Five people were eventually arrested around 8 a.m. Tuesday morning after dozens of anti-drone demonstrators blocked the entrance to Beale Air Force Base for hours, resulting in hundreds of vehicles being prevented from entering the base.
Blocking the entry to the base was a tapestry of images of children killed by American drones flown from places like Beale AFB.
"STOP KILLER DRONES"
The CHP had to be called in to clear traffic which had lines of hundreds of cars in several directions after peace advocates from Sacramento, San Francisco, Nevada City and as far away as Fresno protested President Obama's U.S. killer drone program. Those arrested were briefly held on misdemeanor charges, which could result in six months in jail if convicted in federal court. In a similar action, 31 people were arrested at Hancock Air Base in Syracuse, NY on Sunday, 4/28
Police begin to arrest demonstrators as a line of waiting drivers looks on.
Last October, nine people were arrested at Beale during protests – and five are facing months in prison if convicted in a trial set for Sacramento Federal Court this summer (August 12). Beale AFB is home to the U2 and the Global Hawk, the unmanned surveillance drone that is an "accomplice" in drone killings. Activists arrested attempted to deliver a letter to the Beale AFB commander that demanded: (1) An immediate ban on the use of all drones for extrajudicial killing (2) A halt all drone surveillance that assaults basic freedoms and inalienable rights and terrorizes domestic life in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Somalia (3) A prohibition on the sale, and distribution of drones and drone technology to foreign countries in order to prevent the proliferation of this menacing threat to world peace, freedom and security and (4) The U.S. must immediately stop this lawless behavior of drone warfare that violates many international laws and treaties. "US military and CIA Drone attacks have killed thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, in the Middle East, Somalia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. In the name of combating terrorism against the U.S. we are terrorizing innocent people, and creating many more enemies and potential terrorists in the process," said a statement issued by Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, Chico Peace and Justice Center, Nevada County Peace Center, Peace Fresno, WILPF and World Can't Wait.
SACRAMENTO On Monday April 15th, activists filled the streets in front of the state courthouse, broadcasting images of children killed by drones to passing bureacrats and politicians. They also made their way into the offices of Sen. Barbara Boxer and Congresswoman Doris Matsui. In Matsui's office they were received attentively and given a pledge to take action. Though denied a hearing in Boxer's office, they succeeded in leaving behind images of the many innocent victims of drone warfare.
SAN FRANCISCO On Wednesday, April 3, 2013, dozens of anti-war activists rallied with hundreds of disgruntled environmentalists in the streets around the cordoned-off home of Ann and Gordon Getty Wednesday, where the President was visiting with loyal benefactors, during World Can't Wait's protest against U.S. drone assassination program.
The protests in San Diego are provoking questions about the U.S. drone program and U.S. dependence on arms production for jobs in the media. "With the U.S. drone industry contributing billions to their city, residents of San Diego must reconcile their politics with the need to keep their economy humming." (The Daily Beast: San Diego, Hub of the U.S. Drone Industry. )
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STUDIO CITY - Friday, April 5, and Friday, April 12, 2013 - Join us at our weekly peace vigil on two consecutive Fridays from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. to protest the use of drones in warfare by the US government and their possible use domestically by law enforcement agencies.
Town Hall On Drones: Informing Policy in Berkeley will be held Wednesday, May 1, 2013 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (in the Multi-Purpose Room of the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Avenue at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in Berkeley)
On December 18, 2012, the Berkeley City Council reviewed a recommendation by the Berkeley Peace & Justice Commission entitled, “Resolution to Proclaim Berkeley A No Drone Zone and Enact an Ordinance to that Effect.” The Council referred the issue of a drone policy back to the Peace and Justice Commission and also to the Berkeley Police Review Commission and the Berkeley Disaster and Fire Safety Commission. The Council indicated that it will hold a Council workshop on drone policy after receiving further recommendations from these Commissions.
Image from a recent anti-drone demonstration in Sacramento
In the wake of the April Days of Action Against Drones, which saw anti-drone activism sprout up across the nation, The Town Hall on Drones will provide opportunities for individuals and organizations to address the Commissions and the public on various aspects of drone usage and the Commissions will have the opportunity to consider this information before making their final recommendations to the Council. The Town Hall will focus on (1) Technical Aspects and Limitations of Drones; (2) Public Safety (what might drones be good for?); (3) Civil Liberties Concerns; and (4) Moral and Political Consequences of Drones.
