 November 2003
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Sara Burke, Managing Editor Sam Diener, Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Peace Activists Win Free Speech Victory Max Obuszewski does media outreach for the American Friends Service Committee in Baltimore. You can contact him directly at mobuszewski@afsc.org. For more than five years, peace activists from Baltimore and Washington have protested the Joint Service Open House & Air Show at Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George's County, Maryland. The air show is one of the largest in the world, as several hundred thousand visitors get up close and take a personal look at the Pentagon's war machine. Children can climb on board an F-117 Stealth and an Iraq-tested C-130, or watch several aerial demonstrations, including the Navy's Blue Angels. There are many entrances to the 4320-acre base which hosts more than 20,000 military people, civilians, and families. At 2 pm on May 17, 2003, seven of us stood on a public sidewalk about a hundred feet from the main gate and began a modest protest against the air show's blatant militarism. Almost immediately, numerous police cars arrived and uniformed officers surrounded us. The chief of police ordered us to leave, claiming they had received a complaint. That evening in Baltimore, we were to honor Philip Berrigan on the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Catonsville Nine's draft board raid to protest the Vietnam War and US intervention in Central America. I had flowers and sound equipment in my car for the commemoration. Not wanting to miss the event, I chose not to argue First Amendment rights, though I did ask the chief for his name. His response was, "Cuff him." I was arrested. Gary Ashbeck of Baltimore's Jonah House asked for a police officer's badge number, and he too was arrested. We were not released until 6:30 pm, after being charged with failure to obey a lawful order, which carries a possible 60- days imprisonment and/or a $500 fine. Moreover, we were about twenty miles from my car and unable to find a bus. Eventually, we took a taxi and found an impoundment notice painted on my car's back window. It was parked legally but other prisoners had warned me about the Morningside, Maryland Police Department's propensity for towing vehicles, especially in minority neighborhoods. I did miss that night's celebration of the legendary resister, but getting arrested for protesting militarism is probably the best way to honor Phil Berrigan. A Legacy of Protest On the 30th anniversary of the actions of the Catonsville Nine, on May 17, 1998, the Gods of Metal Plowshares disarmed a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber during the Andrews air show. They poured blood upon it and hammered on the hatches and doors of the bomb bay area. The Plowshares activists were arrested, convicted and sentenced to terms of four to ten months. The following year, another group, which included Elizabeth McAlister and Philip Berrigan, went on the base to leaflet and banner. They were arrested and charged, but for some unknown reason the case was dismissed. In May of 2000, during the air show, three activists unveiled a banner that read, "Swords into Plowshares," and passed out leaflets proclaiming, "Weapons of Mass Destruction - Nothing to Celebrate!" The prosecutor argued the action interfered with the national defense, and the judge concurred. A judge at Andrews Air Force Base handed down severe sentences. Greg Boertje-Obed was sentenced to six months imprisonment, Kristen Betts was sentenced to sixty days, and Sam Hochstetler, from the Bruderhof community, was sentenced to thirty-days. In May 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Air Force General and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard B. Myers, and veterans of the war on Afghanistan attended the show. Two of us were outside the main entrance of the air force base to protest. County police asked us for identification, but we refused to comply, though I told them my name. After looking over a photograph album given to them by base security, they told me I was not Max Obuszewski. It is not reassuring that these are the people responsible for protecting the populace from terrorists. The Free Speech Show Down This year, the charge against us was so specious and the forced removal of peaceful people from public property so blatantly unconstitutional that I doubted the case would go to trial. I was wrong. On August 15, 2003, Gary and I, defending ourselves, appeared in district court in Hyattsville, Maryland before Judge Beverly Woodard. In these times of the criminalization of dissent, nothing is certain when peace activists go to court. The judge disallowed my motion for discovery, which was a request to obtain all files, photographs, videotapes and any other information Andrews Air Force Base security maintains on demonstrators. Not a good sign. She was impossible to read during the trial, but the prosecutor was quite intent on finding us guilty. I started having gloomy thoughts about the prospect of a six month jail sentence. The prosecution called three police officers to testify, and I was grateful that two of them were truthful witnesses. Having been arrested some fifty or sixty times, I can attest that many police officers are not reluctant to prevaricate on the witness stand. The Morningside Chief of Police apparently had no compunctions against bending the truth in an attempt to convict us. When we had an opportunity to cross-examine him, he was quite indignant that he had to answer questions posed by pro se attorneys.
The chief testified that we were "ranting and raving" and said the defendants were "running their mouths." However, he was unable to remember anything we might have said. He appeared very angry. We called four witnesses who were at the May 17 protest and then both of us testified. In all, eight witnesses, everyone except the chief, testified that we were simply conducting a low-key, nonviolent witness against war and weapons of mass destruction. The judge recognized we had no willful [malicious] intent and that we did not cause a "disturbance against the public peace." So, she acquitted us. She did not believe the claim that seven protesters created a disturbance, adding that she avoided driving near the base because of the constant traffic congestion. Despite being found not guilty, our constitutional rights were violated, and the military was not required to produce any files it maintains on nonviolent demonstrators. So Gary and I are seeking an attorney to file a civil suit for false arrest. The Bill of Rights is in a precarious position during these times of the Patriot Act. Citizens must be adamant that dissent is an important part of citizenship, something worth defending vigorously. The only way to maintain our rights is to exercise them. 
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