Zumwalt 12 Head to Arraignment on August 2
for BIW ‘Christening’ Arrests
Vow to Take the Case to Trial
The Zumwalt 12, arrested at Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Maine on June 18, were charged with ‘Obstructing a public way’ and will appear in West Bath District Court at 1:00 pm on August 2.
The Zumwalt 12 intends to plead not guilty and will seek a unified trial. Bar Harbor attorney Lynne Williams will represent the group.
According to Zumwalt 12 member Connie Jenkins (Orono), “We felt we were carrying out our responsibility as citizens to use the first amendment to speak against expensive and provocative US endless wars. As we can see from the recent “Chilcot investigation” in the UK, that found the legal justifications for military action were far from satisfactory, we in the US have a legal and moral responsibility to stand against these wars – and to prevent the next ones.”
John Morris (New Gloucester) also a member of the Zumwalt 12 said, “We will seek a unified trial so that we can communicate with the greater community why we did what we did at BIW on June 18. These arrests for non-violent civil disobedience carry on the long tradition of such actions at the shipyard. We want to see BIW converted to build commuter rail systems, solar, wind, and tidal power which are urgently needed to help us deal with climate change. We have taken these steps in order that our children and grandchildren can have a real future.”
Arrested at BIW on June 18 were: Richard Lethem, 83 of Bath; Dud Hendrick, 74 of Deer Isle; Bruce Gagnon, 64, of Bath; Russell Wray, 61, of Hancock; Tarak Kauff, 74, of Woodstock, NY; Joan Peck, 69, of Brunswick; George Ostensen, 61, of Hope; Jason Rawn, 42, of Lincolnville; Cynthia Howard, 69, of Biddeford; Constance Jenkins, 68, of Orono; John Morris, 79, of New Gloucester; and John Peck, 75, of Brunswick.
2 comments:
Elders rock!
West Bath District Court: Respect your Elders!
BIW: Listen to your Elders!
Millennials Come learn from your Elders!
As a retired veteran who has spent a cumulative three years at Bath/Brunswick, I understand and agree with your anti-war position. However, do you think it would be possible to please protest without disrupting the lives of people who have nothing to do with what you are supposedly protesting?
By that I'm referring to people simply trying to drive past the shipyard to get to their destination.
It would be much more constructive to find a way to protest without causing a big pain to the people who have nothing to do with it, and, even more importantly, more of them would be willing to listen to and/or support your message instead of just being mad at you for causing a traffic jam in a sleepy little town.
To that end, even though I agree with your message, I think that 30 hours of serving the people you inconvenienced, because you had a beef with someone else (shipyard/government/military... whatever), is legitimate. That poor mother trying to rush home to her sick kid (just a random example) doesn't deserve that. I don't prescribe to authoritarian tactics used by police, but you weren't arrested for protesting. You were arrested for causing a big PITA for other citizens who might even hate the shipyard even more than you do.
For the next one, please find a way to non-violently protest that focuses on the target and not the innocent bystanders.
Thank you, and if you've already addressed it, then thank you, again.
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