16159 Clear Creek
Rd, Poulsbo, WA 98370 PRESS STATEMENT—FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Four People Arrested For Closing Trident SubBase Bangor
Four people were arrested on the morning of August 9, 1999 for blocking the road to the Trident Submarine Base at Bangor, WA. The four people—Jackie Hudson of Bremerton, Betsy Collins of Kingston, Jim Burns of Seattle, and Karol Milner of Lake Forest Park—held a long banner across the incoming lanes to Bangor, stopping the flow of morning traffic into the Bangor base. The banner read: "Bangor Closed—Trident Violates International Law!" Arrested for disorderly conduct by Kitsap County Sheriff’s officers, the four were part of a group of approximately 60 people who came to the Bangor base on the 54th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki. The 60 came to the Bangor base to remember all nuclear weapons victims and to demand a stop to continued preparations for nuclear war, including a stop to the proposed D-5 nuclear missile upgrade at Bangor. This morning’s nonviolent direct action followed the June 1999 acquittal of eight people on charges of disorderly conduct for blocking the road to Bangor last year on August 9, 1998. Sheriff’s officers told the four people arrested this morning they would receive a summons to appear in court in the mail. It is unknown at this point whether Kitsap County Prosecutors will choose to press charges against these four. In addition, five other people risked arrest by standing on base property, outside the gates, to hand out leaflets. Base security did not arrest these five, who passed out leaflets to incoming workers. The Bangor Trident Submarine Base is home to eight nuclear-powered Trident submarines, each of which is armed with 192 100-kiloton nuclear warheads on 24 long-range, accurate C-4 missiles. Only 20 miles west of Seattle, Bangor is home to approximately 1,600 nuclear warheads, one of the largest concentrations of nuclear weaponry on Earth. This morning’s action was a call to the consciences of all people to demand that the US comply with its obligations under International Laws and Treaties to abolish nuclear weapons. Such laws and treaties include: Article 6 of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the July 8, 1996 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, the Hague and Geneva Conventions, as well as the Nuremberg Principles. Specifically, the action was also to protest the proposed "upgrade" of four Bangor-based Tridents to carry the larger, more accurate D-5 missile. This proposal will cost an estimated $6.43 billion, and involves the purchase of new D-5 ballistic missiles at $60,000,000 each, as well as extensive new explosives handling facility construction at Bangor. This is the largest military project in Washington since the Bangor base was built in the 1970s, and takes place on Hood Canal, home to endangered and threatened salmon. -30- |
