Elizabeth McAlister Released from Jail Sept. 13, Mark Colville Oct. 1
NYC, NC & GA Festivals of Hope Prior to October 21 Trial
September 26, 2019
Dear Supporters,
There is much to tell you about our friends, the Kings Bay Plowshares 7.
Their trial in Georgia begins Monday, October 21. Elizabeth McAlister has been released on her own recognizance! Mark Colville will be released next Tuesday! This Sunday in Manhattan the first of three festivals of hope will ring out with nueva canción vibes of community and celebration. Journalists Amy Goodman and Jeremy Scahill will be our special guests. Then in North Carolina renowned theologian Stanley Hauerwas will join the festival. Finally, we expect hundreds of people, including Martin Sheen, to join our friends in support at a series of events around their trial in Georgia.
Come to these events! Come to Georgia! We are ready for you.
LIZ AND MARK… AND STEVE
Elizabeth McAlister is out of jail for the first time since April 2018. She was able to convince the authorities that she did not need an ankle monitor. Liz, 79, is also allowed to travel to visit her family and to prepare for trial which begins October 21. She, like four of the other Kings Bay Plowshares 7 activists, remains out until after the trial.
“I was released without notice or communication regarding conditions from Glynn County jail on Friday 9/13/19,” Liz wrote some of her supporters. “The judge has now agreed to allow me to travel to see my kids and their families as well as to meet with the other co-defendants who have been out, as long as I am back in Brunswick, GA the week before trial. I am prayerful and hopeful about the process of preparing for trial, and very much looking forward to being with loved ones.”
Liz will attend the Festival of Hope celebration in Manhattan on Sunday along with four of the other Kings Bay Plowshares 7 and two via telephone or message. The seven were arrested in the early morning hours of April 5, 2018.
Mark Colville will be released on bond on October 1 and will return to his Connecticut home, the Amistad Catholic Worker, the next day. He is not expecting to have to wear the ankle monitor.
Fr. Steve Kelly, SJ, will remain in jail at least until the end of the trial because of a prior warrant related to another Trident disarmament action in Washington state and his decision to not cooperate with the jail system. (You can write Fr. Steve on official US Postal Service postcards only at: Stephen Kelly #015634, Glynn County Detention Center, 100 Sulphur Springs Road, Brunswick, GA 31520. Click and follow these instructions exactly or the jail will likely return your postcard.)
FESTIVALS OF HOPE, OTHER EVENTS SCHEDULED IN THREE STATES
“Festivals of hope” are celebrations of anti-nuclear activists facing trial. The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 defendants are facing more than two decades in prison for nonviolently, symbolically disarming Trident nuclear weapons at Naval Base Kings Bay in Georgia on April 4, 2018.
NEW YORK CITY – SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
SPECIAL GUESTS: Journalists Amy Goodman and Jeremy Scahill. The KBP7 defendants will speak and the two remaining jailed defendants in GA will speak by telephone (Mark) and written statement (Fr. Steve). Brendan Fay will report on the campaign to have NYC divest from nuclear weapons. Padre Luis Barrios, activist and pastor of Holyrood Episcopal Church, will welcome the special guests and lead an interfaith blessing. Music by Nueva Canción Latin band Umigrante and singers Tom Chapin & the Chapin Sisters. Bocaditas/finger food will be served. We expect to offer a livestream on our Facebook page during this and other events.
A flyer for the NYC Festival of Hope is available here.
NORTH CAROLINA – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11
Pastor Doug Long, host. Speaker: Theologian Stanley Hauerwas of Duke Divinity School and named “America’s best theologian” by Time magazine. KBP7 member Patrick O’Neill will speak. Poets and musicians will also perform. Contact: Patrick O’Neill, (919) 624-5245.
GEORGIA – WEEKEND OF OCTOBER 18 & 19 THROUGH THE FOLLOWING WEEK
Scores of supporters are expected in Brunswick, GA around the time of the October 21 trial of the KBP7. Supporters planning to participate in the 2 p.m. vigil on Saturday leading up to the trial on Monday, Oct. 21 are asked to arrive on Friday or Saturday morning, October 18 or 19.
Georgia Contacts: Robert Randall: (912) 399-4862 and Roxane George (928) 607-7369.
COMING TO GEORGIA?
1. Place a reservation for Georgia events, housing and transportation here: CLICK HERE TO RSVP
2. CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT HOUSING OPTIONS IN BRUNSWICK.
(Be sure to click on that RSVP link at #1 above.)
Vigil at Kings Bay Nuclear Submarine Base, St. Mary’s, GA
Additional details to be announced.
Trial of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7
Jury selection begins. End date is uncertain but the trial may be one week or more.
For information on important-to-know rules and strict dress code at this courthouse CLICK HERE.
Additional Brunswick events the week of the trial will be announced. The Brunswick Art Show will showcase peace and hopeful actions. We are also planning a tribunal and community meals.
Jury selection will begin on Monday, October 21, 2019 at 9 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Brunswick, GA. However long the trial lasts, supporters will witness in the courtroom, hold vigils to keep nuclear weapons on trial, and host peace community gatherings.
The KBP7 Support Committee