Catholic Peace Activists to be Sentenced for Nuclear Protest
Nashville, USA, 18 February 2014: An 84-year-old nun and two fellow Catholic peace
activists will learn on Tuesday whether they will spend the next six to nine years
in prison in the US. On July 28, 2012, the activists trespassed on the grounds
of a nuclear weapons plant in oak ridge Tennessee, cutting through three fences in
the pre-dawn hours before reaching a $548 million storage bunker that holds the USA's
primary supply of bomb-grade uranium. They splashed blood on a wall of the bunker
and painted messages such as, "The fruit of justice is peace." When security finally
arrived, guards found Megan Rice, Greg Boertje-Obed (bohr-CHEE' OH'-bed) and Michael
Walli hanging banners, singing and offering to break bread with them. The protesters
reportedly also offered to share a Bible, candles and white roses with the guards.
Although
the protesters had set off alarms, they were able to spend more than two hours inside
the restricted area before they were caught. And while officials claimed there was
never any danger of the protesters reaching materials that could be detonated or used
to assemble a dirty bomb, the delayed response to the intrusion raised serious questions
about security at the place officials liked to call the "Fort Knox of uranium."
The
Department of Energy's inspector general wrote a scathing report on the security failures
that allowed the activists to reach the bunker, and the security contractor was later
fired. Some government officials praised the activists for exposing the facility's
weaknesses. But prosecutors declined to show leniency, instead pursing serious felony
charges.
At trial, prosecutors argued the intrusion was a serious security
breach that continued to disrupt operations at the Y-12 National Security Complex
even months later. Attorneys for Rice and Walli, both of Washington, D.C., and Boertje-Obed
of Duluth, Minn., said the protesters were engaged in a symbolic act meant to bring
attention to America's stockpile of nuclear weapons, which they view as both immoral
and illegal under international law.
Rice testified that she was surprised
the group made it all the way to the interior of the secured zone without being challenged
and that plant operations were suspended. "That stunned me," she said. "I can't believe
they shut down the whole place."
They were found guilty on May 8, 2013, of
sabotaging the plant and damaging federal property. The government has recommended
sentences of about six to nine years in prison. Attorneys for the activists argue
the more-than-nine months they have spent behind bars already is sufficient punishment.
At
the first part of the sentencing hearing three weeks ago, more than 100 supporters
filled the courtroom and an overflow room where they watched the proceedings on a
video feed. Friends of the defendants testified to their good characters and kind
hearts, saying the three had dedicated their lives to pursuing peace and serving the
poor. The hearing is expected to be completed on Tuesday. Source: AP