Ann Suellentrop of the PeaceWorks KC Board and Physicians for Social Responsibility prepared this statement for KKFI, 90.1 FM, radio. Tune into Jaws of Justice on Monday morning at 9 AM to hear this reflection by Ann about the "Human Car Not Warfare" Rally and CARE-a-vans.
Memorial Day rally/CARE-a-van: Pandemic pivot from warfare to human care
Seeking a "pandemic pivot," PeaceWorks-KC and other groups will call for a shift from militarism to humanitarianism. The CARE-a-van will assemble at 30th Street and Harrison in KC MO at 9:30 a.m. Memorial Day, May 25, and proceed to 3800 Troost, St. Mark Hope and Peace Church parking lot for a rally at 10 a.m. Some drivers will bring the CARE-a-van to the nuclear weapons factory in KC MO; some will CARE-a-van in midtown.
Trial brief supports defendants’ line-crossing at nuclear weapons parts plant
Defense attorney Henry Stoever submitted a 19-page legal brief Oct. 23 for the Nov. 1 trial; the 15 defendants had crossed a property line at the nuclear weapons parts plant in Kansas City, Mo. Stoever says in the brief, “Where defendants know even a limited exchange of nuclear weapons would cause irreparable harm to our planet, then the defendants assert … that they are exercising their constitutional rights and privileges to protect this very precious U.S. Constitution.”
Putting nukes on trial, 15 line-crossers at a nuke-parts plant receive guilty verdict
The Kansas City, Mo., Municipal Court trial Nov. 1, 2019, put nuclear weapons on trial. The fifteen defendants had crossed the property line at the local nuclear weapons parts plant, and each spoke about the need to take that action to call for a nuke-free world. For example, Jim Hannah admitted it breaks the law to cross the property line at the nuke-parts plant. He added, “At one time, slavery was the law, and my ancestors broke the law. I believe there’s a higher law concerning these destructive weapons.”
Guilty: 15 activists in KC seeking a nuclear-weapon-free world
On Nov. 1, in the Kansas City, Mo., Municipal Court, 15 peace activists, in an act of nonviolent civil resistance, were found guilty of trespassing at the National Security Campus in Kansas City, Mo. The NSC plant is where 85 percent of the non-nuclear parts are manufactured or procured for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The peace activists, insisting that nuclear weapons are illegal, immoral, and threaten all life, crossed the “property line” at the plant after a PeaceWorks-KC rally. The line-crossers were arrested on Memorial Day, May 27, to heighten awareness to the dangers of producing nuclear weapons—many workers at KC’s former nuke-parts plant have died.
Byron Clemens comes to trial Sept. 5 in KC for ‘trespassing’ at nuke-parts plant
Byron Clemens gained “diversion” instead of a stiffer sentence Sept. 5 in the Kansas City, Mo., Municipal Court. He was charged with trespassing July 4 at KC’s National Security Campus (NSC), where 85 percent of the non-nuclear parts for US nuclear weapons are made or procured.
Nov. 1: Trial for 17 who crossed nuke-plant property line on Memorial Day
A judge set the date of Nov. 1 for the trial of 17 persons who crossed the property line at the nuclear weapons parts plant in Kansas City, Mo., on May 27. At 12:30pm, an hour before the trial time, all are invited to share reflections at the courthouse entry, 511 E. 11th St., in KC.
One More Time for Lu
Ron Faust’s poem for the 2019 Memorial Day peace witness recalls “2000 toxins in a list rolled out/On a scroll by Lu Mountenay.” Several persons this year, mourning Lu’s death, crossed the property line at the new nuke-parts plant in memory of Lu.
Short videos carry message of Memorial Day peace witness
Here are a number of videos—some a few seconds long, some a few minutes long—sharing reflections from the May 27 Memorial Day Witness for a Nuke-Free World in Kansas City, Mo. Many of the speakers were standing near the entry road to KC’s new nuclear weapons parts plant before they crossed the line onto the plant’s property and were arrested.
Ninth Memorial Day peace witness draws its largest crowd
In a rebuke to White House attempts to “make America nuclear again,” 17 peace activists were arrested for trespass during the ninth annual Memorial Day peace witness for a nuclear weapons-free world.