7 Anti-Nuke Activists Indicted in Southern District of Georgia Federal Court
May 15, 2018
7 Anti-Nuke Activists Indicted in Southern District of Georgia Federal Court
“Early on the morning of April 5, 2018, seven nuclear abolitionists were arrested inside the Kings Bay Naval Base in St. Mary’s, Georgia.
Kings Bay is the Atlantic homeport for six Trident nuclear ballistic missile submarines and also provides critical support services for the fleet of four British Trident nuclear missile submarines.
The seven Catholic activists entered the high-security base on the night of April 4, choosing to act on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world (today) is my own government.” King has devoted his life to addressing the triple evils of militarism, racism, and materialism.
The intent of the Kings Bay Plowshares was to begin fulfilling the prophet Isaiah’s command to” beat swords into plowshares.” Carrying hammers and baby bottles of their own blood, the seven attempted to convert weapons of mass destruction. They marked areas with crime scene tape and hung banners reading: “The ultimate logic of racism is genocide, Dr. Martin Luther King”, “ The ultimate logic of tridents is omnicide” and “Nuclear weapons: Illegal – immoral.” They also brought an indictment of the U.S. government for crimes against peace, and, as part of their evidence, a copy of Daniel Ellsberg’s book The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner….”