KC police arrest nuclear protesters at Honeywell construction site

[Tony Nuspl]

By Donald Bradley
The Kansas City Star

Kansas City police arrested 14 protesters today at the construction site of a manufacturing plant that will produce parts for nuclear weapons.

The 14 were part of about 75 protesters who locked arms and walked onto the excavation site for the new $685 million Honeywell plant near Missouri 150 and Botts Road in south Kansas City. The marchers forced large earth-moving equipment to stop.

The group planted seeds and sang until police moved in. A police loudspeaker told the protesters they would be arrested if they did not disperse.

All but 14 walked back to the road. Those who refused were charged with trespassing and taken to jail.

“They made their point and we showed great patience, but when push comes to shove, we have to do what we have to do,” said Kansas City police Sgt. Kurt Schmidt

The total protesters numbered about 100. Young and old, all colors, they came from 12 states to protest what they view as America’s continued proliferation of nuclear weapons.

One sign read: “Nuclear Winter, our most promising solution to Global Warming”

The group also protested what they view as a lack of action into the health problems of workers and the environmental cleanup at the current Honeywell plant on Bannister Road.

“The federal government has fallen well short of its responsibility,” said Maurice Copeland, who identified himself as a 32-year employee at the plant.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/16/2153596/kc-police-arrest-nucle...

[Tony Nuspl]

Catholic activists arrested at Kansas City nuclear weapons facility
Aug. 17, 2010
By Joshua J. McElwee

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Singing choruses of “we shall not be moved” while scattering sunflower seeds, 14 activists were arrested here Aug. 16 after blocking an earth moving vehicle on the site of a proposed nuclear weapons manufacturing facility.

The acts of civil disobedience came at the end of a three-day conference which drew peace activists here from around the nation. The efforts were aimed at building awareness of and resistance to the construction of the weapons plant, which will replace an existing plant here.

The new plant, which will make non-nuclear parts for nuclear weapons, is set to be the nation’s first new major nuclear weapons production facility in 32 years.

Before their arrest the protestors walked onto a soybean field being plowed by several earth moving vehicles as part of the plant building preparation effort. The group, walking in a single file, held hands; some carried large signs. They approached and surrounded one of the vehicles, forcing the driver to stop her work, and eventually leading 20 other vehicles to halt theirs as well.

After about a 45 minute shut down, police arrived, announcing the protesters had two minutes to leave the privately-owned grounds. The flurry of activity stopped all work at the site for over an hour.

In a statement to the press before they began their action, the activists called the new facility a “crime against peace” and a “crime against humanity.”

Currently a part of the Bannister Federal Complex, located about 13 miles south of the city’s downtown area, the Kansas City Plant is responsible for the production and assembly of approximately 85 percent of the non-nuclear components for the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, has said the new facility will carry an estimated price tag of $673 million for construction and $1.2 billion over the next 20 years.

http://ncronline.org/news/peace/catholic-activists-arrested-kansas-...

go to original at link above for slide show of photos from the civic action