Berkeley could also be affected by any drones obtained and used as a result of Sheriff Gregory Ahern’s desire to acquire them for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department. Activists have pointed out that there are safety, civil liberties, and privacy concerns and that drone technology is currently ahead of safeguards for the civil liberties of people they would affect. It is hoped that all perspectives on drones will be aired and shared at the Town Hall on Drones in order to better inform any local policy making on the issue.
Contact: Bob Meola, Chairperson, Peace and Justice Commission Subcommittee on Drones:
Last October, 60 activists from Northern California gathered to take a strong stance against the brutality of Obama's secret drone wars and U.S. global warring. After blocking the main gate of Beale AFB for 5 hours, nine activists were arrested.
Blocking the entrance for peace: Beale AFB, October 2012
This month we will gather again in defiance of U.S. militarism that causes so much suffering and pollution around the planet. This will be our second direct action against drones at Beale AFB, after 2 and 1/2 years of continuous monthly vigils. Won't you join us? If not now, when? Bring friends and family!
Vigil and bannering rush hour traffic. Bring banners and signs....plenty extra available!
5:30pm, Main Gate: North Beale Rd.
Potluck, final planning for Tuesdays nonviolent direct action. Campout at the main gate, or stay in local hotel. Other overnight arrangements possible. Nonviolence training available if needed.
Tuesday, April 30th:
6:00-8:30am: GROUND THE DRONES NOW!
Join or support the non-violent direct action at the gate of Beale AFB.
Over 50 activists from Chico to Grass Valley to Bay Area and Sacramento showed up on Tax Day at the Sacramento Federal Courthouse to demonstrate as part of the April Days of Action Against Drones. Banners and signs galore colored the street around the courthouse, in the shadow of downtown Sacramento's high-rises.
Imposing Predator Drone model hovers among the "clean" corporate office-scape
"DRONES CREATE ENEMIES" was the message broadcast to the bureacrats and politicians working in California's capitol.
A tapestry depicting children dead as a result of U.S. drone strikes.
Eerie white faces highlight the deaths resulting from drone warfare, while the message: "Schools and Homes, not Bombs and Drones" reminds viewers of the tradeoffs necessary to support military research.
"Is it really OK if Obama does it?"
Singing for Peace
"I HATE WAR as only a soldier who has lived it can, as only one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity." -General Dwight Eisenhower www.veteransforpeace.org
Protestors also report having made their way into the offices of Congresswoman Doris Matsui and Senator Barbara Boxer. In Matsui's office: "Her staff person, Chris, spent an extended time with us, though we didn't have an appt. He even looked genuinely saddened when we read off the victim's names that we each held. Chris promises to follow up in a way that didn't happen the last time."
"These next 2 pictures were taken in Sen. Boxer's office, and we only could air our complaints to the receptionist. But we left a couple of bloody hands and child victim names behind.......as a visual display of the cost of these drone wars........"
Message on photo to Sen. Boxer from the Global Hawk drone team
and Commander of Beale Air Force Base: "Thank you for all your
support!" Demonstrators decided to leave a message for Barbara from
Shafiq, a one year old victim of a U.S. Drone strike."
April Days of Action Against Drones in SAN DIEGO: Sunday, 4/7 Update
This just in: a video showing the evocative die-in demonstration at General Atomics Headquarters on Friday, 4/5. Speaking in the video is Medea Benjamin of Code Pink, discussing the perverse incentives of war profiteers such as General Atomics.
Day 2 demonstrations led by CodePink at the La Jolla home of General Atomics CEO Neil Blue (coverage by local media here), at GA HQs in Torrey Pines (featured on NBC) and at Northrup Grumman’s plant in Kearny Mesa continued to shine the light on their war profiteering, the civilians killed and maimed by their products, and the invasion of Americans’ privacy. They emphasized the need for Congress to set the rules for this unbridled technology NOW.
The early-morning demonstration at the home of Neil Blue shed
a light on the intimate relationship between Washington politicians
and the drone-industrial complex, which makes fabulous wealth
from the profits of drone warfare possible.
Northrop Grumman, another war-profiteer dependent on drone warfare
to protect its bottom line, was targeted in day 2 of the demonstrations.
Day 2's protests also highlighted civilian fatalities
as a result of drone warfare.
An evocative display of what murder by drone looks
like, brought to the drone industry's doorstep.
