Join Trifecta Resista May 30-June 1

On tap: Kathy Kelly, Brian Terrell, Medea Benjamin, Col. Ann Wright

Carve out some springtime for taking a peace stand. PeaceWorks-KC is holding Trifecta Resista, a three-day gathering with action on three issues, at three places:

resistance to the imprisonment
 of whistle-blower Chelsea Manning
at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

resistance to nuclear weapons at
 Bannister Federal Complex in KC,
 where parts for nuclear weapons
 were made from 1949 to this year,
 and where contaminants linger.
This photo is from
 a past demonstration at Bannister

resistance to drone warfare at Whiteman
 Air Force Base, near Knob Noster, Mo., from
 which killer drones are piloted in places like
Pakistan and Yemen.

Past demonstrations at Whiteman have clearly
 been perceived by authorities as a threat.

We have promises from Kathy Kelly and Brian Terrell (of Voices for Creative Non-Violence) and Medea Benjamin and Alli McCracken (of Code Pink) that they will attend our triple-action weekend, and Col. Ann Wright hopes to join us as well. 

DeLaSalle Education Center, at 3737 Troost, KC, Mo., will be home base.
Our schedule:
         Fri., May 30, 4-9 pm: kickoff of weekend at DeLaSalle, with nonviolence training, supper, input on Trifecta sites, and small-group sharing.
         Sat., May 31: demonstrations at Fort Leavenworth (at 10 a.m.—Chelsea is now serving a 35-year sentence there) and Bannister Federal Complex (at 3 pm), and meals and gatherings at DeLaSalle. At 7 pm, we’ll have talks from leaders such as Kathy Kelly, Brian Terrell, Medea Benjamin, and Ann Wright.
         Sun., June 1: early breakfast, then departure from DeLaSalle at about 11 a.m., a gathering at Knob Noster State Park at 1 pm, and demonstration at nearby Whiteman AFB at 2 pm.

PeaceWorks-KC sponsors the weekend. The growing list of cosponsors includes All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church Social Responsibility Board, Disciples Peace Fellowship, KC-area Catholic Workers, Loretto Peace Committee, Peace Network of the Ozarks, and War Is a Crime (David Swanson).
Join us! It’s free; we welcome contributions and food; we have sleeping-bag space. For info, see the Facebook event page and PeaceWorksKC.
RSVP by phoning PeaceWorks-KC at 816-561-1181.

The Spring Days of Drone Action are in full swing. CLICK HERE  to learn more about demonstrations in your state!

Spring Days of Drone Action 2014

Ray Mcgovern speaks, Tamara Severns arrested and brutalized at Whiteman AFB

Bearing witness against remote control of reaper drones from U.S. military bases, about 20 protesters rallied Sunday, April 6, at the Spirit Gate entry to Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster, Mo.

Noting the name Whiteman Air Force Base, former CIA
 intelligence analyst Ray McGovern said in his talk: "When B2
bombers flew out of here to Afghanistan and Iraq, they weren't killing
people who looked like us (white), but who were what the airmen
were taught to call'sand niggers' or 'towel-heads.' White-man is killing
brown, black, and other men, women, and children who
don't look like us. White-man Air Force Base is a reflection of
the American original sin, racism."

"When we were here for the first Trifecta Resista
action in 2012, Whiteman personnel were using Predator drones.
 Now we have Reaper drones--think Grim Reaper--and they are armed
 with'Hellfire' missiles. These terms--Spirit, Reaper, Hellfire--are
theological terms and, as used here at Whiteman, are sheer blasphemy!"
-Brian Terrell, speaking at Whiteman AFB on 4/6/14

McGovern recalled that President Obama on May 17, 2013, said he wished he could stop drone strikes. "Gimme a break," said McGovern. "The president could stop the strikes if he had the backbone." Acknowledging that he was in the Bible Belt, McGovern assailed the silence of the churches about drones. "If the church does not speak out against this wanton slaughter against black and brown people, then the church is the same institution Jesus spoke out against and got killed for doing it."


