on Jan. 11, the sixth anniversary of the opening of the prison at Guantanamo Bay.  Most defendants only provided the police with a name of a Guantanamo detainee and remained in jail until the evening of Jan. 12. Those arrested outside the Supreme Court were charged with disorderly conduct making parades illegal, while those arrested inside faced an additional disorderly conduct charge against objectionable language.  These are federal charges.  At trial, though, all defendants faced only a charge of disorderly conduct making parades illegal.

 

The government offered a stet to the arrestees which would place the case in an inactive file for six months.  If the defendant was not arrested in the next six months, s/he would have the case dismissed.  It was an obvious attempt to quell the resistance movement in D.C.  At least two arrestees who did not accept the stet had their cases dismissed. On May 8, the government dismissed the charges against Frida Berrigan, Joy First, Mike Foley, Lindsay Hagerman, Judith Kelly, Chris Knestrick and Max Obuszewski. All were arrested inside the Supreme Court.

 

29—[St. Paul, MN] St. Paul Police apologized for the earliest pre-convention repression, the arrest of Mick Kelly for passing out a flyer headed “March on the RNC and Stop the War.” The charge was dismissed.

 

22 – [WDC] Four CODE Pink women were arrested and charged with "unlawful conduct on Capitol grounds" at Gen. Petraeus’ confirmation hearings. Three of them spent the night in jail.

 

22—[Stockton, CA] Police escorted three CODEPINK women away from a McCain campaign rally after they challenged the candidate’s threat of war on Iran. Medea Benjamin, Nancy Mancias and Katelyn were held by the Secret Service, but released without charge.

 

22—[Lake Grove, NY] Charges were dismissed against Don Zirkel and Susan McKoen-Steinman.  On Mar. 29, while in his wheelchair in the Smithhaven Mall food court, Zirkel was ordered by police to remove his tee shirt which was disturbing shoppers.  He refused and was arrested for wearing a tee shirt which said “4000 Troops, 1 million Iraqis dead” on the front and “Enough!” on the back. Not only was he facing a charge of trespass, but also obstructing government administration.  That same day, unknown to Zirkel, a group in the mall was reading the names of the U.S. dead.  Arrested for that incident was McKeon-Steinman.

 

21—[New London, CT] Donald Blevins, chair of the Waterford Board of Education, was arrested as he took a shortcut to join an anti-war rally at the entrance to the Coast Guard Academy. Police allege he interfered with their work by failing to leave an area secured for the commencement visit of Dick Cheney. 

 

15—[Madison, WI] In Municipal Court, Bonnie Block, Joy First and Janet Parker were found guilty of trespass during a bench trial in front of Judge Daniel Koval.  During sentencing, Marcie Palmer, Madison City Attorney, requested the minimum fine of $109, which was granted by Judge Koval and commuted to 11 hours of community service for each of the defendants. Block, First and Parker were arrested on Feb. 15 at the Hilldale Mall during a peaceful and solemn vigil speaking out against the devastating occupation of Iraq.  The three women were lying on the floor and were covered with a white shroud, calling attention to the death and human suffering of the war.  They were joined by about seven other activists reading names of the war dead and holding banners calling for an end to the war.  When the three women lying on the floor were asked by the police to leave, they declined noting that they were not blocking or disrupting anyone, and that they needed to continue the vigil against the war and occupation of Iraq.

 

In his sentencing, Judge Koval said that the heartfelt arguments were compelling and that he was sympathetic to the cause of the defendants, but that was not the issue.  He took an oath to uphold the constitution and follow the law.     

 

13 – [WDC] Liz Hourican was arrested outside the Cannon House Office Building for loudly lobbying representatives about war funding.

 

10—[Bangor, WA] During a Mother’s Day demonstration at the Trident nuclear submarine base, ten demonstrators--Julia Rusk, Joy Goldstein, Thomas Hodges, Larry Kerschner, Nicole Scott, Ann Kittredge, Mayla Siemion, Susan Borys, Daniel Norby and Lynne Greenwald, were detained after trying to block the main highway.  Two of the arrestees received citations for trespass on a military installation.

 

4—[Kent, OH] On the 38^th annual commemoration of the Kent State killings, 200 people departed from the official ceremony ahead of a permitted march and blocked traffic.  Bill Arthrell, Aaron Brooks, Yvette Coil, and Sable Foster were arrested, and $2,000 was raised to bail them out.  They pled guilty to disorderly conduct and were fined $25 and sentenced to 24 hours community service at Freedom House veteran’s shelter.  They were also ordered to send letters to their Congressional representatives and local newspapers about peace in Iraq.

