FOUR NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE ACTIVISTS GO ON TRIAL IN ALEXANDRIA, VIRGNIA

Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski at verizon.net

 

PRESS RELEASE-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   October 21, 2010

Contact: Max Obuszewski [410] 366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net

 

FOUR NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE ACTIVISTS GO ON TRIAL IN ALEXANDRIA, VIRGNIA

 

WHO: The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore was formed for individuals willing to engage in nonviolent civil resistance to first try to prevent and later to protest the war in Iraq. It is affiliated with several national peace groups, including the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR].   

 

WHAT:  In July, members of NCNR sent a letter to Secretary of War Robert Gates asking for a meeting to discuss several matters, including the Pentagon’s wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Yemen.  The most important issue raised, though, was the Pentagon’s role in destroying the planet and contributing to climate chaos.  The activists did not receive a response.

 

So on August 9 [Nagasaki Day], four NCNR members, Malachy Kilbride from Virginia, Jay Fanning who traveled from Vermont, Joy First from Monona, Wisconsin and Max Obuszewski from Baltimore went to the Metro entrance to the Pentagon and informed members of the Pentagon Police that they were there seeking a meeting, as no response was received to the letter.  They were promised that someone would meet with them, but first the letter was scanned for anthrax.  Then two special agents came out to interview the four about their state of mind, but had no interest in arranging a meeting.  After they departed, the four citizen activists waited for someone in authority to meet with them.  Instead the Pentagon police arrested them, charged them with “failure to obey” and scheduled them to appear for trial.

 

WHEN:  Friday, October 22, 2010 at 9 AM

 

WHERE: U.S. District Court, 401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, Virginia 22314

 

WHY:  It seems to be a clear case of false arrest.  The activists did not interfere with any business or movement of people.  They were standing in an area where people were coming and going to the Metro subway or bus station. 

 

It remains unclear as to what might happen in court.  The four will act as pro se defendants.  In preliminary legal matters, they have been unsuccessful.  First, they have received no discovery from the government prior to trial.  They have received no response to a motion for additional discovery.  This motion requested videotape, audiotape, intelligence reports, etc.  Some members of NCNR have been under surveillance by various police departments.  So did the arrest happen because of an intelligence report?  Were the police aware that on August 9 four non-threatening pacifists were to visit the Pentagon to seek a meeting with government officials?   

 

Finally, two subpoenas were filed requesting the special agents to appear as witnesses for the defense.  The judge who will preside at the trial denied the subpoenas.  The government has not cooperated with the defendants in the issues raised pre-trial.  Is this an indication that the judge will dismiss the charges?  

 

Regardless of what happens during the trial, NCNR activists will continue to speak out against the war machine which is brutally assaulting Mother Earth.  There is suggestion to organize a climate chaos protest at the Pentagon in March 2011.

 

"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