Hiroshima-Nagasaki Event News Release

Friends,

Here is the news release for this past weekend's event at Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action.

Peace,

Leonard

P.S. - See the previous post for a slideshow of part of the weekend.

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Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
16159 Clear Creek Road NW Poulsbo, WA 98370
Website: www.gzcenter.org, E-mail: info@gzcenter.org

10 people arrested at Trident nuclear submarine base at Bangor, marking the 64th Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

87 people participated in a vigil and nonviolent direct action against the Trident nuclear weapons system at the Main (Trident Avenue) gate to Bangor nuclear submarine base early Monday morning .

Joy Goldstein, 74, 0f Vashon, WA, and her passenger, Swaneagle (Mary Tremblay), 59, of Vashon, WA, drove onto the base, were told to leave or receive citations. The pair were allowed to leave in their vehicle.

Jessica Arteaga, 24, of Tacoma, WA, Lynne Greenwald, 60, of Bremerton, WA, and Tom Shea, 80, of Snoqualmie, WA crossed the blue line onto the submarine base and attempted to block traffic entering the base while holding a large banner with a sunflower and broken Trident missile saying, "Abolish Nuclear Weapons: Resist Trident", and a peace flag. All three were detained by Naval security, processed and released. Shea offered the Naval security personnel copies of an article by Larry Kerschner, titled "August 9, 1945: Ruminations on Nagasaki." Greenwald was given a citation for trespassing (violation 18 USC 1382); court date pending.

While vigilers held a variety of banners, flags and signs calling for peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons a second group broke the yellow "caution" tape designating the "free speech zone", and strung it across the County roadway, blocking traffic entering the base. One member of this group walked among the vehicles waiting to enter the base, offering drivers sunflowers, a symbol of nuclear disarmament. Anne Hall, 64, of Seattle,WA, Jackie Hudson, 74, of Bremerton, WA, Brenda McMillan, 75, of Port Townsend, WA, Jean Sundborg, 69, of Seattle, WA, and Alice Zillah, 36, of Olympia, WA, were arrested by Washington State Patrol officers.

Following the release of the three Federal arrestees, Arteaga and Greenwald, who had already been processed and released by Naval authorities, re-entered the roadway on the County side carrying the same banner as before, and were arrested by the State Patrol. All those arrested by the State Patrol were taken to Kitsap County Justice Center in Port Orchard where they were booked and released. Veterans For Peace, Squadron 13, who brought their Peace Bus to Ground Zero Center for the weekend, which marked the anniversaries of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, picked up the arrestees after their release and returned them to Ground Zero Center.

Besides welcoming the Interfaith Peace Walk (from Los Alamos, New Mexico to Ground Zero Center) and speaking by telephone with members of the Journey of Repentance who were in Hiroshima, Japan, the weekend included Charlie Meconis speaking on Energy, Environment & Nuclear Weapons, and an engaging panel discussion with Vietnam Vet, Lawyer and Peace Activist, Brian Willson, and Ground Zero founders, Jim and Shelley Douglass, long time Ground Zero member, Lynne Greenwald, and folksinger, Tom Rawson.

The Trident submarine base at Bangor, just 20 miles from Seattle, is home to the largest single stockpile of nuclear warheads in the U.S. arsenal. In November 2006, the Natural Resources Defense Council declared that the 2,364 nuclear warheads at Bangor are approximately 24 percent of the entire U.S. arsenal. The Ground Zero Center for Nonviolence has, for over 30 years, resised Trident, and offers education, training, and action for a world free of nuclear weapons.

Note: The photo, taken in front of the new Ground Zero Center house nearing completion, is of the 10 people who risked arrest on Monday morning.