TACOMA, Wash. -- Five elderly peace activists who broke into Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in 2009 to protest nuclear weapons were sentenced Monday in Tacoma federal court.
The sentences for the activists, who range in age from 61 to 84 years, varied from two to 15 months each:
- 61-year-old Jesuit priest Stephen Kelly of Oakland, Calif., was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
- 67-year-old retired teacher Susan Crane of Baltimore was sentenced to 15 months.
- 82-year-old Jesuit priest Bill Bichsel of Tacoma was sentened to 3 months.
- 84-year-old Sister Anne Montgomery of Redwood City, Calif., was sentenced to 2 months.
- 61-year-old social worker Lynne Greenwald of Tacoma was sentenced to 6 months.
Court documents said the group, referred to by some as the "Bangor Five," cut through fences on November 2, 2009, to reach an area near where nuclear warheads are stored in bunkers. The weapons facility in Puget Sound assembles and maintains nuclear-tipped Trident missiles and other weapons.
The protesters put up banners, scattered sunflower seeds and prayed until they were arrested.
A jury found them guilty for a number of crimes including conspiracy, trespass and destruction of government property. Each activist had faced a possible ten year sentence.
Montgomery said in a sentencing document filed last week that she and others have taken responsibility for their actions.
"I have the solace of my conscience," said Kelly. "I think this is just one little step against nuclear weapons. And someday we'll be free. Maybe not in my lifetime, but I have hope."
"I felt grateful for the opportunity to stand up," said Greenwald. "And whether or not I got o prison isn't the issue. It's that we do everything we can to stop nuclear weapons from being used."
The five defendants said nuclear warheads stored and on submarines at the base are illegal under international, national and humanitarian law, but a judge prohibited them from using international law and the lethality of nuclear weapons as a defense. The trial hinged on straightforward charges relating to trespassing and property damage.
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