A Peace Movement Victory in Court | 14 Arrested for Walking onto Creech Air Force Base, site of Air Drone command - Tulsa Peace Fellowship2024-03-28T13:16:28Zhttps://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/forum/topics/a-peace-movement-victory-in?commentId=2567841%3AComment%3A32871&x=1&feed=yes&xn_auth=noChallenging Drone Warfare in…tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2014-10-11:2567841:Comment:328712014-10-11T18:42:25.479ZTony Nusplhttps://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p><strong>Challenging Drone Warfare in Court --</strong></p>
<div class="blogbyline"><div class="blogauthor">Posted by Ryan Hall </div>
<div class="blogdate">10.08.14</div>
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<p><img alt="Kathy Kelly and Brian Terrell" class="attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" height="439" src="http://paceebene.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Kathy-Kelly-and-Brian-Terrell.png" width="703"></img></p>
<p>By Kathy Kelly</p>
<p>On October 7, 2014, Kathy Kelly and Georgia Walker appeared before Judge Matt Whitworth in Jefferson City, MO, federal court on a charge of criminal trespass to a military facility. The charge was based on their participation, at Whiteman Air Force Base, in a June 1st 2014…</p>
<p><strong>Challenging Drone Warfare in Court --</strong></p>
<div class="blogbyline"><div class="blogauthor">Posted by Ryan Hall </div>
<div class="blogdate">10.08.14</div>
</div>
<p><img src="http://paceebene.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Kathy-Kelly-and-Brian-Terrell.png" class="attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Kathy Kelly and Brian Terrell" height="439" width="703"/></p>
<p>By Kathy Kelly</p>
<p>On October 7, 2014, Kathy Kelly and Georgia Walker appeared before Judge Matt Whitworth in Jefferson City, MO, federal court on a charge of criminal trespass to a military facility. The charge was based on their participation, at Whiteman Air Force Base, in a June 1st 2014 rally protesting drone warfare. Kelly and Walker attempted to deliver a loaf of bread and a letter to the Base Commander, encouraging the commander to stop cooperating with any further usage of unmanned aerial vehicles, (drones) for surveillance and attacks.<br/><br/></p>
<p>Kelly and Walker told the prosecutor that they could accept a “no contest” plea but were not willing to plead guilty.The judge refused to accept a “no contest” plea. Kelly and Walker then requested a trial which has been set for December 10, 2014.</p>
<p>Brian Terrell, who also attended the hearing, has previously been tried before Judge Whitworth on the same charge. In October of 2012, Whitworth sentenced him to the maximum penalty of six months in prison. His co-defendant, Ron Faust, also went to trial and was initially sentenced to five years probation which was later reduced to one year. Mark Kenney, also a co-defendant, had pled guilty and received a four month sentence.</p>
<p>Kathy Kelly noted that drone strikes on October 7, 2014 killed seven people, in Pakistan and that this is the third day in a row of drone attacks in Pakistan’s Waziristan area. On October 6th, eight people were killed and six wounded. Today also marks the thirteenth year of U.S. war in Afghanistan, a country which was considered, in 2013, to be the epicenter of drone warfare.</p>
<p>“I feel we’re compelled by our conscience, “ Georgia Walker told a gathering of 35 people in Kansas City, the previous evening. “We’re compelled by our own spirituality, to keep speaking up and to keep getting people to know that silence is complicity. We have to speak out to say ‘Not in my Name.’”</p>
<p>“I’m sure that Georgia and I didn’t commit a crime,” said Kathy Kelly. “We tried to send out an alarm about a crime that’s being committed at the base. Innocent people, including children are killed by the drone strikes.”</p>
<p>Kelly and Walker later met with supporters and attorneys to discuss plans for a vigorous defense on December 10th, International Human Rights Day.</p>
<p><em>Kathy Kelly (<a href="mailto:Kathy@vcnv.org" target="_blank">Kathy@vcnv.org</a>) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence <a href="http://%28www.vcnv.org" target="_blank">(www.vcnv.org</a>) She and several others involved in this case, including Georgia Walker and Brian Terrell, are active participants in Campaign Nonviolence</em>.</p>
