Highlights of the Week of Resistance:
– 3 dozen + people converged at Holloman for all or part of the Week of Nonviolent Resistance to the illegal drone training program at Holloman AFB, including nearly a dozen students and teachers from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.
– On Wednesday, April 24, business at the illegal and immoral drone training program was interrupted at two main gates by a nonviolent blockade during morning commute hour. After 5 activists blockaded the less used West Gate for about 20 min, they ended their blockade after the one minute police warning. Later they joined others at the Main gate and some, joined by others, continued the interruption of criminal activity at the base. Ultimately 6 were arrested: Denise Sellers (San Diego), John Reese (High Rolls / Mtn. Park, NM), Natasha Robinson (Berkeley, CA), Toby Blomé (El Cerrito, CA), Virginia Hauflaire (Phoenix, AZ), and Ray Cage (Tucson, AZ). No warning was given at the 2nd gate and arrests occurred speedily.
WATCH: Peaceful Interruption of Illegal Drone Training Activity at Holloman’s Main Gate HERE. (1 min.)
Fred Bialy’s Short Video of Action at West Gate HERE.
– Arrestees were held at the police station for a couple of hours and told that they would be be taken to the Otero County Detention Center to be processed and held over night. Later, much to their surprise, the arrestees were escorted to the nearby courthouse to be arraigned, and were released at about 1pm. No transfer to the detention center!
– One SDDW participant, Paul, gave an excellent teach-in on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Rwanda. Links to informative videos of this important African region attached.
– New local allies have joined our Holloman campaign!! Thank you Scott Thompson, Veterans For Peace Alamogordo resident who joined every vigil-see Scott’s quote in the Press Release attached. Thank you Lee Burnett, Alamogordo Episcopalian minister in training, who saw us on Highway 70 and joined us! Thank you Betts, Kathy, Bear, and Tim from Tucson and Las Cruces-we hope you join us next year. And huge thanks to the teachers and young students from NMSU who drove from Las Cruces to lead a Friday noon rally on Alamogordo’s “main drag,” White Sands Blvd., then joined us for the last afternoon commute vigil at Holloman AFB.
– Erica Kay led two excellent nonviolence training sessions at Camp Justice, our group campsite. Later her and her husband, John Reese, hosted us for a dinner at their home in the mountains above Alamogordo, and went out of their way to host the “campers” from Camp Justice that night so we could avoid the desert sandstorm “consuming” our group campsite that day. Much gratitude!
A bazillion thanks to all who joined us this last week….together we are making a big difference!
The SDDW Team,
Ken, Virginia, Denise, Charles, Fred and Toby
