Peace Activists on trial

Judge declared mistrial in trial of four peace activists in Kitsap County Court for a demonstration at the Trident nuclear submarine base.

April 12, 2006

Contact:
   Alice Zillah (360) 357-7705 in Olympia
   Glen Milner (206) 365-7865 in Seattle

On Wednesday afternoon, April 12, Judge Daniel Phillips in Kitsap County District Court in Port Orchard, declared a mistrial in the trial of four peace activists. The four were charged with failure to disperse.

The four were charged for a demonstration on the morning of August 8, 2005, in which 19 demonstrators blocked the highway entrance to the Bangor Trident submarine base with a long banner that stated, “We Can All Live Without Trident.” The demonstration was in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Incoming traffic was blocked for approximately 40 minutes during peak traffic when Navy personnel and support personnel were arriving for work at the base.

The trial began in Port Orchard on Monday, April 10. After five hours of deliberation the judge learned the jurors’ opinions were divided. On Wednesday, April 12 at 2:30 pm, Judge Daniel Phillips declared a mistrial.

In a strange turn of events, the Kitsap County prosecutor had charged only four of the nineteen demonstrators, all four from Olympia, Washington. The charge was for failure to disperse, RCW 9A.84.020, in which the failure to disperse when ordered creates a “substantial risk” of injury to persons or to property. The charge is a misdemeanor with a possible penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Kitsap County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Wilson testified in court that traffic on August 8 had backed up as far as the northbound lanes of Highway 3. Peace activists expressed their deeply held beliefs concerning the threat of nuclear weapons and the Trident submarine system. Peace activists explained their careful preparation for each demonstration to ensure the safety of both motorists and participants.

The four who were tried are Alice Zillah, 32, Bryce Brown, 32, Shannon Bushnell, 28, and Patricia Imani, 43, all of Olympia.

The trial marked the first charges against nonviolent demonstrators since February 2000. Kitsap County prosecutors have been unable to get convictions against nonviolent activists arrested at Bangor in the last three attempts before this trial.

The next planned nonviolent direct action at Bangor will be in commemoration of Mother’s Day, on May 14 and 15, 2006.