Protesting on a Military Facility

[GT4494]

Happened in 2018 and the cases are finally entering the sentencing stages.  Notice none of the defendants were from South Georgia.  They were very lucky that they weren't shot by a Marine just back from the sandbox! 

https://www.news4jax.com/news/georgia/2020/10/17/another-kings-bay-sub-base-vandal-sentenced-to-federal-prison/

Since this is the FEDERAL court the sentences should stick.    Unfortunately for some this may be the same as a death sentence. 

Stephen Michael Kelly, 71, of Massachusetts, previously was sentenced to 33 months in prison in the case, and Elizabeth McAlister, 80, of New London, Conn., was sentenced to the 17 months, nine days of time already served in the case. The remaining defendants -- Mark Peter Colville, 59, of New Haven, Conn.; Clare Therese Grady, 62, of Ithaca, N.Y.; Martha Hennessy, 65, of Perkinsville, Vt.; and Carmen Trotta, 57, of New York, N.Y. -- are scheduled for sentencing in November.

[janice6]

14 hours ago, GT4494 said:

Happened in 2018 and the cases are finally entering the sentencing stages.  Notice none of the defendants were from South Georgia.  They were very lucky that they weren't shot by a Marine just back from the sandbox! 

https://www.news4jax.com/news/georgia/2020/10/17/another-kings-bay-sub-base-vandal-sentenced-to-federal-prison/

Since this is the FEDERAL court the sentences should stick.    Unfortunately for some this may be the same as a death sentence. 

Stephen Michael Kelly, 71, of Massachusetts, previously was sentenced to 33 months in prison in the case, and Elizabeth McAlister, 80, of New London, Conn., was sentenced to the 17 months, nine days of time already served in the case. The remaining defendants -- Mark Peter Colville, 59, of New Haven, Conn.; Clare Therese Grady, 62, of Ithaca, N.Y.; Martha Hennessy, 65, of Perkinsville, Vt.; and Carmen Trotta, 57, of New York, N.Y. -- are scheduled for sentencing in November.

Older people should know better, no sympathy for vandalism on Military property.

[willie-pete]

I think we sent  a Nun to jail years ago for breaking in to a Minuteman site and pouring blood on the silo door. I think they hammered on the silo door with a sledge but gave up after a while when they saw they weren't doing much damage.

 

This sign was on the Titan II complex fence. Notice the last line.

 

 

Standing orders were pretty much that if you saw unauthorized people outside the fence, politely tell them to go away.  

 

If you found them inside the fence; IMMEDIATELY shoot them a lot with no warning.

 

If they were outside the fence, and were making a nuisance of themselves and you decided to shoot them on general principles; at least go out and hang their bodies on the fence like they were trying to get in.

 

 

 

 

[GT4494]

Not to discuss OPSEC but they had gotten through a fence as the article states.  The fence they were stopped at I can guarente that they were in the cross hairs of many Marines.

Navy pretty much only put Marines on guard duty for certain things. 

[blueiron]

I know that during Wyoming blizzards around F.E. Warren AFB, more than one cowboy that got stranded decided to hop the fence and were rescued from freezing to death by Security Police.

After questioning and confirming that they were local ranchers or ranch employees looking for a stray or got stuck, the USAF politely asked them not to do it again and sent them on their way. 

[blueiron]

A more (in)famous incident involving elderly and ecclesiastic nuclear weapons protestors occurred at the NNSA Y-12 Nuclear facility at Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 2012. Protestors, including an 82 year old woman, broke into the HEU processing facility at Y-12 and gained access to secured areas, in the summer of 2012.

According to a statement issued by one of the protestors: "Upon gaining access to the high-security Protected Area, [we] took [our] time.  “We did it thoughtfully minded. We placed everything on the ground that we needed.”  They carried out several planned actions and were able to read their entire statement before other guards arrived and handcuffed them.  They were standing about 20 feet from a guard turret on the building."

Although Y-12 is a NNSA site, it was run by Babcock & Wilcox [B&W] and WSI [Wackenhut Security Intl.], government contractors that were responsible for the facility and the security forces there. The subsequent NNSA investigation revealed some of the following lapses:

• Non-functioning surveillance cameras, including the camera watching in the fence zone that was penetrated by the protesters. [the broken camera had been known about for many months]
• Despite numerous intrusion alarms, the guards failed to react as intruders cut through three security fences [many of the guards were asleep or away from their posts]
• Response by a vehicle patrol was slow
• When the guards did arrive, they did not respond effectively to the intruders  [the protestors were treated like lost senior citizens, not potential threats to national security]
• Contractors responsible for security failed to coordinate effectively [B&W didn't use due diligence; before, during, or after the incident]

As a result, B&W lost their contract, Wackenhut Security International did as well, and other contractors are now responsible for the site and security. 

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/security-leaders-appointed-nuclear-190058824.html

[janice6]

I have done business at Oak Ridge facility.  There are many seriously contaminated buildings and facilities on that reservation.  That was my purpose.

Protesters may be able to glow in the dark.