<p><br/><br/><a href="http://paceebene.org/2014/10/08/challenging-drone-warfare-in-a-u-s-court/" target="_blank">http://paceebene.org/2014/10/08/challenging-drone-warfare-in-a-u-s-court/</a></p> 11 Arrested at Beale Air Forc…tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2014-10-02:2567841:Comment:328662014-10-02T03:41:01.999ZTony Nusplhttps://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p><strong>11 Arrested at Beale Air Force Base to Oppose Drones --</strong> <br></br> Written by Ryan Hall, 09.30.14</p>
<p>@ Beale Air Force Base, near Marysville, California -- <br></br><br></br></p>
<p>Rev. Auer was attempting to deliver a letter to Colonel Phillip A. Stewart, the Base Commander, informing him of a recent anti-drone resolution passed by United Methodists in the California-Nevada region. The letter also included The World Council of Churches’ Statement on the Use of Drones and the Right…</p>
<p><strong>11 Arrested at Beale Air Force Base to Oppose Drones --</strong> <br/> Written by Ryan Hall, 09.30.14</p>
<p>@ Beale Air Force Base, near Marysville, California -- <br/><br/></p>
<p>Rev. Auer was attempting to deliver a letter to Colonel Phillip A. Stewart, the Base Commander, informing him of a recent anti-drone resolution passed by United Methodists in the California-Nevada region. The letter also included The World Council of Churches’ Statement on the Use of Drones and the Right to Life. Beale is the home of the Global Hawk Drone, a surveillance drone that helps in the targeting of armed drones.</p>
<p>This action was one of over 250 nonviolent actions carried out in coordination with Campaign Nonviolence</p>
<p><a href="http://paceebene.org/2014/09/30/11-arrested-at-beale-air-force-base-to-oppose-drones/" target="_blank">http://paceebene.org/2014/09/30/11-arrested-at-beale-air-force-base-to-oppose-drones/</a></p> update 16 April 2014 :
Nine a…tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2014-04-18:2567841:Comment:323152014-04-18T18:24:19.659ZTony Nusplhttps://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p>update 16 April 2014 :</p>
<p>Nine anti-war activists protesting remotely-piloted aircraft operations were arrested Wednesday at Creech Air Force Base, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas.</p>
<p>The protesters were attempting to deliver a war crimes indictment about the base’s armed Predator and Reaper drone operations to Creech commander Col. Jim Cluff.</p>
<p>“The illegality of the CIA ‘secretive cluster of units within … the 732nd Operations Group’ can no longer be denied or covered up,”…</p>
<p>update 16 April 2014 :</p>
<p>Nine anti-war activists protesting remotely-piloted aircraft operations were arrested Wednesday at Creech Air Force Base, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas.</p>
<p>The protesters were attempting to deliver a war crimes indictment about the base’s armed Predator and Reaper drone operations to Creech commander Col. Jim Cluff.</p>
<p>“The illegality of the CIA ‘secretive cluster of units within … the 732nd Operations Group’ can no longer be denied or covered up,” read a news release from Nevada Desert Experience, a faith-based peace advocacy group. “Hundreds of children have been murdered along with thousands of innocent men and women. The CIA is using Creech Air Force pilots to carry out drone strikes in Pakistan. The War Indictment could not be delivered at a more timely moment.”</p>
<div class="title label-hidden"><div class="item even"><b class="entry-title pf-title">Activists protesting armed drones arrested at Creech Air Force Base</b>
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<p><img src="http://www.reviewjournal.com/sites/default/files/field/media/web1_IMG_4351.jpg" class="photo" alt="web1_IMG_4351.jpg" height="480" width="640"/></p>
<p>Anti-drone protesters come together to protest remote-controlled military weaponry at Creech Air Force Base. (Courtesy Nevada Desert Experience)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/activists-protesting-armed-drones-arrested-creech-air-force-base" target="_blank">http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/activists-protesting-armed-drones...</a></p>
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<p></p> update from DemocracyNow! 10…tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2013-12-10:2567841:Comment:320032013-12-10T15:50:57.092ZTony Nusplhttps://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p>update from DemocracyNow! 10 Dec 2013:<br></br><br></br></p>