McGovern, after being introduced by Brian Terrell, said, "It's not often I'm introduced by a prophet!" McGovern thanked Terrell for serving six months in a federal prison camp for his 2012 protest at Whiteman AFB--the longest sentence any drone resister has received.

Terrell, a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, speaking during the rally, asked whether the resisters knew what "Spirit Gate" meant. The name evokes not the third person of the Holy Trinity--the Holy Spirit, not a "higher power," not a spirit that animates and gives life, nor even the Higgs-Bosson particle. "Spirit Gate" and, even more pointedly, the "Spirit Chapel" that can be seen just inside the gate, are named for the nickname the Air Force gives to the B2 Stealth Bomber nestled at Whiteman AFB. The Air Force calls these weapons of mass destruction "Spirit Stealth Bombers."

"This is the 'spirit' that is evoked and worshiped here at Whiteman," said Terrell, co-founder of Strangers and Guests Catholic Worker Farm in Maloy, Iowa. 

Terrell  called his prison time "highly productive" for
thinking/praying/planning. He later asked whether any locals had come forward to say they will do civil resistance during the Trifecta Resista that will return to Whiteman AFB. The answer: not yet. For info on that resistance weekend, see PeaceWorksKC.

Rally organizer Jeff Stack of Columbia, Mo., head of the Mid-MO Fellowship of Reconciliation, asked protester Jo Ann Witt of Kansas City to say a few words about why she came to the rally. "Because so many innocent civilians have been killed by the drones," said Witt, moved to tears.

McGovern thanked Witt for her tears, noting they were the humane response to the horror of drone warfare that the U.S. has unleashed.

Bearing witness to drone terror at Whiteman AFB, Sunday April 6th

Tamara Severns of PeaceWorks-KC arrested by surprise at drone protest

Tamara Severns of Kansas City, Mo., was arrested unexpectedly during the protest. A member of the PeaceWorks, Kansas City, Board of Directors and a Co-member of the Loretto Community, Tamara was walking
toward the Visitors' Center to use the bathroom. She and other resisters had used those facilities with no problem during about five earlier protests. On this Sunday, Tamara and several others had arrived at the base entry after authorities had warned the resisters not to step across the white line on the entry road. Unaware that "the rules" had changed, Tamara crossed the line to go toward the Visitors' Center, was taken into custody with no warning, and was handcuffed, searched, and detained on the base for an hour.

"The officer said, 'Turn around. You're being arrested,' and clamped the metal handcuffs on my wrists," Tamara said after her release. "They gave me no warning to leave the property." Her wrists still showed red marks two hours after the handcuffs were removed. A male officer twisted the chain between her handcuffs to direct her where to walk and to hurt her, Tamara said. "I was scared because he was being so rough."

Tamara received a U.S. District Court Violation Notice for
"trespassing on military installation" and expects to be summoned to court. Brian Terrell of Maloy, Iowa, a speaker at the rally, said later he hoped Tamara would not be taken to court because no date or location was listed on the notice. Tamara fears she will receive a court date because the officers told her she would, and it says it on the ticket.

One complicating factor: Officer John Sullivan, who was debriefing the protesters, had gotten inaccurate information from someone else, said Tamara. Sullivan told protest organizer Jeff Stack that another security officer said Tamara had tried to go around the driver's side of the police car toward the Visitor's Center after being advised not to. The truth, said Tamara, was that she never left the sidewalk on the right side of the car and no one said anything except "You're being arrested."

Protester Vicke Hooper Kepling, on her Facebook page April 7, wrote this about Tamara: "She walked to the bathrooms ... like she had done at other protests ... AND GOT TICKETED (detained, felt up, the works). I said "ticketed," but I believe she was actually arrested. I woke up thinking about it. She may face the same fate as the three who intentionally crossed two years ago. One actually did six months in federal prison, and the other got five years probation (reduced to
one). I wasn't putting the same weight on it because of her intention (and that she and others had used the restrooms before). But after reconsideration, I bet it's the same."

 McGovern said afterwards, "It's so obvious Tamara's civil rights under the First Amendment have been violated. Somebody said to this officer, 'Make an example of Tamara and brutalize her,' and he did."

