Bangor Eight Guilty of Faithful Resistance

Earlier in the day the defendants met with attorney Ken Kagan at Jean’s House of Prayer at the Tacoma Catholic Worker in preparation for trial. We are grateful to the Tacoma Catholic Worker community for their support and gracious hospitality.

Bangor Eight defendants (L to R): Anne Hall, Mary Gleysteen, Ann Kittredge, Michael Siptroth, Emilie Marlinghaus, Betsy Lamb, Peggy Love, Elizabeth Murray

 April 4, 2016 

Eight peace activists stood trial On Friday, April 1, 2016 in US District Court on charges of trespassing onto a US nuclear weapons base.

On August 10, 2015 the eight activists crossed the blue line onto Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, which represents the largest operational concentration of nuclear weapons in the US arsenal, in an act of nonviolent civil resistance. Some staged a die-in, spreading ashes around others’ bodies on the asphalt, while two members of the group attempted to deliver a letter to the base commander (CLICK HERE to read the letter) urging him to uphold international law regarding nuclear weapons.

All were charged with trespassing onto a closed military installation and released on the same day; they were arraigned in November 2015.

The Trident submarine base at Bangor, just 20 miles from Seattle, contains the largest concentration of operational nuclear weapons in the US arsenal. Each of the 8 Trident submarines at Bangor carries up to 24 Trident II (D-5) missiles, each capable of being armed with as many as 8 independently targetable thermonuclear warheads. Each nuclear warhead has an explosive force of between 100 and 475 kilotons (up to 30 times the force of the Hiroshima bomb).

The eight defendants, who call themselves the Bangor Eight, are Mary Gleysteen, Kingston, WA; Anne Hall, Lopez Island, WA; Ann Kittredge, Quilcene, WA; Betsy Lamb, Bend, OR; Peggy Love, East Wenatchee, WA; Emilie Marlinghaus, Bend, OR; Elizabeth Murray, Poulsbo, WA; and Michael Siptroth, Belfair, WA.

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