Kathy Kelly, U.S. Anti-War Activist/Visitor to Ireland, Jailed in U.S. on 450 Mile Peace Walk

international | anti-war / imperialism | press release

Wednesday August 13, 2008 09:37

by Nukewtach

Closed Navy "Nuclear War Trigger" Still Casting Long Shadow

Kathy Kelly founder of the sanctions busting group "Voices in the Wilderness" has been lifted on an old warrant during the 450 mile peace walk from her hometown of Chicago to St. Paul site of the forthcoming Republican Convention (where John McCain will be nominated as the party's Presidential candidate for November's U.S. Presidential elections).

Kathy Kelly was a regular visitor to sanctions strangled Iraq and present in Baghdad during the U.S. "Shock & Awe" campaign 03. She had spoken at Afri's 03 Brigid Festival in Kildare en route to Baghdad and gave the PItstop Ploughshares photos of Iraq victims which were taken into the Shannon Airport hangar during their disarmament action the following weekend. Kathy returned to Dublin for the 3 Pitstop trials to testify as a witness and address public meetings.

By John LaForge, Nukewatch

TUNNEL CITY, Wisconsin -- The long history of anti-nuclear protests in
Wisconsin caught up yesterday with Kathy Kelly, a founder of Voices
for Creative Nonviolence in Chicago, when a group of 13 peace
activists walked onto the grounds of Ft. McCoy, the National Guard
base near here, calling for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Ft. McCoy is one of the country's largest Guard bases and is a central
training and deployment hub for occupation troops being shipped into
Iraq and Afghanistan.

Of the 13 peace activists that were charged and ticketed with
trespass, only Ms. Kelly was kept in the Monroe County jail in Sparta,
because of an outstanding warrant. Kelly, who has twice been nominated
for the Nobel Peace Prize, was being held on a 1999 warrant from
Ashland County, Wisconsin. The warrant stems from a protest against
the now-closed submarine transmitter Project E.L.F. near Clam Lake.

The Extremely Low Frequency (E.L.F.) transmitter was the object of
nuclear weapons protests from 1968 until it closed in 2004. Critics
called it a "nuclear war trigger" because of its function in signaling
a potential first-strike with submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

The Ashland County Sheriff's Dept. did not return calls inquiring
about whether the county would go to the expense of sending deputies
237 miles to Sparta to execute the nine-year-old warrant.

A January 17, 1999 Martin Luther King Day demonstration at Project
E.L.F. resulted in trespass fines being issued to 15 people. Kelly
refused to pay her $756.00 fine and Ashland County Circuit Court Judge
Robert Eaton issued the warrant which is still in effect.

After 1984, when a federal court decision that shut-down Project
E.L.F. over environmental concerns was reversed by a federal appeals
court, the site was inundated with civil disobedience. Over 44
demonstrations, resulting in more than 660 arrests, took place at the
secluded site between 1984 and 2004. On five different occasions
disarmament activists temporarily shut down the transmitter, using
hand saws to cut utility poles that suspended the antenna. Long prison
and jail terms were served by the "Swords into Plowshares" activists
as well as by war resisters who refused to pay trespass fines.

Non-payment of fines or war taxes in civil disobedience campaigns is
an long-standing American tradition beginning with Henry David
Thoreau, whose famous essay "Resistance to Civil Government" or "Civil
Disobedience," lambasted the hypocrisy of supporting with taxes a war
that one opposes in principle.

The August 10 action at Ft. McCoy was part of the Witness Against War
campaign, a 450-mile walk from Chicago to Saint Paul to end the U.S.
occupation of Iraq. Organized by Voices for Nonviolence, the walk
began on July 12 and will arrive in Saint Paul on August 30 for the
Republican National Convention. (Witness Against War can be contacted
at 312-286-8535, or 773-391-0040.)

The walkers chose a historic day to start their seven-week-long trek.
Thoreau was born in 1817 -- on July 12.