 

2—[WDC] Desiree Fairooz was convicted of disorderly conduct by Judge Richard Ringell in Superior Court.  This conviction resulted from an incident on Oct. 24, 2007, when Fairooz called Secretary of State Condi Rice a war criminal at a Congressional hearing.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Scott Shapiro asked for a sentence of 90 days incarceration. While the judge said there is a price to be paid for civil disobedience that included jail time, he suspended a five-day sentence, gave her three months of unsupervised probation and ordered the payment of $50 to the victims of violent crime fund.

 

1—[Burlington, VT] Ten activists, including Jen Berger, Hillary Martin and Rachel Ruggles, locked themselves together in the lobby of weapons manufacturer General Dynamics. The activists demanded “General Dynamics stop giving campaign contributions to the politicians responsible for regulating it, stop making Gatling guns, missiles and other weapons of mass destruction and give back the $3.6 million in Vermont tax breaks General Dynamics received in 2007.” The ten were arrested, cited for trespass and released.

 

1—[Sarasota, FL] Seventy people celebrated May Day with a boisterous and unpermitted anti-war parade that stopped by City Hall. A section of road was blocked, and the police arrested a juvenile.  Also arrested was Mike Forsyth, who was charged with disorderly conduct after refusing to come down from a light pole.

 

APRIL

 

30—[Bangor, ME] Six longtime anti-war activists arrested on Mar. 7, 2007 for refusing to leave the federal building when it closed for the day were found not guilty of criminal trespass by a Penobscot County Superior Court jury after 2 ½ hours of deliberation in a two-day trial. The defendants and six others were inside U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office demanding that she vote against further funding of the Iraq War and against the Bush proposal to increase the number of U.S. combat troops.

Jonathan Kreps, Henry Braun, James Freeman, Dud Hendrick, Douglas Rawlings and Robert Shetterly chose to go to trial. The six others arrested, Maureen Block, Diane Fitzgerald, Nancy Hill, Judy Robbins, Peter Robbins & Pat Wheeler, pled no contest and paid a fine. 

 

Freeman, Hendrick and Shetterly represented themselves.  Philip Worden represented Rawlings, and Lynne Williams represented Kreps and Braun.  Hendrick outlined their legal strategy during the trial: "intercede against a greater crime in an act of civil resistance, not civil disobedience.” Freeman said after the verdict. "The fact that this was a not-guilty verdict says something about the way the wind is blowing in this state.”

District Attorney R. Christopher Almy offered this observation: "I think that the public in Maine is so disgusted with the war in Iraq that they demonstrated their disgust with this verdict.  And, that they are upset with [Sen. Olympia] Snowe and Collins for getting us involved in this debacle."  He also indicated he would no longer prosecute such cases.

 

23—[WDC]  In D.C. Superior Court, David Barrows was sentenced to 18 months supervised probation, six months imprisonment suspended, 100 hours of community service and a $1,100 fine with $500 suspended.  The judge rejected the prosecutor’s request for imprisonment. Barrows was convicted on Apr. 2 for unlawful conduct in Congress on Sept. 11, 2007 during testimony given by Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker before the Senate Armed Services Committee.  Prior to his sentencing, he said “Our voices must be heard - not the silence of apathy or the silence of cowardice; not the silence of selfish profiteering but the tears of families of young Americans who volunteered for war under false information.”

18—[Chicopee, MA] Eight activists were to appear for a pre-trial hearing after being arrested on Mar. 19 at a gate to the Westover Air Force Base.  Five years ago, anticipating the start of Bush's war in Iraq, Rev. Andrea Ayvasian, Frances Crowe, Gene Grossholtz, Rev. Peter Kakos, Claudia Lefko, Paki Weiland, Kathleen Winkworth and Carl Doerner went to the same gate.  While they were convicted for that action, the case is on appeal.  On the fifth anniversary of this illegal war, the eight returned to block the main Westover gate for 90 minutes, were arrested and charged again with "disturbing the peace."  Over the years, there have been 72 arrests at this gate.   

 

17—[Annapolis, MD] An anti-war sit-in and class boycott that sparked a lunch-hour commotion at Annapolis High School led to the arrest of three students and a ten-day suspension. Will Sharkey was jailed until 3 AM the following day on charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing school operations.  His brother Sam and friend Kit Whitacre were treated as juveniles.  They sat down in front of the main office to protest the war.  The charges were dropped and the suspension trimmed to three days.

 

15—[Richmond, VA] Three people were arrested for impeding traffic during a brief blockade in front of Dominion Virginia Power’s office to protest the use of coal and nuclear energy.

 

11-[Grand Junction, CO] When Dick Cheney came to town, many who stood along the road to greet the motorcade waved blood-red hands in protest. Jacob Richards crawled into a body bag, and along with Mallory Rice moved into the road and were arrested for obstructing the highway.

