83-year-old nun gets 20 year sentence for ‘symbolic’ nuclear facility break-in

[Jim Finklestein]

An 83-year-old nun who broke into a Tennessee depleted uranium storage facility in 2012 and splashed human blood on several surfaces, exposing a massive security hole at the nation’s only facility used to store radioactive conventional munitions, was convicted Wednesday and sentenced to a term of up to 20 years in prison.

The only regret Sister Megan Rice shared with members of her jury on Wednesday was that she wished 70 years hadn’t passed before she took direct action, according to the BBC. She and two other peace activists, 64-year-old Michael Walli and 56-year-old Greg Boertje-Obed, were convicted of “invasion of a nuclear facility” in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, even though investigators admitted they did not get close to any actual nuclear material.

The three activists are part of a group called “Transform Now Plowshares,” a reference to the book of Isaiah, which says, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares. They shall learn war no more.” All three face individual sentences of up to 20 years, along with a litany of fines.

 

As they invaded the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, a perimeter fence was cut, several surfaces were spray-painted, banners were hung and activists read from the Bible. They also spread human blood on several surfaces, saying its use was symbolic, meant to remind people “of the horrific spilling of blood by nuclear weapons.”

“The shortcomings in security at one of the most dangerous places on the planet have embarrassed a lot of people,” the activists’ attorney, Francis Lloyd, told members of the jury according to the BBC. “You’re looking at three scapegoats behind me.”

Sister Rice has been arrested between 40 or 50 times committing acts of civil disobedience,according to The New York Times, including once in Nevada after she physically blocked a truck at a nuclear test site.

Depleted uranium munitions like the kind stored at the facility Sister Rice targeted are blamed for some of the worst birth defects and soaring cancer rates seen in post-war Iraq, particularly in the city of Fallujah following the siege of 2004, in which U.S. soldiers killed thousands of civilians.

The city has never recovered, particularly from the use of depleted uranium munitions, and to this day residents suffer from health effects “worse” than those seen following the nuclear detonations at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, according to a study by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

“I believe we are all equally responsible to stop a known crime,” Sister Rice said from the witness stand, according to quotes published by her group. She called herself a “citizen of the world” and reportedly smiled as the verdict was read.

 

 

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/09/83-year-old-nun-gets-20-year-sentence-for-symbolic-nuclear-facility-break-in/

[Jim Finklestein]

These people should be given medals for uncovering the shoddy security!

[Vol_Bengal]

These people should be given medals for uncovering the shoddy security!

I work about 2 miles from this facility...  yes, the security was shoddy - but it is due TOTALLY to budget cuts and cut backs.

 

They had really strong security programs in place several years ago and through the years cut backs have caused the security posture to be cut back as well.  I think the facility has gone probably 3 years without any legitimate upkeep / maintenance to the perimeter security program alone.

[Jim Finklestein]

I work about 2 miles from this facility...  yes, the security was shoddy - but it is due TOTALLY to budget cuts and cut backs.

 

They had really strong security programs in place several years ago and through the years cut backs have caused the security posture to be cut back as well.  I think the facility has gone probably 3 years without any legitimate upkeep / maintenance to the perimeter security program alone.

Scary shit right there!  Still don't think the 83 year-old nun deserved 20 years in prison.

[|Numbers|]

http://transformnowplowshares.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/who-is-my-neighbor/

 

 

Ann Wright’s expert knowledge of U.S. security withstood all efforts of the government to discredit her testimony.  She established firmly that the emperor has no clothes, insofar as Y-12 does not have effective internal security tests.  If Y-12 was running internal security tests, there would never have been so much critical security apparatus that was broken or otherwise not in place.  “That’s where the problem lies,” said Col. Wright.  That is the key.”  Col. Wright testified that Greg, Megan, and Michael’s action improved national security by pointing out this national security deficiency, even if that was not their intention.

 

IF these individuals could figure this facilities security out, what does that mean for those that would have really wreaked destruction ?

[|Numbers|]

Scary shit right there!  Still don't think the 83 year-old nun deserved 20 years in prison.

 

She doesn't and probably will not be given the full term.  Short story:  My aunt is a nun that lives with one of the most militant nuns I know.  Her friend has been before court about a half a million times and has yet to serve more than a couple days in jail.  Even during the height of the Vietnam War, Iraq War, etc... she did some pretty big things that would have locked my butt up for multiple years.  You'd be surprised by the legal support given these religious figures.  I used to get the third degree from her when I would visit but she realized I did not fit the mold of the person who joins just to legally kill another person.  She kept an album full of all the protests and actions that her group did and frequently pulled it off the shelf when I visited.  I would never even attempt to tell her that some of those weapons do not need to be converted into plowshares...