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Dear George: Pictures of defendants can be found at http://snowcoalition.org/site/home/snow12 "Imagine how the world would be - John McCutcheon Everything in its own time, seems to me to be a providential saying tonight - or, maybe, it just pays to be lucky. I've felt myself to be tardy in completing my report about the trial of the 12 defendants who refused to leave the offices Senators Murray and Cantwell on September 25, 2002. But, tonight, I and the rest of the Seattle Labor Chorus sang with the prominent folk singer, John McCutcheon, resident of Charlottesville. He sang songs celebrating birthdays and adoptions, a beautiful song entitled "Follow the Light" which commemorates 9/11, and a classic song he wrote years ago which tells the story of an impromptu battlefield armistice on a Christmas Day during World War I. Now that I have fully enjoyed the gift of his presence in Seattle, I feel it very apropos to continue sharing the words of the extraordinary people who took a stand, were arrested and, subsequently stated their case in a Federal Courtroom here in Seattle to a Charlottesville audience. (Unfortunately, due to my deficiencies as a note taker, I could not share the statements made by Chris Pringer and Jeff Gustafson.) Nancy McMurray As the prosecutor made her sentencing recommendations she elicited a laugh from the spectators and defendants when she said "community service does not seem indicated for these defendants for it would be in essence telling them to continue to do what they already are doing". Nancy McMurray fits the prosecutor's description well. Presently, she works part-time for "Angeline" - an organization which helps homeless women - as a crisis intervention specialist. But she is also a long time peace activist. For 16 years she was a staff member for the Fellowship of Reconciliation. She participated in the Pledge of Resistance which helped prevent Ronald Reagan from invading Nicaragua. She has participated in many nonviolent actions, including the 17 day occupation of the Seattle Federal Office Building during the first Gulf War. She said that "I performed this action with the conviction that
when we harm others we harm ourselves." Subsequently, she acknowledged
her debt to Buddhism and read a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh.called "Please
Call Me by My True Names". . . . . . . . . . . . . Shannon Turner-Kovell Ms.Turner-Kovell, a petite, gentle 62 year old woman, greeted everyone in the courtroom as she began her presentation. She said that she had 6 children and 9 grandchildren. Ms. Turner-Kovell had just returned from South Africa where she had been helping battered women to learn small business skills. It was, however, her interactions with children which seemed most to inform her views on life. She felt that the use of fear and threats harden a person's heart. In raising children she found that with listening and understanding her children could move her life forward. "Eventually", she said, "her children would go on their (own) journey. . .", "and", she added to the amusement and sympathetic understanding of those present, "take me with them." It seemed that she thought that her grandchild's declaration at viewing a prospective cruelty on a cartoon "no hurt, no hurt" had a kernel of wisdom for all of us. Ms. Turner-Kovell received 6 monts of unsupervised probation conditional on not break-in the laws of the USA or other governmental units within the country. She requested that she be allowed to return to South Africa to continue her work and that she either be allowed to serve her probation there or after she returned. The judge allowed her to return and made it clear that his prohibition against law breaking only referred to the laws of the United States. Peggy Wolf Introduced herself by saying that she was 45 years old and had lived with her partner for 8 years in a section of Seattle called Greenwood. She added that she was presently unemployed. The pursuit of nonviolent resistance was, for her, a deeply personal and political decision. She was deeply moved by her presence in a Federal Courtroom. History came alive for her here - the history of an independent Federal Judiciary and the history of our revolutionary past. She said that the court should have a wider perspective than the federal protective service officers who arrested her. It should be conscious of the fact that the colonists employed lawful means to resist British misgovernment until they were forced to employ unlawful means to resist unlawful acts. Ms. Wolf noted that she acted when the spirit of debate was nearly absent from our legislature, when civil liberties were being violated by the U.S. Patriot Act, and when the Administration was violating the UN Charter. She said she was "willing to break a rule if they (the senators) did not respond by closing time." She was motivated by a "serious and urgent concern for humanity". Next, Ms. Wolf urged us to think of the example of Rachael Corrie who had recently died while working to end violence. In conclusion Ms Wolf objected to the fact that all of her fellow defendants were not given the same sentencing recommendation. Two of them had recommendations for jail time And she said that she needed to pursue her commitment to nonviolent civil disobedience. John Repp Liberals are often accused of having an overly optimistic view of human nature. So, at times, it is refreshing to hear from a person like John Repp. He is someone I would characterize as a worldly optimist, even a conservative one. His speech reads like a lawyer's brief in the Devil's Court. He makes no claim for humankind that he doesn't think can be substantiated. Mr. Repp left the speech he intended to give on the bus he took to court. He gave me a copy of it, however. So I think I will tell you about it. He begins by telling the Court of his disillusionment occasioned by the Vietnam War: "Your Honor: Over thirty years ago, while participating in the student movement against the Vietnam War, I saw something I have never forgotten. I saw the President deceive Congress and lie to the people to get support for the war he intended to wage. It shocked me then, for in the circles in which I was born and raised, such a thing could not happen. . . " He proceeds to talk about