 

10 – [New Brunswick, NJ] Suzan Sanal (Rutgers Against the War/Campus Antiwar Network), Erik Straub (Tent State/SDS), and Arwa Ibrahim received a summons from the state of New Jersey for activities during a Walk Out, which took place Mar. 27. They were the only ones to receive a summons as a result of the protest despite the fact that the Walk Out was organized by a coalition of a dozen student groups and gathered several hundred participants. Arwa was not even a member of the Walk Out coalition and never attended an organizers' meeting.

 

All three are being charged with disorderly conduct, and if convicted they could face up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. The complaint states, "Did engage in conduct which caused a physically dangerous or hazardous condition, specifically by organizing and participating

in a protest march onto Route 18 disrupting traffic in violation of N.J.S. 2c: 33-2A(2)"

 

8—[WDC] David Barrows was sentenced today by Superior Court Judge John Bayly, Jr. to 14 days imprisonment suspended, six months of unsupervised probation, $200 for court costs and $200 to the victims of violent crime fund. The prosecutor suggested a sentence of 180 days in jail with all but 20 days suspended. Barrows was convicted of simple assault on Feb. 26.  The accuser, Karen Testerman, a pro-war right-wing homophobe, and the police witnesses failed to tell the truth at trial. Testerman accused Barrows of assaulting her on Sept. 18, 2007 during a pro-war rally in Upper Senate Park.  Sens. Joe Lieberman, John McCain and Lindsey Graham were among the featured speakers. 

 

2--[WDC] Rev. Lennox Yearwood, of the Hip Hop Caucus, was charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly. These charges are based on Yearwood’s participation in a protest against global warming and the war on Oct. 22, 2007. He was not arrested at that time.

 

Rev. Yearwood had been charged with assault on a police officer and disorderly conduct when he attempted to attend a Sept. 11, 2007 House hearing during which Gen. David Petraeus was scheduled to testify about the Iraq War. The assault charge was eventually dismissed, but Yearwood was scheduled for trial on a charge of disorderly conduct on Feb. 25, 2008.  When he appeared for trial, the case was dismissed.

 

2—{Omaha, NE] A federal magistrate judge sentenced Dagmar Hoxsie to pay a $200 fine and do two years probation and John Bach a $100 fine and two years of probation. They crossed the line at Offutt Air Force Base, the home of STRATCom, on Dec. 28, 2007 and were charged with trespass.  In court, Hoxsie pled no contest and Bach guilty. The action was part of the annual Feast of the Holy Innocents, the day Catholics remember the children killed by King Herod.

 

1—[Rochester, NY] Seven advocates arrested on Mar. 19 for placing a coffin in front of the IRS office had their cases adjourned.  There is a possibility their cases will be dismissed.  Charged with disorderly conduct were Eli Yewdall, Sister Grace Miller, Rita Lewis, Mike Connelly, Kathy Castania, Jake Allen and Harry Murray.

 

MARCH

 

31—[NYC] A judge was to decide on a motion for dismissal in the case of the UN witness against crimes perpetuated by Bush, Cheney & Co. against humanity here and abroad. The motion argues that no crime was committed and that the arrest was illegal.  The judge waived the requirement for any defendant, including Linda LeTendre, to be present.

31—[Chicago] Six Iraq War protesters were scheduled for a hearing, after being arrested during an Easter mass, Mar. 23, and charged with one count of felony criminal damage to property and two counts of simple battery.  All defendants had to post bonds before being released from jail.

 

Angela Haban, Regan Maher, Mercedes Phinaih, Ephran Ramirez, Donte Smith and Ryane Ziemba, a few seconds into Cardinal Francis George’s homily, rose from their seats, turned to address the hundreds of parishioners in the auditorium, and talked about the continuing deaths in Iraq. The group also decried George's failure to speak out against the war during a Jan. 7 meeting with Mayor Richard Daley and George Bush. They then squirted themselves with stage blood and collapsed to the floor.

 

Leaving the auditorium, they chanted "Even the Pope calls for peace!" "And so should we all call for peace," said George from the alter as the last protester was led out. The group, which calls itself Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War, said in a statement after being arrested they targeted the Holy Name Cathedral to reach a large audience, including Chicago's most prominent Catholic citizens and the press, which usually covers the services.  Speaking after the service, George said, "We should all work for peace, but not by interrupting the worship of God." 

21—[Alexandria, VA] Sr. Margaret McKenna and Elizabeth McAlister were found guilty and fined $100 in federal court.  Aaron Weiss, Tom Lewis and Marcus Melder had their cases dismissed.  This would be the last court appearance for Lewis before his untimely death.  The five were taken into custody for a die-in at the Pentagon, as part of the Feast of the Holy Innocents Retreat in Dec. 2007.