<p><b id="121010">3 Arrested at NY Air Base in Anti-Drone Protest</b><br></br><br></br></p>
<div class="headlinetext"><p>Three people have been arrested at Hancock Air Field in upstate New York protesting the <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/topics/drone_attacks">U.S. drone war</a>. The activists were detained outside the base’s gates as they tried to deliver a "people’s order of protection" for Afghan…</p>
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<p>update from DemocracyNow! 10 Dec 2013:<br/><br/></p>
<p><b id="121010">3 Arrested at NY Air Base in Anti-Drone Protest</b><br/><br/></p>
<div class="headlinetext"><p>Three people have been arrested at Hancock Air Field in upstate New York protesting the <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/topics/drone_attacks">U.S. drone war</a>. The activists were detained outside the base’s gates as they tried to deliver a "people’s order of protection" for Afghan civilians.</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Ellen Grady, Ithaca Catholic Worker</strong>: "We are here today to bring the voices of the children of Afghanistan, the children who are being terrorized by these drones, the children who being killed by these drones, the children who are being maimed by these drones. We’re here to say no and bring an order of protection for the children of Afghanistan."</p>
</blockquote>
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<p><br/><a href="http://youtu.be/FSJXYTKuNj8?t=8m1s" target="_blank">videolink</a>: <br/><a href="http://youtu.be/FSJXYTKuNj8?t=8m1s" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/FSJXYTKuNj8?t=8m1s</a></p> Catholic Worker Activists Acq…tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2013-10-25:2567841:Comment:318042013-10-25T21:35:55.464ZTony Nusplhttps://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<h3 id="102511">Catholic Worker Activists Acquitted of Protest at Drone Base</h3>
<p>Five Catholic Worker activists have been acquitted for blocking the gate of a New York base where U.S. drones are operated remotely earlier this year. The protesters held signs condemning the killings of children and other civilians as they stood in front of the entrance to Hancock Field Air National Guard Base near Syracuse. Calling the drone strikes illegal, the activists had argued in court their intent was…</p>
<h3 id="102511">Catholic Worker Activists Acquitted of Protest at Drone Base</h3>
<p>Five Catholic Worker activists have been acquitted for blocking the gate of a New York base where U.S. drones are operated remotely earlier this year. The protesters held signs condemning the killings of children and other civilians as they stood in front of the entrance to Hancock Field Air National Guard Base near Syracuse. Calling the drone strikes illegal, the activists had argued in court their intent was to uphold the law, not break it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2013/10/25/headlines#102511" target="_blank">http://www.democracynow.org/2013/10/25/headlines#102511</a></p>
<p>video: <a href="http://youtu.be/m6sa30EXHZg?t=10m26s" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/m6sa30EXHZg?t=10m26s</a></p> 8 Anti-drone protesters arres…tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2013-04-08:2567841:Comment:257922013-04-08T12:49:55.470ZTony Nusplhttps://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p><strong>8 Anti-drone protesters arrested outside Nevada base</strong></p>
<p>AP</p>
<p>03/27/13 16:52</p>
<p>INDIAN SPRINGS, Nev. - Officials say eight people were arrested on disturbing the peace charges during a demonstration outside a U.S. Air Force base home to Predator and Reaper remote-controlled drone aircraft.</p>
<p>Nevada Desert Experience coordinator Jim Haber says the Wednesday protest at Creech Air Force Base was part of an annual peace walk.</p>
<p>It started in Las Vegas and…</p>
<p><strong>8 Anti-drone protesters arrested outside Nevada base</strong></p>
<p>AP</p>
<p>03/27/13 16:52</p>
<p>INDIAN SPRINGS, Nev. - Officials say eight people were arrested on disturbing the peace charges during a demonstration outside a U.S. Air Force base home to Predator and Reaper remote-controlled drone aircraft.</p>
<p>Nevada Desert Experience coordinator Jim Haber says the Wednesday protest at Creech Air Force Base was part of an annual peace walk.</p>
<p>It started in Las Vegas and ends this week in Mercury, at the gate of a former federal nuclear proving ground now called the Nevada National Security Site.</p>