The nationwide SPRING DAYS OF DRONE ACTION continue! Click here for more information.

Spring Days of Drone Action 2014

Aprils Days of Action Against Drones: Demonstration at Whiteman AFB

As part of the April Days of Action Against Drones, dozens of demonstrators representing Veterans for Peace, Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation, PeaceworksKC, and other organizations appeared outside of Whiteman AFB, a site at which killer drone pilots are known to operate.

Passing drivers and those entering the base are reminded of the 
implications of drone warfare: "DRONES FLY, CHILDREN DIE"

"DRONES COST LIVES AND MONEY" highlights that supposed
 economic benefits to communities hosting drone programs are 
negligible, while foregrounding the direct human costs of
 these illusory benefits.

Realistic Predator Drone model helps to condense the thousands
 of miles of distance drone operators typically enjoy from 
the "fruits of their labor." 

The demonstration helped to mark the one-year anniversary of the arrest of Ron Faust of Gladstone, MO and Brian Terrell of Maloy, IA as they entered the base on April 15, 2012 to deliver to the base's commander an indictment to all those on the chain of command from President Obama to the drone operators themselves for the human rights abuses implicit in the killer drone program.

Protesters outside the federal courthouse in Jefferson, MO on 
September 10, 2012, when Ron Faust and Brian Terrell were
convicted of trespassing.

While Faust and Terrell joined the company of protestors at Army bases in New York and Nevada, the Whiteman trial was particularly significant as it was the first time such a case had been heard in federal court.

April Days of Action Against Drones continue around the country. Get involved now!

Judge Convicts Civil Resisters Who “Put Drones On Trial”

PeaceWorks, Kansas City;
Trifecta Resista; and Mid-MO Peace Coalition
4509 Walnut, Kansas City, MO 64111; 816-561-1181

For immediate release Sept. 11, 2012

Contacts:
Brian Terrell, 773-853-1886;
Ron Faust, 816-582-6893;
Tamara Severns, 816-753-7642

In the first federal trial related to drone warfare, Judge Magistrate Matt Whitworth of the U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri, ruled yesterday that two civil resisters were guilty of trespass at Whiteman Air Force Base, near Knob Noster, Mo.

On April 15, defendants Ronald Faust of Gladstone, Mo., and Brian Terrell of Maloy, Iowa, a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, sought to present to the Whiteman AFB commander an indictment of all involved in drone warfare, from President Obama to the Whiteman officers who, by remote control, direct predator drones in Afghanistan attacks. The defendants said yesterday they were not guilty of trespass but had simply tried to bring a grievance to a government authority about the drone strikes that kill an estimated 49 untargeted persons for every one target. More than 50 supporters of Faust and Terrell packed the courtroom.

During the trial, constitutional law expert Bill Quigley, professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, said the defendants were exercising their rights April 15 under the First Amendment to the Constitution. “My grandfather went to jail in Birmingham to oppose Bull Connor,” said Quigley, noting that when the Supreme Court overturned laws against sit-ins at restaurants and protests outside courtrooms, “there were 3,000 people in jail.” Quigley reminded the court that 100 years ago, the nation had no child labor laws, no vote for women, no civil rights legislation. The First Amendment protects “vigorous dissent,” said Quigley. “The idea of trespass is not more important than the First Amendment. Our Constitution trumps the statutes” for trespass.

Witness Kathy Kelly, a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, told the court she came to Whiteman AFB April 15 to support the defendants’ presentation of the “Indictment for Violation of Human Rights”, their statement against drone warfare. Kelly said she and Terrell had visited families of drone victims, and she described how goat-herders at a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, had introduced them to a child whose arm was amputated by a drone. Kelly said she felt responsible “to go as close as I could to the people” suffering from drone bombings, and explained that she and Terrell were raising their voices here on behalf of the voiceless abroad.

The defense had proposed that former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and (retired) Col. Ann Wright should testify about the illegality of drone warfare and citizens’ responsibilities under international treaties. The prosecution opposed those topics, and the judge excluded them.