21—[Groton, CT] Forty people marked the Stations of the Cross along the south perimeter of the Naval Submarine Base.  Sponsored by the Hartford Catholic Worker, this was the most recent witness in a tradition of over twenty years. The police refused to make arrests.

 

19—[Boston, MA] Boston police arrested five people blocking the entrance to the Armed Forces Career Center. The protesters were enacting a scene of destruction from Iraq.

 

19—[Memphis, TN] Seven people were arrested during a sit-in at Sen. Bob Corker's office and charged with trespass--Peter Gathje, Jacob Flowers, George Grider, Dennis Paden, Ceylon Mooney, Kathleen Kruczek and Jessica Buttimore. They activists refused to leave the office as the senator refused to agree to hold a town meeting that would address the Iraq war. 

 

19—[San Francisco] Police arrested 143 protesters, included Daniel Ellsberg, in the business district. Charges included trespassing, resisting arrest and obstructing traffic.  Four women were detained for hanging a large banner off the city’s famous Golden Gate Bridge and then released.

 

19—[WDC] Activists targeted the American Petroleum Institute. Around 200 people were outside the building at 9 AM.  The Metropolitan Police were disinclined to arrest, despite the many acts of resistance at various sites in D.C. Instead the police would clear an area.

 

By early evening, several hundred people gathered at the reflecting pool by the U.S. Capitol, 100 or more wearing March of the Dead white masks and marching single file up Independence Ave. to a major intersection by the Cannon House Office Building.  Around twenty people gathered in the middle of the street and were arrested by the Capitol Police.

 

19—[WDC] The War Resisters League organized an early morning march to the Internal Revenue Service to highlight the three trillion dollar Iraq War.  Affinity groups then blocked the three entrances to the building. The Federal Protective Service arrested thirty two of the blockers, including Clark Field.  Most of the activists, if not all, paid the $50 citation release. 

 

19—[Syracuse, NY] At the conclusion of a Syracuse Peace Council protest, twenty-two activists, including Jerry Berrigan and Angus MacDonald, were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.  After visiting the "four pillars of war-making" -- an armed forces recruiting center, the federal building, a bank, symbol of war-profiteering, and a newspaper office, symbol of the media ignoring the war, about 60 people blocked traffic on the main street through downtown Syracuse.

 

A couple of defendants pled guilty. Most took their cases to a non-jury trail and spoke out against the horrors of the occupation of Iraq. All were found guilty, but some received an unconditional discharge.  Others were given a conditional discharge--stay out of trouble for a year. No one has received a fine, jail time or community service.

 

18—[Berkeley, CA] Michael Struck was arrested after sitting in a tree since Feb. 28 and charged with trespass. It was a multi-pronged protest, which including a call to end the Univ. of California’s involvement in nuclear technology.

 

12—[WDC] Led by students and youth, STOP-LOSS CONGRESS, a nationwide grass-roots coalition of more than fifty broadly diverse organizations including OurSpringBreak, CodePink, Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace, was joined by  veterans who have endured involuntary extensions (Stop-Losses) of their tours of duty. Members of Stop-Loss Congress blocked the parking lot exits at the Hart Senate Office Building and the Rayburn House Office Building.  Thirty people were arrested by the Capitol Police. Only one refused to pay the citation release.  She was convicted and sentenced to community service.

 

All members of Congress received a Stop-Loss order to remain on duty until the troops are brought home.  The only member of Congress who agreed with the order was Rep. Dennis Kucinich.  All others were on vacation from Mar. 15 to Mar. 30, ignoring the killing and suffering they have enabled, supported, and financed.

9—[Iowa City, IA] Citing Karl Rove’s role in the war crimes of the Bush administration, Des Moines Catholic Workers Kirk Brown and Mona Shaw attempted to make a citizen’s at the University of Iowa. Before they could finish reading a Citizen’s Arrest Complaint, they were taken into custody by university police, informed they were under arrest and removed from the hall. Outside, they were released without charges. According to CNN, someone in the audience yelled, "Can we have our $40,000 back?" Rove replied, "No you can't."

 

7—[WDC] During the Interfaith Witness for Peace for Iraq, forty four members of various faith groups were arrested in the Hart Senate Office Building appealing for an end to war funding. 

6—[WDC] After reconsideration, a D.C. Superior Court Judge Raphael Diaz acquitted the Polar Bear 7.  On Oct. 22, 2007, during the "No War, No Warming" demonstration, people dressed up as polar bears sang and danced their way on sidewalks outside of the Cannon House Office Building to remind Congress of the connection between war and global warming.  The Capitol Police insisted they disperse, but the "Polar Bear 7" were arrested as they attempted to leave, less than 30 seconds after the first warning.  The arrested were Paul “zool” Zulkowitz, Alexis Baden-Mayer, Adam Eidinger, Robert Levitt, Cesar Maxit, journalist William Jordan and Anna Duncun.

