Trinity Nuclear Abolition
NEWS ADVISORY
17 August 2012
ph: 505.842.5697

ORGANIZED VIGILS FOR PEACE CONTINUE:
ABOLITIONISTS CALL ATTENTION TO LANL's CRIMES

On Monday the 16th of July about 20 people were at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) peace vigil to kick off the activities for the Summer of Disarmament. Trinity Nuclear Abolition (TNA) supported the NukeFreeNow.org coalition's initiative for peace with a vigil that day and with a second vigil on August 6th. More people will be holding vigil at the Los Alamos Justice Center on August 9th when six who were arrested on August 6th will be arraigned. Some of the hunger strikers resumed eating in August on the 67th anniversary of the US nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, and other hunger strikers began their fasting for peace on that date. TNA will hold its 62nd LANL peace vigil on August 27th, still hoping for LANL to face its responsibilities in the realm of environmental justice. About 12 people will be present at the August 27th meditation for peace at the main welcome sign for LANL--at the corner of Diamond and West Jemez. This prayer-action on August 27th will last for one hour--from 7am to 8am.

During the three weeks between the 16th of July and the 6th of August a handful of people in New Mexico held a hunger strike. Others from around the USA also fasted for peace, including Marcus Page-Collonge of California's Catholic Worker Farm. Marcus' fast for peace lasted seven days, in commemoration of the seven decades since the nuclear age began with the Manhattan Project. (The Manhattan Project led to the creation of LANL and the town of Los Alamos.) At least two New Mexicans fasted for at least 21 days.

"Our fast for peace and hunger strike was focused on LANL because LANL continues their twin traditions of POISONING this bio-region, and NUCLEAR TERRORISM, which keeps the world in obedience to the political goals of Washington DC," said Page-Collonge. Catholic Workers tend to believe that the billions of dollars poured into nuclear weapons activities represent a commitment to nuclear weapons unlike other human endeavors in history. The permanent contamination of the environment and the fear of nuclear annihilation are two aspects of nuclearism which Catholic Workers call a "spiritual sickness".

TNA is always nonviolent, respectful, and peaceful, upholding international law and opposing criminal activities at LANL. The Fast for Peace and Hunger strike began on New Mexico's Nuclear Disasters Day.


The date of this vigil was chosen to commemorate the poisoning of Western Shoshone Land by the USA's nuclear weapons testing program in Nevada. These nine tests (code-names below) were conducted on these dates at that Nevada National Security Site, formerly known as the Nevada Test Site:
Pascal-B = 8/27/1957 Argus I = 8/27/1958 Player = 8/27/1964 Centaur = 8/27/1965 Diana Moon = 8/27/1968
Pliers = 8/27/1969 Horehound = 8/27/1969 Islay = 8/27/1981 Jarlsberg = 8/27/1983 ###

Anti-Nuclear Activists Blockade LANL Gates Aug. 6 : Six anti-nuclear activists were arrested at around 8 am today after blocking the road into Los Alamos National Laboratory. The action took place on the 67th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. Around 50 activists from Trinity Nuclear Abolition and (un)Occupy Albuquerque participated in the protest. Cathie Sullivan of Santa Fe, who was one of those arrested, said today’s action was a culmination of 40 years of moral objection to nuclear weapons. Pamela Gilchrist, who fasted for 21 days against the ongoing nuclearization, said she hoped that her arrest would motivate citizens to get involved in stopping the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) facility. "I’m outraged that our senators (Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall) are trying to revive the ill-fated and ill-advised CMRR project," she added. The CMRR would enable the lab to increase plutonium pit production. Barbara Grothus, daughter of the late Ed Grothus, a renowned anti-nuclear activist and the moral conscience of the Los Alamos community, joined the blockade to honor her father’s legacy. She said Los Alamos should be a contributor to the health of the planet by working on sustainable technologies instead of endangering the world. Wind Euler, another arrestee, said: "I blocked the road into the lab to slow down the work of creating more weapons of mass destruction and more radioactive contamination. The lab is on indigenous lands, and the contamination of the waters and soils downstream from the lab will continue to damage the health of generations of Peublo and other peoples living downstream." Benjamin Abbott was also arrested as part of today’s action. "I took part in the action to throw a wrench into the gears of the war machine. I oppose all weapons and military research that support U.S. imperialism across the world and the occupation of LANL," Abbott said. The arraignment will take place at the Los Alamos Justice Center on Aug. 9, which also marks the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki. This story is courtesy of unoccupyabq@gmail.com; you can contact Catherine Euler @ 928-899-2267 for more info...

* New Mexico's "Nuclear Disasters Day" is so-named because of the Trinity nuclear bomb's detonation in 1945 and the Church Rock uranium spill of 1979. Both nuclear disasters (the intentional bomb and the accidental spill) contaminated the region with radioactive poisons, and both began on July 16th at precisely 5:30 AM.

TNA pledges to continue these demonstrations until the majority of LANL resources are spent on CLEAN-UP of radioactively contaminated sites at LANL. TNA supports the immediate peaceful ending of nuclear weapons research, development, and production. For four years TNA has protested LANL's noncompliance with the U.S. Constitutional duties and U.S. treaty obligations. TNA is always nonviolent, playful, prayerful and peaceful in the prayer-actions conducted at LANL.

More info on the trial of the Hiroshima Day Six

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