<p>Haber says the five men and three women arrested were from California, New York, Wisconsin and Nevada. None was injured.</p>
<p>Las Vegas police Officer Laura Meltzer says they're accused of failing to disperse when ordered.</p>
<p>Each was driven 45 miles to Las Vegas, given summonses with a June court date and released.</p>
<p><br/><a href="http://azstarnet.com/news/national/drone-demonstrations/article_deaa7cd2-41fa-5954-b69f-edb4f13d3f81.html" target="_blank">http://azstarnet.com/news/national/drone-demonstrations/article_deaa7cd2-41fa-5954-b69f-edb4f13d3f81.html</a></p> Nine Brave People Arrested Bl…tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2013-02-17:2567841:Comment:249952013-02-17T21:34:36.095ZTony Nusplhttps://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p><b class="title">Nine Brave People Arrested Blocking Gate to Hancock Drone Murder Base in Upstate NY</b></p>
<p> article by David Swanson</p>
<p>14 Feb 2013</p>
<p>This article was first published on <a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/nine-brave-people-arrested-blocking-gate-hancock-drone-murder-base-upstate-ny">War is a Crime</a>.</p>
<p>Nine opponents of killing human beings with missiles shot from drones were arrested on Wednesday nonviolently interfering with the drone kill program…</p>
<p><b class="title">Nine Brave People Arrested Blocking Gate to Hancock Drone Murder Base in Upstate NY</b></p>
<p> article by David Swanson</p>
<p>14 Feb 2013</p>
<p>This article was first published on <a href="http://warisacrime.org/content/nine-brave-people-arrested-blocking-gate-hancock-drone-murder-base-upstate-ny">War is a Crime</a>.</p>
<p>Nine opponents of killing human beings with missiles shot from drones were arrested on Wednesday nonviolently interfering with the drone kill program (taken to include the routine use of drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as the targeted kill list) at Hancock Air Base near Syracuse, NY.</p>
<p>The nine arrested for disturbing the war were: Matt Ryan, Carmen Trotta, Nancy Gowan, Bill Pickard, Bill Streit, Jim Clune, Ellen Grady, Linda Letender, and Mary Anne Grady Flores.</p>
<p>Below are signs they displayed while blocking the gate.</p>
<p>Report and photos courtesy of Ellen Grady.</p>
<p>Via Malachy Kilbride, here's a list of 35 names of people from across the country who will be going to court at some point for actions against the drones. Others, of course, already have been to court and in some cases are behind bars: Dan Burgevin, Jim Clune, Jack Gilroy, Martha Hennessy, Bryan Hynes, Ed Kinane, Rae Kramer, Julienne Oldfield, Mary Snyder, Elliott Adams, Judy Bello, Mark Colville, Paul Frazier, Clare Grady, Mary Ann Grady-Flores, Andrea Levine, Bonny Mahoney, Mike Perry, James Ricks, Mark Scibilia-Carver, Paki Weiland, John Heid, David and Jan Hartsough, Sharon Delgado, Jane Kesselman, Shirley Osgood, Ann Wright, David Barrows, JoAnn Lingle, Toby Blome, Alli McCracken, Joan Nicholson, Eve Tetaz, and Jonathon Tucker.<br/><br/><img src="http://warisacrime.org/sites/afterdowningstreet.org/files/photo.JPG" border="0" height="448" width="600"/></p>
<p><img src="http://warisacrime.org/sites/afterdowningstreet.org/files/arrested1.jpg" border="0"/></p>
<p><img src="http://warisacrime.org/sites/afterdowningstreet.org/files/arrested2.jpg" border="0"/></p>
<p><img src="http://warisacrime.org/sites/afterdowningstreet.org/files/arrested3.jpg" border="0"/></p>
<p><a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/component/content/article/72-more-blog-posts-from-david-swanson/1490-nine-brave-people-arrested-blocking-gate-to-hancock-drone-murder-base-in-upstate-ny#.UR2Hs1pARa4" target="_blank">http://therealnews.com/t2/component/content/article/72-more-blog-posts-from-david-swanson/1490-nine-brave-people-arrested-blocking-gate-to-hancock-drone-murder-base-in-upstate-ny#.UR2Hs1pARa4</a></p> Anti-Drone Protesters Found G…tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2012-09-12:2567841:Comment:226272012-09-12T16:56:24.297ZTony Nusplhttps://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p><b>Anti-Drone Protesters Found Guilty of Trespassing</b></p>
<p>Posted on: September 10, 2012, by <a href="http://fox4kc.com/author/roblow4/" rel="author" title="Posts by Rob Low">Rob Low</a>,</p>
