Bennette Dibben, waving the flag of Honduras, the 50th ratifier of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and Tom Mountenay, waving his family’s peace flag, lead the one-mile walk toward the National Security Campus entry road on May 31. Soon Tom was to cross the NSC property line.—Photo by Jane Stoever
PeaceWorks KC Nuclear weapons, PeaceWorks events

Court hearing Aug. 11; no trial date yet set for nuke resisters

We don’t always get what we expect. We knew, well in advance, that five men in PeaceWorks would cross the property line May 31, Memorial Day, at the National Security Campus, the Kansas City, Mo., plant that makes parts for nuclear weapons. Done. We knew they’d be briefly arrested and processed. Done. An arraignment was set for July 1, via videoconference. But—surprise—Judge Martina Peterson said our five should come to court in person Aug. 11 to speak to a different judge.

Kosuke Mori-Kreiner strikes the gong held by Henry Stoever at the 2019 Hiroshima/Nagasaki Remembrance.—Photo by Jim Hannah
PeaceWorks KC Nuclear weapons, PeaceWorks events

Hiroshima/Nagasaki Remembrance Aug. 8

We'll have both a walk and a rally Aug. 8, starting at 7 p.m. We’ll begin our one-mile walk at Prospect Ave. and Mo. Hwy. 150, going past the National Security Campus buildings where 80 percent of the US non-nuclear parts for nuclear weapons are made or ordered. Then, at the NSC entry at 14510 Botts Rd., KC MO, we’ll hold a rally.

Detainees handcuffed after crossing the National Security Campus property line May 31—from left: Henry Stoever, Brian Terrell, Jim Hannah (contented), Tom Mountenay (smiling!), and Christian Brother Louis Rodemann. —Photo by Hai Chen
PeaceWorks KC Nuclear weapons, PeaceWorks events

Trial date pending for some Memorial Day line-crossers 

On the tenth anniversary of PeaceWorks-KC's annual Memorial Day peace witness, five members of the PeaceWorks-KC family “crossed the line” and were arrested for trespass at the National Security Campus, where more than 80 percent of the parts for the U.S. nuclear arsenal are made or procured. The resisters’ action helped the 70 or so in attendance re-frame what the weapons plant truly is: a Global Insecurity Factory. 

Charlotte Dennett
Charlotte Dennett, author of "The Crash of Flight 3804: A Lost Spy, A Daughter’s Quest, and the Deadly Politics of the Great Game for Oil" Massachusetts Peace Action
PeaceWorks KC PeaceWorks events

Pipeline politics in the Middle East: July 12 (Monday), 6-7:30 PM

July 12 (Monday), 6-7:30 PM, Massachusetts Peace Action and PeaceWorks Kansas City are co-sponsoring a webinar on "Follow the Pipelines: How Oil and Pipeline Politics have shaped US foreign policy in the Middle East" by Charlotte Dennett, author of The Crash of Flight 3804: A Lost Spy, A Daughter’s Quest, and the Deadly Politics of the Great Game for Oil.

Taiwan Strait & Ellsberg
Ellsberg discusses threats of nuclear war in Tiawan Strait crises 2021 and 1958.
PeaceWorks KC Nuclear weapons, PeaceWorks events

Preparing for Nuclear War with China over Taiwan – 1958 and today

Please join a Zoom session June 23, 6-7:30 PM Central time, when Daniel Ellsberg will compare the 1958 Taiwan Strait crisis with current tensions between the US and China. In 1958 the US threatened Communist China with a nuclear first strike if the Communists did not stop shelling Nationalist Chinese forces on two islands, Quemoy and Matsu, just off the mainland. Ellsberg says he believes that US military leaders are likely today recommending a nuclear first strike if China doesn't back down, as in 1958.

An elders’ circle strung out, cuffed, speaking volumes in silence—after crossing the nuke-plant property line May 31. From left: Henry Stoever, Brian Terrell, Brother Louis Rodemann, Jim Hannah, Tom Mountenay.—Photo by Tom Fox
PeaceWorks KC Nonviolence, Nuclear weapons, PeaceWorks events

Memorial Day event: ‘We spoke truth, we cried, we witnessed, we rejoiced’

This Memorial Day was the first time I was able to join PeaceWorks-KC at the National Security Campus, where non-nuclear parts are made for nuclear weapons. It was our 10th annual event there. I was moved by the experience.