[blueiron]

Although no protestors were involved in this Minuteman III [LGM-30G] mishap at the Minuteman III Launch Facility [A06], 319th Missile Squadron, 90th Operations Group, 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren AFB, WY., the report should bring a memory or three flooding back to Willie-Pete:

https://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/SiteCollectionDocuments/Reports/2008/November/Day03/AFSPC_AIB_MMIII_LF.pdf

[26isbest]

Scumbag hippies deserve worse for messing with the Bubbblehead base.

[tadbart]

How is it possible to get that old, being that stupid???

If it's life in prison for the idiot geezer, so be it.

[DWARREN123]

Some folks never learn no matter how old they are and think they are special!

[holyjohnson]

i distinctly recall the MPs cracking the heads of ''No Nuke' Hippes at Hanscom in the 80s and the Locals Making Arrests.

and the line behind them was armed with Bayonets.

the Sign said Do Not Cross Line or Block Gates, it didn't say how many chances they gave you..

[willie-pete]

1 hour ago, blueiron said:

Although no protestors were involved in this Minuteman III [LGM-30G] mishap at the Minuteman III Launch Facility [A06], 319th Missile Squadron, 90th Operations Group, 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren AFB, WY., the report should bring a memory or three flooding back to Willie-Pete:

https://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/SiteCollectionDocuments/Reports/2008/November/Day03/AFSPC_AIB_MMIII_LF.pdf

Sure does. On alert one day and the " Fire in Engine " alarm goes off.   

That's never a good thing with hypergolic fuels and on the face of it says both fuels are leaking and may be about to cause another Damascus type accident.

This automatically caused Fire Sprays to turn on, dumping 100,000 gallons of water on the missile and putting it off alert. HQ SAC is never happy when a missile goes off alert since a lot of changes need to be made to the SIOP. 

The accident investigation didn't find any evidence of any fire.

BTW, this happened at the "Haunted Site ".

 

The only other fire I dealt with was one night my two enlisted crew were going out to do the nightly walk-about to check the silo. They opened the blast door and smoke starts pouring into the control center. Fires underground are never a good thing. A fire underground killed 53 people at the aforementioned Haunted Site. They finally got the door closed ( it weighed 6,000 pounds ) and quick like a bunny we all got in air packs. I and my enlisted guy went back out on air and saw smoke rolling out of a " dirty rag " can. We watered it until the smoke quit.

Called the Wing Command Post and they wanted us to bring the contents back to the base the next morning. I had actually thought someone had snuck a smoke and tossed the butt in the can.  Earlier in the day maintenance had cleaned up some hydraulic oil and left the rags in the can. A Freon based cleaner was used to wipe down everything.

The accident report found no evidence of cigarettes and that caused them to look further. People at Wright-Patterson did a study and found a spontaneous combustion reaction between the Freon and the hydraulic oil used. That caused a TCTO ( Time Change Technical Order ) to be issued to immediately quit using that type of Freon.

 

Somewhere in the AF is a TCTO with willie-pete's name all over it.

 

 

[blueiron]

I know some of these protestors are Catholic Nuns and Priests, Protestant ministers, and Ph.D. level individuals that are against the "immorality" of nuclear war. Start thumping heads of these people and that will guarantee that their position will be reified into a widely embraced metaphysical morality. Simply rounding them up and jailing them is the proper method to deal with them. They expect to be jailed and they welcome it as a "moral payment" to be made. Arrest 'em, book 'em, and let the Judge try them. 

They aren't the Antifa bums that throw fecal matter at the local cops for doing their jobs or are trying to stop ambulance crews from taking ill citizens to a downtown hospital. Frankly, thermonuclear warfare can easily be argued to be immoral at a both a secular philosophical and a religious/theological level. 

This photo is of a child's tricycle that was being ridden by a 3 year old child in Hiroshima when "Little Boy" detonated. I have no moral problem with destroying a submarine base, a missile field, or a marshaling yard full of troops; but a 3 year old child in not responsible for Pearl Harbor, not responsible for Japanese atrocities, or the geo-politics behind the war.

The photo hangs in the Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, NM several feet away from both full sized models of the Mk-1 and the Mk-2 nuclear weapons used on Japan.  

[Cheygriz]

I remember scumbags laying on the tracks to stop the "White Train" from entering Warren AFB.

It was a cold day, and when the water truck came out the security police started attaching the hose, those brave souls disappered before a single drop of water was used.

[willie-pete]

59 minutes ago, Cheygriz said:

I remember scumbags laying on the tracks to stop the "White Train" from entering Warren AFB.

It was a cold day, and when the water truck came out the security police started attaching the hose, those brave souls disappered before a single drop of water was used.

IIRC, there was at least one poor soul who attempted to stop that train by lying down on the tracks.

 

He was evidently blissfully unaware that trains can't stop on the proverbial " dime ".

 

That accident was one of the reasons they decided to go with more non-descript tractor trailers.

[janice6]

6 minutes ago, willie-pete said:

IIRC, there was at least one poor soul who attempted to stop that train by lying down on the tracks.

