R.I.P. Peter De Mott - Presente!

News comes through of the sudden death in Ithaca, New York, of friend and anti-war resister Peter De Mott. Peter was injured in a work accident dying in surgery on Thursday night. Peter's death leaves wife Ellen, four daughters and many of us in the anti-war resistance community with heavy hearts.

Peter, a Vietnam veteran joined the Catholic Worker movement in Des Moines in 1979. In the 1980's, he was later a core member of Jonah House resistance community www.jonahhouse.org in Baltimore. Peter carried out the second plowshares action at the launch of a Trident submarine when he noticed the keys left in the ignition of a security vehicle. Peter transformed the vehicle into a battering ram to begin the disarmament of this enormous first strike nuclear warfighting machine. And with that a movement was born inspired by the original Plowshares 8 action.

Peter and Ellen Grady married and over the last two decades the extended Grady family based in Ithaca New York have been a font of hospitailty and sustained anti-war resistance. On St. Patrick's Day 03 (the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq) Peter along with Teresa & Clare Grady and Daniel Burns occupied a military recruitment centre in Ithaca pouring blood on recruitment materials. They were arrested, while on bail Peter visited occupied Iraq as part of a Christian Peacemaker Team. Here is a video of Peter in Iraq speaking to some US GI's in 2003
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lafPhb80dug

The consequent court case of the St. Patricks Day 4 ended in a hung jury. In early 05 Peter, his wife Elen, 4 daughters and 11 (in all) members of the Grady family came to Dublin to support the Pitstop Ploughshares on trial. On the eve of their departure all St Patrcks 4 defendants were visited by the F.B.I and hit with felonies for the original action. The jury trial that followed was transformed into a trial of the U.S. invasion of Iraq with Citizen's Tribunal on each evening of the hearing. The four were found guilty and sentenced to prison. www.stpatricksfour.org

Further photos and memorials can be found on the following websites in the coming days.........

Jonah House website memorial

http://www.jonahhouse.org/PeterDeMott.htm

CW Blog memorial for Peter De Mott

http://dccatholicworker.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/in-lov...2009/