 

At a beginning of a six-day trial in February, Jordan and Duncun had their charges dropped.  Ariel Vegosen was also arrested, but her case was dismissed before the trial began.  On Feb. 11, Diaz found the “Polar Bear 7" innocent of unlawful assembly, but guilty of a “lesser included" charge, failure to obey a police order.  This was another example of a D.C. judge convicting peace activists on flimsy evidence.  The government argued that because others were arrested that day, the police had the right to take the bears into custody on the basis of "transferred intent." It is still mystifying why the judge failed to acquit.  While there was no finding of any basis for the arrest, and the judge discredited the prosecutorial theory of "transferred intent," he left open the question of selective arrest.  The defendants plan to file a civil suit against the Capitol Police.

  

4--[Wausau, WI] Roberta Thurstin and Don Timmerman were convicted of disorderly conduct stemming from a visit to Rep. David Obey's office on Feb. 26, 2007. The citizens along with Susanna Gilk went to the office seeking information as to how he was going to vote on funding for the Iraqi invasion and occupation. Gilk pled guilty and agreed to do community service.

 

Thurstin and Timmerman, though, went to trial and were convicted despite the lack of any disorderly conduct and the fact that they were arrested before the office was closed.  They were fined $5 and ordered to pay court costs and service costs.  It seems that if you convicted in Wisconsin, you must pay a fee to reimburse those who filed the charges as well as court costs. The defendants were ordered to pay $190 despite the fact they are paupers.

 

2--[Santa Barbara, CA] Larry Purcell, Ed Ehmke and Mary Jane Parrine were arrested protesting Stars Wars testing at Vandenberg Air Force Base. They're expected to be charged with trespassing and go through the federal court system.  More than 150 people commemorated the 25th anniversary of antiwar demonstrations at Vandenberg. The group pleaded with members of the Air Force to abandon their posts and join the protest against nuclear weapons.  

 

FEBRUARY

 

28--[Wheaton, IL] Jeff Zurawski and Sarah Hartfield were to appear at a motions hearing to quash two separate disorderly conduct charges resulting from their May 6, 2007 display of a sign reading “Impeach Bush and Cheney — Liars” and an upside-down U.S. flag on the Great Western Trail Bridge.  They originally faced one count of disorderly conduct, but the state’s attorney added charges of reckless conduct and un-authorized display of a sign.  The government then dropped two of the charges when the activists refused any plea bargain.  However, the state’s attorney added a new disorderly conduct charge.  So they are facing two disorderly conduct charges.  If their motion to quash is denied, they would be scheduled for a trial date.

 

25—[WDC] Rev. Lennox Yearwood had his case relating to a war protest dismissed in D.C. Superior Court.  However, as he was leaving the courtroom a Metropolitan Police officer gave him a citation to appear in court facing another charge.  Details are unclear as to what arrest resulted in a dismissal and what the new citation is about.

 

13--[WDC] Desiree Fairooz was arrested at the conclusion of a congressional hearing on the 2009 war budget.

 

11--[Tacoma, WA] Peter Ryan, Sky Ogawa Cohen, Jesus Lopez, Jesse Schultz III and Fiona Thompson were scheduled for trial on a charge of failure to disperse while blocking arms shipments going to the port.

 

7--[San Francisco, CA] Five are arrested in First Thursday die-in at federal building.

 

6--[Duluth, MN] Trespass charges against nine antiwar activists were dismissed.  The activists had an appointment in the office of Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) on Sept. 21, 2007, but were denied entry.  They were jailed for refusing to leave the doorway of the Duluth Federal Building.  At the start of their St. Louis County Court trial, a motion for dismissal was filed by the defendants, Jay Newcomb, Joel Kilgour, Emily Gaarder, Ozone Bhaguan, Kristofer Dubbels, David Boulton, Peter Krause, Lori Seele and John LaForge, arguing the police had violated their Constitutional rights to free speech and association, peaceful assembly and the redress of grievances. Judge Gerald Maher granted the motion. A tenth defendant, Bonnie Urfer, also of Nukewatch, ignored court orders and had a warrant issued for her arrest Oct. 31, 2007.  The defendants are considering filing a civil suit against the City.

 

4—[Tucson, AZ] Three anti-torture advocates appeared for trial in federal court facing charges for a Nov. 18, 2007 protest at Ft. Huachuca in Sierra Vista, AZ. Franciscan Fr. Jerry Zawada and Betsy Lamb had been incarcerated since the arrest because of outstanding legal matters in other jurisdictions.  They appeared in court in handcuffs.  Lamb is awaiting trial for a September anti-war protest outside the office of Rep. Greg Walden, in Bend, Oregon.  Zawada has an outstanding bench warrant for failure to appear for a court date in Washington, D.C.  The third defendant, Mary Burton Riseley, who was weak with the flu, came to court in a wheelchair.

