Concerted Events to Close of the SOA in 10 Countries!
Check out photo slideshows with audio recordings and news coverage of the November vigil.
“If... the machine of government... is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.” - Henry David Thoreau
16 human rights activists were arrested on Sunday, November 19 after carrying the protest to close the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) onto the Fort Benning Military Reservation, publicly defying the laws which prevent political speech on military bases and making a bold call for justice and accountability. The 16 were arraigned in federal court on charges of unlawful entry. 15 of the 16 arrested were released after bail money ($500 - $1,000/per person) was posted. One person, Margaret Bryant-Ganer, opted to remain in prison, awaiting trial; she is being held at Muscogee County Jail in Columbus, Georgia. The 16 will apprear in federal court in Columbus on January 29, 2007 to put the SOA itself on trial.
(Photo: Melissa Helman, a student at Northland College in Wisconsin is climbing over the barb-wired fence at the main gate of Fort Benning)
The "SOA 16" are:
Margaret Bryant-Ganer, 38, Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia
Tina Busch-Nema, 48, Kirkwood, Missouri
Rev. Don Coleman, 69, a co-pastor at the University of Chicago from Chicago, Illinois
Valerie Fillenwarth, 64, a homemaker from Indianapolis, IndianaPhilip Gates, 70, a retired school teacher from Prescott, Arizona
Alice Gerard, 50, a freelance journalist from Grand Island, New York
Joshua Harris, 30, from San Diego is a graduate student at Claremont University
Melissa Helman, 23, a student from Ashland, Wisconsin
Martina Leforce, 22, Berea, Kentucky
Julienne Oldfield, 69, Syracuse, New York
(Katherine) Whitney Ray, a 17 year old college student from Indianapolis, Indiana
Sheila Salmon, 71, Sebastian, Florida
Nathan Slater, 23, Berea / Edmonton, Kentucky
Mike Vosburg-Casey, a 32 year old piano tuner and chicken farmer from Atlanta, Georgia
Grayman Ward, 20, a fitness equipment specialist from Raleigh, North Carolina
Cathy Webster, 61, a peace activist and grandmother from Chico, California
1 comment on 16 Human Rights Activists Arrested
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Mr. Thoreau was not trying to gain entrance into a military installation in a day and age where terrorism is runnig wild around the world. Their punishment will be well deserved. By the way if I was from Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia i'd want to stay in prison too...