Antinuclear

Elderly peace activists in court, face a 20 year prison sentence

that the real danger to USA is these nuclear weapons an d wastes facilities

If convicted, the activists face up to 20 years in prison on the charge of damaging a national defence premises

Breach of nuclear facility endangered US security stuff.nz. 7 May 13 Three peace activists, including a now 83-year-old nun, endangered US national security last year when they breached a secure facility where enriched uranium for nuclear bombs is stored, a federal official testified on Tuesday at their trial.

Steven Erhart, site manager for the heavily guarded Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, said the July 2012 break-in disrupted operations at the primary US site for processing and storage of enriched uranium.

“The 15-day shutdown put everything behind in terms of nuclear operations,” Erhart told jurors in the federal court in Knoxville. “It hurt our credibility and that credibility is tied to nuclear deterrence.”

Michael Walli, Greg Boertje-Obed and nun Megan Rice, who are charged with sabotage and destruction of federal property, cut several fences, walked through the complex for hours and spray-painted slogans and hammered on the walls of the facility. When confronted by a single guard, Kirk Garland, they offered him food and began singing.

“We were filled with love and compassion for the people working at the facility,” Rice testified on Tuesday. “I sort of had the intuition that for 70 years you couldn’t keep up 24-7 observation.”

Defence attorneys said the activists, who belong to a group called Transform Now Plowshares, had taken part in a symbolic break-in that did not harm the facility.

It cost more than $8500 to repair fences and other structures after the incident, according to testimony presented by the prosecution, which rested its case on Tuesday.

The breach sparked investigations by the US Congress and the Energy Department, which oversees nuclear facilities. An Energy Department inspector general report in August found “troubling displays of ineptitude” at the complex……….

Defence attorneys said in opening statements the defendants had not tried to tamper with the manufacturing facility and did not threaten national security.

“They had white roses and Bibles, they didn’t have grenades, guns, dynamite or camouflage,” said Christopher Irwin, who represents Walli. “They had none of the tools needed to obstruct national security.”

“You will hear no evidence that they tried to blow a hole in the wall or break in,” Irwin said. “They took household hammers and tapped the corner of a building.”

Defence attorneys asked for a directed acquittal on the destruction of federal property charge after prosecutors finished presenting their case. District Judge Amul Thapar said he would consider it.

If convicted, the activists face up to 20 years in prison on the charge of damaging a national defence premises and 10 years for causing more than $1,000 damage to property of the United States, the Energy Department, the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Y-12 National Security Complex. http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/8647946/Breach-of-nuclear-facility-endangered-US-security

May 8, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized