for Trident Disarmament Action Against Nuclear Weapons


Recent News

Beating Swords into Plowshares by Patrick O’Neill, Outrider Post, January 9. 2020

January 11, 2020

On April 4, 2018, seven Catholic peace activists broke into a military base to protest nuclear weapons. What motivated them to do it? I am one of seven Catholic pacifists…

Read More

ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS, Nagasaki, November 24, 2019

January 2, 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters, This place makes us deeply aware of the pain and horror that we human beings are capable of inflicting upon one another. The damaged cross and…

Read More

Video interview with Martha Hennessy in Vermont, edited by Anne Macksoud, Dec. 2019

December 21, 2019

Martha Hennessy reflects on her life and why she was led to a plowshares action. Watch:https://vimeo.com/380845421

Read More

Background – About the Kings Bay Plowshares 7

KBP_group_2_signs_horiz

Seven Catholic plowshares activists entered Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in St. Mary’s, Georgia on April 4th, 2018.  They went to make real the prophet Isaiah’s command to “beat swords into plowshares”.

The seven chose to act on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who devoted his life to addressing what he called the “triple evils of militarism, racism, and materialism.”  Carrying hammers and baby bottles of their own blood, the seven attempted to convert weapons of mass destruction.  They hoped to call attention to the ways in which nuclear weapons kill every day, by their mere existence and maintenance.

Kings Bay Naval base opened in 1979 as the Navy’s Atlantic Ocean Trident port.  It is the largest nuclear submarine base in the world.  There are six ballistic missile subs and two guided missile subs based at Kings Bay.

The activists went to three sites on the base: The SWFLANT administration building, the D5 Missile monument installation and the nuclear weapons storage bunkers.  The activists used crime scene tape, hammers and hung banners reading: “The ultimate logic of racism is genocide - Dr. Martin Luther King”, “The ultimate logic of Trident is omnicide” and “Nuclear weapons: illegal / immoral.”  They also brought an indictment charging the U.S. government for crimes against peace.

The activists at the nuclear weapons storage bunkers were Elizabeth McAlister, 78, of Jonah House, Baltimore; Fr. Steve Kelly SJ, 69, of the Bay Area, California; and Carmen Trotta, 55, of the New York Catholic Worker.

At the Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic Administration building were Clare Grady, 59, of the Ithaca Catholic Worker; and Martha Hennessy, 62, of the New York Catholic Worker.

At the Trident D5 monuments were Mark Colville, 55, of the Amistad Catholic Worker, New Haven, Connecticut; and Patrick O’Neill, 61, of the Fr. Charlie Mulholland Catholic Worker, Garner, North Carolina.

This is the latest of 100 similar actions around the world beginning in 1980 in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Sign the Global Petition

(The petition has been delivered to the Department of Justice before the trial in October 2019 where the seven were convicted of all four counts. They are now being sentenced. You can still sign to show support, and you'll be added to the mailing list.)

This is a request that you join distinguished citizens of the world including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, other Nobel laureates and many others by signing our global petition to dismiss all charges against the Kings Bay Plowshares 7.

They face years in prison for exposing illegal and immoral nuclear weapons that threaten all life on Earth. The seven nonviolently and symbolically disarmed the Trident nuclear submarine base at Kings Bay, GA on April 4, 2018, the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (View KBP7 reading their statement here.)