<p>JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Federal Judge found two anti-war protestors charged with trespassing at Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Knoster, Missouri guilty.<br></br><br></br>Defendants Ron Faust of Gladstone, Missouri and Brian Terrell of Maloy, Iowa were among a group of anti-drone peace activist…</p>
<p><b>Anti-Drone Protesters Found Guilty of Trespassing</b></p>
<p>Posted on: September 10, 2012, by <a href="http://fox4kc.com/author/roblow4/" title="Posts by Rob Low" rel="author">Rob Low</a>,</p>
<p>JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Federal Judge found two anti-war protestors charged with trespassing at Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Knoster, Missouri guilty.<br/><br/>Defendants Ron Faust of Gladstone, Missouri and Brian Terrell of Maloy, Iowa were among a group of anti-drone peace activist demonstrating at Whiteman Air Force Base last April. The men were arrested when they approached the front gates of the base and tried to deliver a document outlining their concerns with the use of unmanned drones in the nation’s war on terror.<br/><br/>The aircraft, known as Predators, don’t fly from Whiteman Air Force Base but they are remotely operated by pilots based at Whiteman, some 90 miles southeast of Kansas City.<br/><br/>Shortly before his trial began at Federal Court in Jefferson City, defendant Ron Faust told FOX 4 drones have “about 98 percent failure rate in terms of innocent lives that are lost. Not everybody that’s killed is a terrorist.”<br/><br/>His figure comes from the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalists.<br/><br/>Defense witness Bill Quigley, a professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, says the two defendants weren’t trespassing, they were exercising their first Amendment Right of Free Speech.<br/><br/>“They were peaceful, they didn’t intimidate anybody. They were outnumbered 20 to 1 by military police there,” Quigley said.<br/><br/>Prosecutors say the two anti-drone activists refused to leave the base when they were told to go. Judge Magistrate Matt J. Whitworth heard testimony on Monday.</p>
<p><br/><a href="http://fox4kc.com/2012/09/10/anti-drone-protesters-found-guilty-of-trespassing/" target="_blank">http://fox4kc.com/2012/09/10/anti-drone-protesters-found-guilty-of-trespassing/</a><br/> <cite>Tony Nuspl said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/forum/topics/a-peace-movement-victory-in?id=2567841%3ATopic%3A4912&page=2#2567841Comment22083"><div><p>update 18 April 2012, from Kathy Kelley:</p>
<blockquote><p>At Whiteman Air Force Base, we presented an indictment for the international war crimes that are implicit in remote-controlled killing using the kind of aerial drones that are piloted from the base. As three of our friends walked forward with the indictment to be arrested by riot-shielded base police, we flew kites to remind ourselves that the blue sky above our heads should not be a source of fear, and we sang, “For you, a thousand times over, for you, a thousand times over….”</p>
</blockquote>
<p> </p>
<p>(part of a longer article)</p>
<p><a href="http://original.antiwar.com/kathy-kelly/2012/04/17/for-you-a-thousand-times-over/" target="_blank">http://original.antiwar.com/kathy-kelly/2012/04/17/for-you-a-thousa...</a></p>
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</blockquote> Luther (Trey) Turner III, a r…tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2012-07-16:2567841:Comment:226872012-07-16T21:58:21.658ZTony Nusplhttps://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p>Luther (Trey) Turner III, a retired colonel who flew combat missions during the Persian Gulf war before he switched to flying Predators in 2003, said that he doesn’t view his combat experience flying drones as “valorous.”</p>
<blockquote><p>“My understanding of the term is that you are faced with danger. And, when I am sitting in a ground-control station thousands of miles away from the battlefield, that’s just not the case.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Glenn Greenwald…</p>
<p>Luther (Trey) Turner III, a retired colonel who flew combat missions during the Persian Gulf war before he switched to flying Predators in 2003, said that he doesn’t view his combat experience flying drones as “valorous.”</p>
<blockquote><p>“My understanding of the term is that you are faced with danger. And, when I am sitting in a ground-control station thousands of miles away from the battlefield, that’s just not the case.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Glenn Greenwald comments:</p>
<p></p>
