For Immediate Release:
Contact:
Ed Kinane, 315-478-4571
Mary Anne Grady
War Crimes Indictment Served at Hancock Air Base: Thirty-three Preemptive Arrests
Today, in an action that included three women successfully reading a
War Crimes Indictment at Hancock Air Field in
thirty-three members of the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones
were preemptively arrested by the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Dept. two
blocks from the entrance to the base. Those arrested included an 87
year old woman in a wheelchair, parents (accompanying their children),
a member of the press, and the group’s attorney Ron Van Norstrand.
Cameras, camcorders and phones were confiscated by the Sheriff’s
Department. To view a video of the action, see www.upstatedroneaction.org.
The Indictment calls attention to Article 6, Section 2 of the
Constitution and reads: “…we charge that the Air National Guard of the
National Guard Base …is maintaining and deploying the MQ-9 Reaper
robotic aircraft…Extrajudicial targeted killings such as the
carries out by unmanned aircraft drones are intentional, premeditated,
and deliberate use of lethal force in violation of
international human rights law…” Everyone in the chain of command,
from President Obama to drone operators, is charged in the indictment
(see attached Indictment, also http://upstatedroneaction.org/flyers/indictment2012.pdf).
The arrests preempted political free speech as the anti-drone
activists proceeded silently and in single file on the shoulder of a
public road towards the air base entrance. Sheriff’s Department
vehicles blockaded the road and police officers corralled the group.
Arrests began without warning; most were charged with violating a Town
of DeWitt ordinance requiring a permit to march. How ironic that the
real criminals –who plan, fund and perpetrate drone strikes go free
while citizens who are upholding the U.S. Constitution and
international law are arrested. What is so dangerous and powerful
about the Indictment that such an effort is made to prohibit its delivery?
Mary Anne Grady
1-607-273-7437/ 1-607-280-8797
Ithaca Catholic Workers/Los Obreros Catolicas de Ithaca
"If you think one person can't be effective, you've never been in bed
with a mosquito" -War Resister's League
"Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is
absolutely essential to it" Howard Zinn (1922-2010)
"Si usted piensa que una persona no puede ser eficaz, nunca he estado
en la cama con un mosquito" Liga de la Guerra Opositor
"La protesta más allá de la ley no se aparta de la democracia, es
absolutamente esencial para que" Howard Zinn (1922-2010)
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
http;//www.catholicworker.org
Al Jazeera http://english.aljazeera.net
The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gaza
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions http://www.icahd.org
Gush Shalom http://zope.gush-shalom.org
ElectronicIntifada http://electronicintifada.net
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