A national gathering of Catholic Workers in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 7-9, 2011, concluded with a demonstration protesting nuclear weapons and drones.
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| Photo from MacGregor Eddy |
About 100 people held an interfaith liturgy at the entrance to Nevada’s nuclear testing grounds on Sunday. After the prayers, the group walked towards the Nevada National Security Site, formerly known as the Nevada Test site. Thirty-seven men and 22 women crossed the white line delineating one of the test site’s boundaries and were promptly arrested by Nye County sheriffs.
Upon release, many of the activists went to nearby Creech Air Force base where 18 were arrested by Clark County police. Those arrested at the Nevada site received citations and were released, but at the Creech site the activists were charged with jaywalking, unlawful assembly. Most of those were given court dates of Dec. 5
Sunday’s anti-nuclear, anti-drone demonstrations also marked the tenth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. The military base at Creech is the headquarters of the Air Force’s 432nd Air Wing of Predator and Reaper drones, which operates armed, remotely-piloted aircraft in various foreign countries including Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, and Pakistan. For more on drones:http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/july-dec11/drones1_10-10.html
More than a thousand atomic weapons have been detonated at the Nevada site, making it the most bombed place on the planet. Jim Haber, coordinator for the Nevada Desert Experience, an organization working to end weapons testing there, says the site continues to support the country’s nuclear weapons programs, has a mandate to restart full-scale nuclear bomb tests within two years if so ordered by the president and receives and stores radioactive waste.
The nuclear test site and Air Force base are on lands belonging to the Shoshone and Paiute native peoples. Speaking just before demonstrators crossed the line at the Nevada test site, Johnny Bobb, Chief of the Western Shoshone tribe said, “We want our young kids to have a clean future. I want my grand kids to have a clean future. We came here today not just for us but for everyone.”
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Ed. Note
Those arrested at CAFB, awaiting prosecution, are:
Ed. Note
Those arrested at CAFB, awaiting prosecution, are:
Matt Campbell (24) from Arizona
Huntley Hoffman (25) from Arizona
Rachel Winch (27) from Arizona
Rebecca Lambert (28) Arizona
Fr. Jerry Zawada, (74) from Arizona
John Heid (56) from Arizona
Nancy Mancias (41) from California
Toby Blome (56) from California
Mike Wisniewski (62) from California
Christine Nelson (64) from California
Fr. Louis Vitale, (79) from California
Mary Moody (47) from Iowa
Brian Terrell (56) from Iowa
Rosalie Riegle (74) from Michigan
Theo Kayser (21) from Missouri
Robert Majors (24) from Las Vegas, Nevada
Jim Haber (49) from Las Vegas, Nevada
Betsy Lamb (72) from Oregon
A slide-show of this witness prepared by MacGregor Eddy may be viewed here.
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Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, a freelance writer, lives and works at the SS Francis and Therese Catholic Worker of Worcester, MA. She and husband, Scott, co-founded the community in 1987. They are the parents of four children whom they happily love.
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