Wright, who resigned her diplomatic post in 2003 to protest the Iraq War, was permitted by Whitworth to testify only on base security issues. She suggested the commander might have assigned guards to Terrell, Faust, and Kenney on April 15 and let them hand their indictment to the commander. Instead, the base arrested the three and had 40-50 military police in riot gear march against about 40 supporters. After the trial yesterday, Wright said the defendants’ and supporters’ work “gives hope to people in other parts of the world that there are Americans who are fighting drones, and we aren’t going to get stopped!”

VIEW THE YOUTUBE VIDEO OF ANN WRIGHT'S REMARKS at the Trifecta Resista Drone Trial Press Conference.

Whitworth’s rejection of Clark marked the first time Clark was not allowed to testify in court as an expert witness. Clark said after the trial, “We are part of a long struggle—I’ve been at it for 84 years. We have to plan harder, work harder. The world is in far more danger than when I was born, probably progressively so. Right now we’re madly designing more efficient ways to take human life. We have to awaken people, with love out front. We need to act boldly, take the opportunity to do our best, and pray for the rest.”

VIEW THE YOUTUBE VIDEO OF RAMSEY CLARK'S REMARKS at the Trifecta Resista Drone Trial Press Conference.

About half the supporters traveled from Jefferson City to Whiteman AFB, gathering under the stars, singing for peace, and holding signs such as “Ground the Drones!” There Clark said the drone operators are allowed “to be judge, jury, and executioner, contrary to all sense of justice.”

After issuing his guilty verdict, Whitworth told Faust and Terrell to meet with probation officers soon for a presentence investigation. “I wonder if I might waive a presentence investigation,” Terrell asked the judge. Terrell recalled that on June 6, Whitworth gave Terrell and Faust’s resistance companion, Mark Kenney of Omaha, a four-month federal prison sentence, out of the maximum of six months, in part because of Kenney’s prior convictions for resistance. Noting that the prosecuting attorney had his arrest record, Terrell said, “It beats out Mark’s 10 to 1. I don’t believe there’ll be anything in a presentence report that would change the situation. If the government suggests even the maximum penalty, I wouldn’t argue against that.” He asked to be sentenced at once, but the judge denied the request. Sentencing is expected in a few weeks.

Terrell e-mailed supporters today, “Our efforts have been and continue to effectively spread questions, doubts, and even outrage over remote-control murder at long distance by drones from Whiteman and other bases. Their willingness to kill from long distance must be exceeded by our commitment to love from a distance.” Faust e-mailed today, “I think about everybody realized that we won the trial. Change is slow, but we got the message out.” Media reports included coverage in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Kansas City Star, news.yahoo.com, AirForceTimes.com, palmbeachpost.com (Fla.), Fox 4 TV in KC, KCTV 5, and other news venues. Henry Stoever of Overland Park, Kan., served as Terrell’s legal advisor. After the trial, Stoever listed several reasons the defendants should not have been convicted, including:

1. the military witnesses failed to specifically identify Terrell and Faust, referring to them broadly as the two at the defense table when three men sat there, along with Ruth O’Neill of Columbia, Mo., Faust’s lawyer;

2. the judge refused to allow the defendants to present a complete defense in which their experts would have had an opportunity to explain drone killings as murders without notice or warning, without due process, outside of a legal process; and

3. by focusing solely on trespass and the limited “law” in that area, the judge excluded the greater evil that is ongoing and missed the injustice of the entire matter.

Terrell noted today that he and Faust were unable to raise an international law defense. Whitworth rejected Clark’s testimony on the U.N. Charter and the responsibility of citizens to resist the crimes of their government under the Nuremberg Principles. Terrell recalled Whitworth’s comment during a pretrial conference call that international law does not “trump” domestic law. This, says Terrell, is in contradiction to the Constitution, Article VI, that incorporates treaties into the “supreme law of the land.” Terrell added that the judge also limited Kelly’s testimony about what she and Terrell had witnessed in Afghanistan.

RELATED PRESS COVERAGE

Anti-Drone Protesters Found Guilty of Trespassing