 

He was evidently blissfully unaware that trains can't stop on the proverbial " dime ".

 

That accident was one of the reasons they decided to go with more non-descript tractor trailers.

Too bad.  The trains sounds like a far better solution to a multitude of problems.

[26isbest]

1 hour ago, willie-pete said:

IIRC, there was at least one poor soul who attempted to stop that train by lying down on the tracks.

 

He was evidently blissfully unaware that trains can't stop on the proverbial " dime ".

 

That accident was one of the reasons they decided to go with more non-descript tractor trailers.

The douchebag who lost his legs doing that was at Naval Weapons Station Concord. http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/02/04/veteran-activist-recalls-losing-legs-to-train-in-concord-protest/

I knew the base that was there well, having been a Navy brat there. I remember circa 70-71sitting in the base gym waiting for Judo class to start and watching a Sergeant and Corporal train younger Jarheads on how to properly use a knightstick to hurt a protester real good without overt swinging movement for the news camera to catch. Those guys were cool.

[willie-pete]

6 minutes ago, 26isbest said:

The douchebag who lost his legs doing that was at Naval Weapons Station Concord. http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/02/04/veteran-activist-recalls-losing-legs-to-train-in-concord-protest/

I knew the base that was there well, having been a Navy brat there. I remember circa 70-71sitting in the base gym waiting for Judo class to start and watching a Sergeant and Corporal train younger Jarheads on how to properly use a knightstick to hurt a protester real good without overt swinging movement for the news camera to catch. Those guys were cool.

Thanks, I had forgotten exactly where it had happened.

[GT4494]

3 hours ago, blueiron said:

I know some of these protestors are Catholic Nuns and Priests, Protestant ministers, and Ph.D. level individuals that are against the "immorality" of nuclear war. Start thumping heads of these people and that will guarantee that their position will be reified into a widely embraced metaphysical morality. Simply rounding them up and jailing them is the proper method to deal with them. They expect to be jailed and they welcome it as a "moral payment" to be made. Arrest 'em, book 'em, and let the Judge try them. 

They aren't the Antifa bums that throw fecal matter at the local cops for doing their jobs or are trying to stop ambulance crews from taking ill citizens to a downtown hospital. Frankly, thermonuclear warfare can easily be argued to be immoral at a both a secular philosophical and a religious/theological level. 

This photo is of a child's tricycle that was being ridden by a 3 year old child in Hiroshima when "Little Boy" detonated. I have no moral problem with destroying a submarine base, a missile field, or a marshaling yard full of troops; but a 3 year old child in not responsible for Pearl Harbor, not responsible for Japanese atrocities, or the geo-politics behind the war.

The photo hangs in the Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, NM several feet away from both full sized models of the Mk-1 and the Mk-2 nuclear weapons used on Japan.  

 

The whole concept of the Strategic Nuclear Deterrent is to let others see that Nuclear war can not happen again if anything is expected to survive. 

The "A" bomb on Japan was not good but no worse in body count (men women and children) then the conventional bombing that happened in Europe and the UK in that campaign.  Difference is it happened all in one bomb.

IMHO, the moral outrage would be better served if aimed at countries that currently use machetes and fear to concur. 

 

[tadbart]

3 hours ago, GT4494 said:

 

The whole concept of the Strategic Nuclear Deterrent is to let others see that Nuclear war can not happen again if anything is expected to survive. 

The "A" bomb on Japan was not good but no worse in body count (men women and children) then the conventional bombing that happened in Europe and the UK in that campaign.  Difference is it happened all in one bomb.

IMHO, the moral outrage would be better served if aimed at countries that currently use machetes and fear to concur. 

 

Plus, any of that kid's older siblings who were able to heft and aim an Arisaka, would have done so, if those bombs had not been dropped. Those two bombs saved COUNTLESS American lives. Many of us wouldn't be here, were it not for the prudent use of the tools we had available.

Kids died in the Dresden fires. And the London bombings. Hell, a kid died in the Alamo.

[Cheygriz]

You start a war, some of your folks are going to die.  Yes, women and children too.

How many little English kids died in the Blitz? How many little Chinese, Burmese, Korean, Philipino etc etc kids died at the hands of the Japs?

Sad, of course, but you fight to win.(Unless you're Lyndon Johnson)

[railfancwb]

Arguably more died during the Tokyo firebombings than by nucs. Just less dramatic. 

[Cheygriz]

In early 1962, I was posted to RAF Sculthorpe in Norfolk Co. England.  B-66 light bomber base, 47th Bomb Wing.

Several hundred "Ban the Bomb" protesters showed threatening to tear down the fence set fire to the aircraft.

A busload of about 25-30 British "Bobbies" arrived with their truncheons. Lo and behold, the protesters all decided it was time for tea and left.?

Edited October 19, 2020 by Cheygriz

[Historian]

51 minutes ago, railfancwb said:

Arguably more died during the Tokyo firebombings than by nucs. Just less dramatic. 

Not sure about that.  We took out 15 square miles of that city.   I bet you could have seen the fire from orbit.