 

They faced charges of criminal trespass on a military installation, conspiracy and failure to comply with a police officer.  They were arrested outside the gate of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca during a solidarity demonstration with the protest at Fort Benning. 

 

A plea agreement was reached in which the military prosecutor agreed to drop the conspiracy charge in return for the defendants agreeing to stipulate to the facts.  Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Marshall found Zawada, Lamb and Riseley guilty of trespass and failure to obey an officer. Each defendant received a sentence of two years of supervised probation, a $5000 fine or 500 hours of community service.  She told the defendants that they could do their community service by participating in demonstrations, handing out leaflets and other legal forms of protest.  She also advised them that they could ask for an early end to their probation as soon as they either paid the fine or completed their community service.

 

1—[Portland, OR] A motions hearing was scheduled to consolidate all the cases relating to an action on Oct. 5, 2006 during a World Can't Wait march.  Ten people were arrested, but Ryan Dunn would later be found not guilty.  The others awaiting trial are as follows: Adriane Ackerman, Alex Tinker, Bonnie Tinker, Brent Georgeson, Chris Knudtsen, Colin Jones, Crystal, Paul Forester & Victor Phillips.

 

JANUARY

29—[Columbus, GA] Eleven activists were convicted of "trespassing on a military base.” On Nov. 18, 2007 they crossed the line unto Fort Benning, the military base which houses the SOA/WHINSEC.    

Federal Magistrate G. Malon Faircloth sentenced Ed Lewinson, who is blind, to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.  Tiel Rainelli received the same sentence. The other sentences are as follows: Joan Anderson, 30 days and a $500 fine; Ozone Bhaguan, 90 days and no fine; Le Anne Clausen, 30 days and no fine; Art Landis, 30 days and no fine, Chris Lieberman, 60 days and no fine;  Diane Lopez Hughes, 45 days and a $500 fine; Gus Roddy, 30 days and a $500 fine; Stephen Schweitzer, 60 days and a $500 fine; and Michelle Yipe, 30 days and a $500 fine.

25—[Madison, WI] Municipal Court Judge Daniel Koval found Bonnie Block, Conor Murphy, Jean McElhaney, Jamie Haack and Joy First guilty of unlawful trespassing at the East Towne Mall. On Nov. 2, 2007 a group of about 25 concerned citizens went to the mall for a die-in organized by Madison Pledge of Resistance.   As the names of US soldiers and Iraqis killed in the carnage were read aloud, seven activists were moved to lie down on the floor.  Those lying on the floor were covered with a white shroud, and a red rose was placed on top of each body. Two of the arrestees had their case resolved.  The other five went to trial.

 

 The judge was sympathetic to the cause, but had an obligation to follow the law noting a 1987 decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which determined malls were private property where speech is limited to what is acceptable to the mall owner. The judge reduced the fine from $424 to $109 and offered 10 hours of community service as an option in lieu of paying the fine.

 

24—[Albuquerque, NM] The Rev. John Dear was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Don Svet to 40 hours of community service and $510 in fines and court costs to be paid immediately. The judge was quoted at sentencing: "I'm not interested in making a martyr out of you."  Dear and eight others were arrested in the Joseph M. Montoya Federal Building in Santa Fe on Sept. 26, 2006. On Sept. 6, 2007 Dear, Philip Balcombe, Sansi Coonan, Michella Marusa, Martin "Bud" Ryan and Eleanore Vouselas were convicted of failure to comply with official signs and directions.  The activists, who had been denied access to Sen. Pete Domenici's office, wanted to present him with a "Declaration of Peace" to end the war.

 

Jan Lustig and Bruno Keller offered Alford pleas and were ordered to pay $25 in court processing fees. Jordan McKittrick is a minor, and his case was dismissed. Dear's co-defendants received varying sentences in Oct. 2007, including suspended prison time, fines and community service. All five are appealing their sentences. Dear received the highest fine and most hours of community service, but he will not appeal. At sentencing, Svet was also quoted as saying, "Mr. Dear, you frankly are a phony. You preach nonviolence but you are the same man who took a hammer and a can of paint against a U.S. aircraft."      

