Explainer: Who are the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, the Catholics convicted of protesting nuclear weapons? by Ellen K. Boegel, America, Nov. 20, 2019
As reported in America, the “Kings Bay Plowshares 7” defendants, arrested for acts of civil disobedience intended to protest the nation’s continuing nuclear weapons program, were found guilty on Oct. 24 of four separate federal crimes. The activists are grandparents, parents and caregivers.
Several of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, including Dorothy Day’s granddaughter, Martha Hennessy, are members of Catholic Worker communities. Clare Grady, who describes her Plowshares activism as a sacramental response to God’s call to disarm, was arrested and convicted in 1983 for her participation in a Plowshares protest at Griffiss Air Force Base. Elizabeth McAlister, a co-defendant to Ms. Grady in both actions, has been an anti-war activist since she and her late husband, Philip Berrigan, destroyed draft cards during the Vietnam War.