Plowshares Kitsap Break-in (2007)

Fri Nov 02, 2007

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On this day in 2009, five anti-nuclear weapons peace activists who were part of the Plowshares movement broke into the Naval Base Kitsap, a nuclear-submarine base on Hood Canal northwest of Bremerton, Washington.

This “Disarm Now Plowshares” protest was a symbolic disarming of one of the largest nuclear-weapons stockpiles in the United States.

The five activists cut a hole through the perimeter fence surrounding the Bangor submarine base and began walking toward the storage area for nuclear weapons, carrying hammers and vials of their own blood. After making it within 10 yards of where the nukes were stored, they were arrested by Marines at gunpoint.

After being charged with conspiracy, trespass, destruction of property on a naval installation, and depredation of government property, the group was found guilty on December 13th, 2010.

At sentencing, Judge Benjamin Settle considering releasing the defendants while they waited for their prison terms to begin, however all individuals refused and, while singing songs of peace, federal marshals escorted them out of the courtroom and into federal detention.

  • southsamurai
    2•1 year ago

    Well, disruption is always good protest. And arrest as part of protest is very often a goal rather than a side effect, but typically only when challenging the arrest legally will be part of pushing for change.

    I’m not quite sure what their goal was here. Kinda hard to effect change from inside a cell when there’s no grounds to challenge the conviction. It isn’t like they can be political martyrs in this case, there’s just no cause to rally behind them as figures. It wasn’t disruptive enough to be big news and gain awareness. So now there’s five people jailed that are no longer useful to the cause they were protesting for, with no benefit gained.

    I dunno, maybe I’m missing something, but this just wasn’t effective.