 

24—[Moyock, NC] Steve Baggarly, Beth Brockman, Mark Colville, Peter DeMott, Mary Grace, Laura Marks and Bill Streit were sentenced after being convicted on Jan. 23 in a jury trial. On Oct. 20, 2007, they were charged with resisting arrest, trespassing and destruction of property at the headquarters of Blackwater USA when they reenacted the Nisoor Square massacre, which happened on Sept. 16, 2007 when Blackwater contractors killed 17 Iraqis.  Six of the protesters were found guilty of second-degree trespassing and of resisting, obstructing and delaying a law enforcement officer.  Grace was only found guilty of trespass.  

 

  The judge sentenced them to time served.  Five of the protestors served five days in jail after their arrest.  Marks and Brockman were only in jail one day, but the judge suspended the other four days as long as they stay away from Blackwater property.

 

 In non-jury trials in December, the seven were convicted.  However, the trials were closed to the public.  The second trial was a result of an appeal of the earlier convictions. A formal complaint from the North Carolina chapter of the ACLU to the N.C. Judicial Standards Commission claims the judge violated the protesters' constitutional right to a public trial.

 

23—[Tacoma, WA] Wally Cuddeford was scheduled for trial.  He was arrested on Mar. 6, 2007 during public comment time in City Council chambers after he condemned police brutality against war protesters.

 

22—[WDC] Patrick O’Neil and Eve Tetaz were scheduled to be arraigned on charges relating to an arrest at the White House on Dec. 30, 2007 during the Feast of the Holy Innocents Retreat.  That day, the Jonah House donkey joined Mary, Joseph and the Jesus in a walk through Lafayette Park to the White House. There they set up a “Refugee Camp” tent. The donkey was given a ban and bar letter from the District of Columbia.

19—[Bangor, WA] Seventeen people were arrested in honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Trident submarine base. Eleven, Jon Bowers, Sophie Siemion, Fr. Bill Bichsel, S.J., Ann Kittridge, Jack Fogelberg, Nicole Scott, Gemma Borys, Susan Borys, Kerry Fitzpatrick, Gabrielle LaValle and David Damstrom, were taken into custody by base security, the others, Larry Kerschner, Joy Goldstein, Kathryn Poole, Rev. Anne Hall, David Hall and Glen Milner, by county sheriffs.   The first eleven were booked and released, and only Fr. Bill was issued a federal citation for trespass, 18 USC 1392.  The other six were also booked and released. Demonstrators were told they may be charged with attempted disorderly conduct which carries a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

17-18—[WDC] On Jan. 17, thirty one antiwar activists were convicted in Superior Court of unlawful assembly.  Over a two-day period, the defendants were given suspended jail sentences ranging from three to ten days and six months of unsupervised probation.  All were ordered to pay at least $50, though for some it is $100, by April 30 to the victims of violent crime fund.  Some defendants also received stay-away orders for the Capitol Crypt. A number of defendants had no previous criminal record, yet received suspended jail sentences.  This is very unusual in Superior Court.  However, there is an attempt underway in D.C. to quell the antiwar resistance.  More than half of the defendants have appealed the conviction.

 

  Thirty four people, calling themselves Rivers of Blood, were arrested on Sept. 20, 2007 during a die-in at the crypt of the U.S. Capitol. The police made the mistake of not charging all of the defendants with the same disorderly conduct charge.  After both sides rested their cases, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Shapiro realized the discrepancy in the disorderly conduct charges. 

 

The only witness for the government was the “arresting officer.” She was not present for the entire die-in, nor did she individually ask all defendants to leave.  She never identified what a single defendant did. Instead her testimony targeted the group.  She repeatedly said “many” of them or “some” of them.  The defense did not bother to cross examine her, as it assumed her testimony was lacking.  While Judge Ann O’Regan Keary dismissed the disorderly conduct charges, her rationale for a guilty verdict for unlawful assembly was that the painted tee shirts worn by the defendants and the Rivers of Blood banner were provocative and a breach of peace.  She claimed that the die-in could have caused others to engage in violence.  Of course, the government never presented any such evidence.

 

17—[WDC] Tina Richards, Adam Kokesh and Ian Thompson were scheduled for trial. On Sept. 6, 2007 a police officer rode a horse into the middle of a press conference in Lafayette Park.  Several activists were speaking to the media about the urgency of coming out to protest the war on Sept. 15.  When Richards and Kokesh pasted up a poster advertising the demonstration, they were arrested.  Also arrested was Thompson, an attorney.  

 

16--[Chicago] Five members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams donned sackcloth and were arrested inside the office of Rep. Rahm Emanuel, while urging him to vote against war funding.  They burned stacks of paper listing American and Iraqi war casualties, and then marked each other’s foreheads with the ashes in a sign of repentance. They were charged with trespass.

 

14—[Tacoma, WA] Wally Cuddeford, Jeff Berryhill and Caitlan Esworthy were scheduled for trial on a charge of resisting arrest during a blockade of arms shipments going to the port. Berryhill and Cuddeford face the additional charge of assaulting police. 