END THE EMPIRE
"The US government has lost its moral compass," said Carol Jahnkow, Director Emerita, Peace Resource Center of San Diego. "Over 4,000 lives have been lost to American Drones made right here in San Diego, yet only 2% of those hit were considered high-level targets. The deaths of these innocent people is reprehensible. And, the deaths of the other 2% without due process of law makes a sham of international law."
Day 3 of the San Diego Anti-Drone Days of Action saw the unveiling of “Children At Play” on the grass in front of the U.S.S. Midway Museum in downtown San Diego, with music by the socially-conscious youth rap/hip-hop band, Vibe, as well as Women Occupy San Diego’s acapella chorus, the Occupellas, with brief speeches by local artist and activist, Doris Bittar, and Faith Leaders for Peace co-founder, Rev. Beth Johnson.
The "Children at Play" display delivered a stark message: the illusory
economic benefits of the drone industry in San Diego are delivered at
Day 3 concluded with a forumfeaturing Medea Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control (2012)and co-founder of Global Exchange and CodePink, Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee, U.S/Mexico Border Project, personal testimony from a former worker in the drone military-national security-indusrial complex, and other speakers on what drones mean for the U.S. and the world. Throughout the evenings, the Overpass Light Brigade continued to propagate the anti-drone message to the people of San Diego:
Our San Diego Anti-Drone Days of Action concluded on Sunday, April 7, 2013, with a General Assembly and Workshops:
Topics included "Using New Media for Protest," "The Changing Face
of Empire," and"Drones in the Middle East and Africa."
April Days of Action Against Drones in SAN DIEGO: Day 2 Update La Jolla- Code Pink led another demonstration at the General Atomics Headquarters this morning, April 5th, at 10 AM.
The demonstration featured a graphic simulation of the effects of a fatal drone strike on U.S. soil, implicating General Atomics and other war-profiteering corporations in similar carnage happening abroad.
Medea Benjamin leading reenactment of civilian and rescue worker kills by General Atomics Predator and Reaper drones.
This protest followed an early morning demonstration in which 50 people showed up at the La Jolla home of General Atomics CEO Neal Blue.
CodePinkers performed a billionaire cocktail party skit/street theater at which Blue and his buddies chatted about why it is sooo good for their class to have drones making money for them and it only affects terrorists anyway.
Media was there in force to cover the demonstration.
Realistic model Predator Drones simulate the experience of drones
flying overhead, targeting families and children.
The weekend-long event is still in full swing! Click here for a description of today's program, and here for a full schedule of the weekend's demonstrations.
Day 1 update:
Day 1 saw a coalition of citizens representing San Diego Veterans for Peace and Code Pink come out to demonstrate at the headquarters of General Atomics.
That evening, the message was passed to San Diego at large with a demonstration by the Overpass Light Brigade
More details and a preview of Day 2 can be found here. A schedule for the full weekend can be found here.
Dave Patterson of San Diego Vets for Peace reported on the first day of the multi-day demonstration leading the way in the April Days of Action Against Drones: "Today we had 75 people from San Diego San Fransisco, Fresno, LA, Albuquerque, Prescott Az, Washington DC and other places... Code Pink was there with their leader Medea Benjamin, as were many members of the press.
We started in a cul-de-sac about 1,000 yards from General Atomics, not far from the place we have been demonstrating for 7 months. We marched along the 1 mile road past GA facility after GA facility, and eventually to a very busy intersection where thousands of car pass every hour. We had in tow our Reaper Drone model and made our presence known. The honks and thumbs up were frequent, giving the indication that our message is getting across. We are at the edge of a Tsunami of public anger regarding the misuse of this technology, and our message to Congress is fix it quickly!"
A tsunami of public anger regarding the misuse of drone technology.
Following the afternoon demonstration, the OverPass Light Brigade sent a clear message to Thursday's evening commuters heading south on I-5 at Clairemont Drive.
San Diego's answer to the drone industry has only begun.
Join us for Day 2 Friday, April 5th will start with a demonstration by Code Pink at the home of General Atomics CEO Neal Blue, one of the most egregious of the industry's drone profiteers. Another rally at the General Atomics Headquarters will begin at 10 am. Northrop Grumman, a corporation that is in the process of expanding its foothold in the San Diego area, will be targeted between 4 and 6. And this evening will again see the Light brigade take to a San Diego overpass. Schedule:
