The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee is hosting its latest FILM & SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS DVD SERIES. The series theme is THE INDIVIDUAL IN A TIME OF CONFLICT. The first film in the series THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING [
Directed by Peter Webber from a screenplay based on the novel by Tracy Chevalier, the film stars Scarlett Johansson as Griet, Colin Firth as Johannes Vermeer, the magnificent Dutch painter, Tom Wilkinson and Cillian Murphy. Griet is a young woman living in
Doors open at 7 PM, and the DVD starts at 7
Voices for Creative Nonviolence <info@vcnv.org>
On April 9, 2009, Voices for Creative Nonviolence Co-coordinators Kathy Kelly and Brian Terrell and 12 other activists were compelled to deliver a message to Creech Air Force base personnel who are responsible for operating drones. Drones kill innocent civilians, as well as combatants in
In September 2010, moved by the testimony of three expert witnesses, Judge Jansen took three months to review the legal arguments presented by the defendants. On January 27, 2010 Judge Jansen found the "Creech 14" guilty of criminal trespass, disregarding the defendant's claim of the necessity defense.
http://vcnv.org/creech-14-found-guilty-of-trespassing-judge-says-go-in-peace
"Creech 14" Found Guilty of Trespassing, Judge Says ‘Go in Peace’
Dave Toplikar
Jan. 27, 2011, Creech Air Force Base
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Judge William Jansen, in a 20-page decision, ruled that the “Creech 14” who protested April 9, 2009, at the base, were guilty of the crime of trespassing.
But the judge also decided that the defendants, who stood trial for the misdemeanor offense last September in his courtroom, would be given credit for the time they served in jail and would be free to go.
“Go in peace,” were Jansen’s final words to the defendants after an hour-long court proceeding this morning in
The judge also urged them to use diplomacy, rather than trespassing, in their attempts to get
There was some scattered applause in the crowded courtroom upon hearing the defendants wouldn’t get jail time — but the defendants weren’t pleased about the judge’s guilty verdict.
The protesters had argued there was “necessity” that compelled them to act. As someone might trespass onto private property to save a child from a burning building, they said they were trying to stop drone warfare from killing civilians thousands of miles away in
However, in his conclusion, Jansen said that “Defendants’ motivation for why they committed the offense is irrelevant and does not constitute a defense to the charge. Moreover, defendants are unable to show that their conduct was compelled by true ‘necessity’ as that doctricne has been defined by various courts.”
Before handing down sentences, the judge allowed each of the defendants to make statements. Each of those who spoke said they disagreed that what they were doing wasn’t out of necessity.
Those found guilty of the misdemeanor charge are the Rev. John Dear, a Jesuit priest; Dennis DuVall; Renee Espeland; Judy Homanich; Kathy Kelly; the Rev. Steve Kelly, a Jesuit priest; Mariah Klusmire; Brad Lyttle; Libby Pappalardo; Sister Megan Rice, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus; Brian Terrell; Eve Tetaz; and the Revs. Louie Vitale and Jerry Zawada, both Franscican priests.
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The "Creech 14" speak to Judge Jansen upon hearing their sentences.
Brian Terrell
Thank you for your listening, the time you took to study and your thoughtful response.
I spent three weeks in
An airman at Creech wrote, “I am 7,000 miles away from the killing…. I am 18 inches away from the killing.” He was referring to his proximity to seeing human beings dismembered on the video screen.
This is precisely what the drones are doing…giving an illusion of distance. We are very close to the destruction. The harm is imminent. The harm is real
The analogy is so close to the reality, it is the reality.
Read all the "Creech 14" sentencing statements here
http://vcnv.org/creech-14-sentencing-statements
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Press Release
For Immediate Release
January 27, 2011
Contact
Creech 14 Anti-drone protesters vow to continue activism following guilty verdict in
Las Vegas—On Thursday, January 27th, activists charged with trespass, along with their supporters, filled Judge Jansen’s courtroom to hear his verdict regarding their April, 2009 protest at Creech Air Force Base Crews at Creech control the drones used in these expanding wars, killing civilians in remote controlled assassination attacks.
In a 20-page written decision, Judge William Jansen found the fourteen guilty of trespass as charged, ruling that their defense did not meet the legal requirement of immanence for acquittal based on necessity.
Read the press release
http://vcnv.org/press-release-creech-14-verdict
Our mailing address is
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
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"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
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