 

11—[WDC] The U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned a conviction for Cindy Sheehan, relating to her arrest on the Pennsylvania Ave. sidewalk outside the White House on Sept. 26, 2005.  Three hundred and seventy one activists were arrested that day and charged with demonstrating without a permit.  Sheehan and forty-one others appeared for the first trial on Nov. 16, 2005 before Judge Alan Kay.   

 

When the activist, who lost her son Casey in the Iraq War, tried to explain her intent on Sept. 26, the prosecutor objected and the judge sustained the objection, claiming that the charge imposed strict liability.  After a two-day trial, Kay convicted Sheehan and the other defendants.

 

Sheehan v. United States, No. 05-MJ-00649, 2006 WL 3756349, was argued on Oct. 16, 2007.   The appellant contested the district court’s judgment on five grounds: “1] The First  Amendment challenge to the National Park Service Regulations was preserved at trial; 2] the NPS permit requirement is facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment, because it imposes strict liability on protective expressive conduct; 3] there is no evidence of  appellant’s mens rea, because the Government prosecuted the case on the premise that strict liability applied and the Magistrate Judge excluded evidence that addressed appellant’s mens rea; 4] the evidence does not show that appellant was ‘demonstrating’ within the meaning of the NPS regulations; and 5] the evidence does not show that appellant knowingly demonstrated without a permit.”

 

The court rejected the challenge to the constitutionality of the regulations.  But it acknowledged the unfairness of the trial: “We reverse and remand for a new trial, however, because appellant was convicted of a crime that does not exist and prevented from offering a viable defense.” 

 

10--[Montpelier, VT] A small group of protesters took over center stage at Gov. James Douglas’ State of the State address. Minutes into the speech, the activists, including high school students, unfurled anti-war banners. Approximately ten protesters were escorted out by Capitol Police from the House chambers.

 

10—[WDC] Mike Ferner, a national officer with Veterans for Peace, was convicted of disorderly disturbing Congress in a jury trial in Superior Court. On Sept. 20, 2007, he and Linda Weiner stood up in the gallery of the House of Representatives and shouted "Congress! Congress! Funding the war is killing our troops. Please stop."  The disposition of Weiner’s case is unknown.

Ferner was fined $100, which he refused to pay.  Sent to the D.C. Jail, he was released after serving less than 24 hours.

 

3—[WDC] In Superior Court, Judge Henry Greene dismissed all charges against activists arrested on Sept. 15, 2007 on the west side of the U.S. Capitol.  Close to 200 people were arrested, but most paid a citation fine.  Only Elliot Adams, Ellen Barfield, Brian Becker, Carla Boccella, Rodney Centeno, Jay Gillen, Sholom Keller, Adam Kokesh, Polly Miller, Shawn Peterson and Rich Reinhart appeared for trial facing a charge of crossing a police line.  The defendants argued the police line was unconstitutional, since it was formed to prevent protected speech with no sufficient cause for a time and place restriction, and no crimes were committed as the police helped or pulled protesters across the line.

 

The government's case collapsed during the testimony of a Capitol Police officer when it became evident that the government failed to provide adequate discovery to the defense.  One of the documents which was withheld included a "police sensitive document related to terrorism."  A motion for judgment of acquittal was granted.

 

3—[San Francisco, CA] Eight are arrested in First Thursday die-in at federal building.

 

3—-[Des Moines, IA] Twenty five activists intended to occupy Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters until the senator agreed to pledge to bring an immediate end to the war in Iraq and to veto further funding of that war if she is elected president.  When Clinton staff saw the group approaching the office, the door to the building was locked.  A demonstration was held outside for several hours.  When staff, so did the protesters.  No arrests were made.

 

2—[Des Moines, IA] Twelve people were arrested during occupations of the campaign headquarters of Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney.  Four were arrested in Romney’s office: Chris Gaunt, Ed Bloomer, Janice Sevre-Duszynska and Suzanne Sheridan.  The eight arrested in Obama’s office were Vicki Andrews, Diane Haugesag, David Hovde, Dan Pearson, Tom Roddy, Brian Terrell, John Tuzcu and Kathy Kelly.

 

2—[Arlington, VA] Nine individuals braved 30 degree weather and 20 mph winds to visit Hillary Clinton’s headquarters in solidarity with Voices for Creative Nonviolence’s SoDa POP (Season of Discontent, a Presidential Occupation Project) campaign. Participants carried signs and a mock coffin, and there was a costumed Hillary Clinton as Lady McDeath.  Clinton staffers kept the doors closed and put up cardboard along the windows in order to avoid seeing the protesters.  There were no arrests.

 

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Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net

 

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs