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.
UNplaza Art Fair 2019 Videos
Enjoy these artist videos from the 2019 UNplaza Art Fair!
Paige Rackers: ‘I’d rather shoot for the moon and land on the stars than to aim for the treetop and stay on the ground’
Avila University senior Paige Rackers is one of two winners of a 2019 PeaceWorks award. She hopes to work in prisons and help develop more rehab programs to decrease recidivism.
Jazmine Kenney: ‘I hope … to create peace here in Kansas City’
I realized that all the skills I have gained and experiences I have had revolved around peace and social justice. I have had the chance to work for companies that offer me double what I make as a case manager, but I know I could not sit at a desk getting coffee when there is so much more to be done in our world.
UNplaza Art Fair 2019 Wrap-up and Photos
Artists are a hardy lot. They are tough. PeaceWorks worker bees are a hardy lot. We are tough. As Ann Suellentrop says--Art and Peace, what a combo!
UNplaza Art Fair 2019 Photo Gallery
Feast your eyes on these photos of the 2019 UNplaza Art Fair. Thanks to Jim Hannah for being our photographer!
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.
Hiroshima/Nagasaki Remembrance marks 74th anniversary of bombings
Remembering the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, 55 persons shared potluck, listened to speakers, and were moved by the singing of Bob and Diana Suckiel. Atsuki Mori explained that her grandmother’s whole life dramatically changed after the Hiroshima bombing and recalled how much her family and the Japanese people have suffered.