NUKEWATCH
PO BOX 649
LUCK WI 54853
715-472-4185
www.nukewatch.com

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Comments (8 of 8)

Relevant Websites for Background on Kathy Kelly Arrest

by Ciaron - Catholic Worker/Plowshares

Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:01

Website to Anti-War Walk from Chicago to Republican Convention,
St. Paul Minnesotta
http://vcnv.org/witness-against-war

Voices for Creative Nonviolence
http://vcnv.org/

LINK- Kathy Kelly's Previous Reflections on the War & Prison

by Counterpunch

Wed Aug 13, 2008 22:34

LINK- Kathy Kelly's Previous Reflections on the War & Prison

http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/images/010_l...g.gif

LIKS - 13 Arrests at Ft. McCoy on 450 Mile Walk to the Republcan Convention: Chcago-St.Paul

by Photos, Refelction, Background

Thu Aug 14, 2008 23:46

The Walkers
http://vcnv.org/the-walkers

A Reflection from 13 Arrested at Ft. McCoy
http://vcnv.org/walk-blog-josh-brollier-civil-disobedie...ccess

Photos from Ft. Mc Coy Action
http://vcnv.org/waw-photos/fort-mccoy-sv/index.html

Kathy Outta Jail, Back on Walk to the Republican Convetion in St. Paul Minnesota!

by Ciaron

Sat Aug 16, 2008 18:40

Word from Nukewatch
Kathy is now outta jail and back on the 450 mile walk to the Republican Convention.

Her incarceration on an old warrant for her past nonviolent resisiance to part of the U.S. nuclear first strike
system that is now defunct (in the meantime they have been working on more technologically effiecient ways of killing us all)
points to how the U.S. Empire never forgets the oldest of percieved
slieghts. They are still tracking down resisters from the Vietnam War period over there!....long after the
Presidencies of anti-Vietnam War Clinton and Draft Dodger Bush.

It is also testament to the longetivity of Kathy Kelly's opposition to war preperations, genocidal sanctions and war.
Kathy was a wonderful presence both in the witness box, on the streets and in the pub during our three Pitstop trials
in Dublin. She did a great cover of Randy Newman "Drop the Big One" for us. Scroll down for a snap of Kathy outside the
Four Courts www.peaceontrial.com

General background on the anti-war walk.......
http://vcnv.org/witness-against-war

6News Walk Vid Report

by 6News Walk Vid Report

Tue Aug 19, 2008 22:07

Walk Against the Wars

click here to see video
http://kaaltv.com/article/stories/S546610.shtml?cat=10217

(ABC 6 NEWS) - They're walking more than 450 miles to prove the point that they want an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's been a long walk for Kathy Kelly. She's part of the Witness Against War group, that's making its way from Chicago to St. Paul.

"We've just crossed into the wonderful state of Minnesota after walking through Illinois and Wisconsin," said Kelly.

The trip started on July 21. The walkers hope to reach the Twin Cities right before the Republican National Convention.

"We hold both parties responsible," Kelly said.

"Just the walking has in itself been a blessing, and it's been wonderful to have formed a community along the road and to be received by so many fine people," said Kelly.

But not everyone along the way has been so welcoming.

Some members of the group were arrested for trying to enter Fort McCoy in Wisconsin.

Drivers are upset about the group's message.

"This morning somebody leaned out of his car. He was so angry, he said an expletive and don't rebuild Iraq. We need that money. It's our money," Kelly said.

"It's a good way to get the word out," said Paul Melling, a veteran of the Iraq War who also drives the protester's support bus.

"I've gotten a lot of support from these people they've helped me out a lot you know so I try and support them," said Melling.

"We've certainly been happy to receive the hospitality of so many people through this Midwestern walk," said Kelly.

The group says it will march on with its message to stop the fighting overseas.