<blockquote><p>Whatever one thinks of the justifiability of drone attacks, it’s one of the least “brave” or courageous modes of warfare ever invented. It’s one thing to call it just, but to pretend it’s “brave” is Orwellian in the extreme. Indeed, the whole point of it is to allow large numbers of human beings to be killed without the slightest physical risk to those doing the killing. Killing while sheltering yourself from all risk is the definitional opposite of bravery.</p>
<p>This is why the rapid proliferation of drones, beyond their own ethical and legal quandaries, makes violence and aggression so much easier (and cheaper) to perpetrate and therefore so much more likely.</p>
<p>Human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/201111278839153400.html">recently recounted</a> numerous cases of horrifying civilian deaths involving Pakistani teenagers whose lives were ended by drones.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/07/10/bravery_and_drone_pilots/" target="_blank">http://www.salon.com/2012/07/10/bravery_and_drone_pilots/</a></p> Monday, April 23, 2012 by Com…tag:tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com,2012-05-01:2567841:Comment:219932012-05-01T15:27:20.642ZTony Nusplhttps://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/profile/TonyNuspl
<p><span class="submitted">Monday, April 23, 2012 by <a href="http://www.commondreams.org">Common Dreams</a></span></p>
<div class="title"><strong>33 Arrested Outside Drone Base in New York State</strong></div>
<p><br></br>Group arrested preemptively, as they walked single-file and silently along a road</p>
<p>Thirty-three activists were arrested Sunday afternoon outside Hancock Air Field base in New York. Between 50 and 150 anti-war activists turned out to protest the use of US drones to attack…</p>
<p><span class="submitted">Monday, April 23, 2012 by <a href="http://www.commondreams.org">Common Dreams</a></span></p>
<div class="title"><strong>33 Arrested Outside Drone Base in New York State</strong></div>
<p><br/>Group arrested preemptively, as they walked single-file and silently along a road</p>
<p>Thirty-three activists were arrested Sunday afternoon outside Hancock Air Field base in New York. Between 50 and 150 anti-war activists turned out to protest the use of US drones to attack countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Iraq. The activists were preemptively arrested two blocks from the base.</p>
<p><span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"><img src="http://www.commondreams.org/sites/commondreams.org/files/imagecache/headline_image/article_images/10869865-large_0.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-headline_image imagecache-default imagecache-headline_image_default" height="174" width="275"/> </span></p>
<p><span class="image-right" style="width: 275px;"><span class="caption">Veteran for Peace's Elliott Adams of Sharon Springs NY, is handcuffed and led into a Sheriffs van after his arrest for protesting the use of drones by the United States. (Dennis Nett/The Post-Standard)</span></span> They said they were hoping to put up crime scene tape around the front of the base to demonstrate that the entire operation is a crime.</p>
<p>Protester Rae Kramer said, “This notion that drone warfare is an exciting replacement to manned planes is a deception. In fact, what's happened is we are making more enemies, making the world less safe, including here at home."</p>
<p>Sunday’s protest was part of a weekend event by the <a href="http://upstatedroneaction.peaceworksrochester.org/"><strong>Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars</strong></a>. The group opposes the military’s use of unmanned drones to target suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere.</p>
<p class="rteindent1">The 174th Fighter Wing of the New York Air National Guard has been remotely flying MQ-9 Reaper drones over Afghanistan, from Syracuse, since late 2009. The unmanned surveillance aircraft is armed with Hellfire missiles and laser-guided bombs.</p>
<p class="rteindent1">The protesters had wanted to deliver a written message, which they called an indictment, accusing the military of engaging in “illegal use of force against another nation.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/04/23-4" target="_blank">http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/04/23-4</a></p>
<p>amateur vdeo: <a href="http://youtu.be/VzvNYIlASTc" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/VzvNYIlASTc</a></p>