LINK -Audio Interview (58 min) with Kathy Kelly on Anti-War Walk to the Republican Convention

by Audio Interview

Mon Aug 25, 2008 06:20

Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence 58 min radio interview
while on the Walk Against War
http://speakingtruth.org/post/view/597

Kathy Kelly is currently co-coordinator of Voices for Creative
Nonviolence http://vcnv.org/, is active with the Catholic Worker
movement and since becoming a pacifist has refused payment of all
federal income tax for 25 years. ...

SpeakingTruth.org articles - http://speakingtruth.org/rss

Madison D.A. files for resentencing

by Resentencing.....

Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:11

Madison, USA

Friends, On November 5 the US Attorney in Madison, Wisconsin filed a
"Motion for Re-sentencing" in US District Court against several peace
activists who had not paid fines after being convicted for an alleged
trespass in August of 2008 at Ft. McCoy, an army training base from
which soldiers are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, . see-
http://vcnv.org/waw-blog/13-arrested-at-fort-mccoy-for-...q-war

The USAttorney is asking the court to re-sentence Jeff Leys, Kathy
Kelly, Eileen Hansen, Renee Espeland, Joshua Brollier and me to 30
days in jail. "Briefs in opposition" to the government's motion were
due today. Below is the response that I wrote and mailed in to the
court.

In the mean time, nine who returned to Ft McCoy this last August and
who were arrested for trespass
(http://vcnv.org/blurring-the-lines-how-i-was-jailed-by-...tters)
have not been charged to date.
What happens next in either case is anyone's guess. the resistance continues!
peace, Brian

Two Anti-war activists jailed for 14 days for 2008 trespass at Ft. McCoy

by 2 Jailed for 14 days

Fri Jan 29, 2010 15:31

U.S.A.

Date: Thu, Jan 28, 2010

Long time Catholic Worker Brian Terrell and Joshua Brollier were sentenced today to 14 days for
trespass at Ft. McCoy, in August of 2008. They were taken directly
from the Federal Courthouse in Madison to begin serving the sentence
immediately following the 10am hearing.

Today’s hearing before Judge Magistrate Stephen Crocker in US
District Court was a re sentencing motion filed by the government
against the two for failure to pay the $75 fine imposed by the court
in a bench trial last January. Judge Crocker began by hearing from
Terrell on his motion opposing the resentencing. Terrell argued that
it would be improper to impose a jail sentence at this stage since
jail was not a sentence that could have been imposed at the time of
the original sentencing under the Monroe County trespassing ordinance.
(In the bench trial before Judge Crocker in January 2009, for
instance, defendants were not offered representation by public
counsel, specifically because jail time was not a potential
consequence for the alleged crime.)

Further, Brollier and Terrell contested the government’s contention
that “alternatives to jail are not sufficient deterrence”. Terrell
spoke eloquently about the example of friends and mentors like Dorothy
Day, Daniel and Phillip Berrigan and Daniel Ellsberg. He noted that
“putting these people in chains and locking them in cages” served not
as a deterrent to him and others, but rather as an inspiration to act
with similar courage.

Brollier noted that their actions of August 8, 2008 did not take
place in a vacuum, and that the state of the world must be considered
along with their actions. It is not permitted to yell fire in a
crowded theater if there is no fire. But if there is a fire, we are
duty bound to alert people to the danger.

Both defendants agreed that they were not seeking to go to jail, but
were willing to do so, in part, to stand in solidarity with those who
have no such choice. Speaking from recent experience in Washington DC
city jail where Terrell met inmates who were unable to pay even a
small fine to get out, he said “in a world where jails exist and some
can pay and walk away while others cannot pay and their lives are
ruined, I would rather go to jail”.

After Judge Crocker declared the sentence of 14 days, both
defendants stated a preference to begin serving that time immediately.
Brollier said he would “rather get this done and get back to the
important work of resisting these wars and also to alleviating the
suffering” that is so often the result. The two were escorted out by
federal marshals to begin serving their sentence in Dane County jail.

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Kathy Kelly, U.S. Anti-War Activist/Visitor to Ireland, Jailed in U.S. on 450 Mile Peace Walk

Comments (8 of 8)