the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the fact that the North Vietnamese were not deceived by the false report of that (non)incident, just the American people. Next he relates that experience to the present situation. It is interesting the way he impeaches the Administration with it's lack of balance: "So, your Honor, in the nasty business of foreign conflict, it is too often the American people that know only one side of the story. The current Administration purveys the notion that we are all good and our enemies are all evil. In my opinion, such a notion can only be believed by someone who is ignorant of the whole truth." Subsequently, he develops a theory of human nature, it's consequences, and it's potential for the improvement of the human condition: ". . . I believe it is part of human nature to divide the world into two groups: friends and strangers, us and them. . . I also believe that our notion of right and wrong, our morality, has traditionally been applied only to the in- group. . . However, your Honor, and this is our saving grace, I believe the boundaries of the in-group and the out-group can change based on learning and experience. . . I contend, Your Honor, that a large number of my cohorts in this peace movement see the whole human species as their in-group, one human family. . . I learned from one of my co-defendants the words of the famous cellist Pablo Casals: "the love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?' I could rephrase this sentiment for this occasion: 'The rule of law is a wonderful thing. It is tragic that it stops at the border.' " Next he read into the record the Points of Agreement of the SNOW coalition. This leads to a rather startling refutation of United States in-group thinking: "The heart of the document is our commitment to nonviolence. But please note Your Honor that the premise of the SNOW Points of Agreement is that all people all over in the world need to live under the same principles. We think it is just as wrong for the United States to have weapons of mass destruction's as any other country. To have two standards, one for the powerful and one for the weak or one for us and one for them will not stand the test of human morality or the test of time. We are created equal, not just inside these borders, but all over the planet." He concludes by telling about his decision to go to Sen. Murray's office: "And so, Your Honor, with a different set of accepted facts and a different premise about our relations with Iraq, I might say, a different sense of who is us and who is them, I decided to go to Senator Patty Murray's office on September 25, 2002. . . . Mike Yarrow Mr. Yarrow began by telling the court that he was born in Oxford, Mississippi in 1940. And he worked as a college professor for 25 years. (Presently, he and his wife, Ruth, work for the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Seattle and do outreach throughout much of Washington State). Mr. Yarrow said that he had participated in the Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964. He pointed out that 3 civil rights workers were murdered and 24 churches were burned during that summer. But, ultimately the Voting Rights Act was passed as a result of that struggle. http://www.core-online.org/history/freedom_summer.htm Since Mike, Ruth and I are members of the Seattle Labor Chorus, it seemed fitting to me that he claimed that the only item in his arrest record was for handing out Freedom Song Sheets during that period. Mr. Yarrow maintained that another "Mississippi" Freedom Project was necessary in 2002. Despite his and his co-defendants efforts to make democracy work they were not able to talk to their Senators. Money had corrupted the political process and their refusal to leave their offices until they got a response represented "a last ditch effort" to make democracy work. He said there was a plan to unleash 3,000 bombs on Iraq (80 on Baghdad) during the first 5 days of the war. He also said that there is evidence that Bush had a plan to attack Iraq before taking office. And that the prospective murderous war would violate several principles of International Law. Finally, Mr. Yarrow told of how his religious beliefs had been nurtured by the Society of Friends. He believed that the lives of his mother, wife and children and those of the mothers, wives and children of Nicaraguans or Iraqi were equally precious. He held up a photograph of 3 vibrant Iraqi young women and said the photo helped him "get in touch with the horror we are about to unleash". He asked "Wouldn't you be proud to have them as your daughters?". Then he said "They are your daughters and it is our duty to prevent their deaths". Andrew Fung Began by saying that he was 33 years old and had formerly been an acoustical engineer but now he worked in aeronautical design. He said that he has been active in the Interfaith Network for the People of Iraq. Mr. Fung went into the history of our involvement in Iraq. He said that an article in the New England Journal in 1992 documented the disastrous effects of the First Gulf War on Iraqi children. The destruction of the civilian infrastructure and the lack of refrigeration and clean water which resulted from it caused thousands of deaths. According to a Unicef report in 1999 there would have been a half million fewer deaths of children if economic sanctions subsequently imposed had not been in place. Mr. Fung said that although democracy is imperfect we are all ultimately responsible for the actions of our government. We cannot allow the cycle of violence to continue. Ruth Yarrow Ms. Yarrow said that she has been a mother, a wife, and a teacher. Beginning in the early 60s she had served in the Peace Corps, and for 12 years had worked in environmental centers. She said that she was moved by her love of people and by her love of the natural world. She is a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers). And she said that Quakers believe in a great spirit in everyone. "If my government is planning to destroy the life of others", she said, "I must do every thing I can do to prevent it". Ms. Yarrow stated 4 reasons why she joined her co-defendants in their
action: Ms. Yarrow said that she put her body where her words had been. And,
Ms. Yarrow, who is a poet in her own right Windy peace vigil Curved over the candle flame, Peter Ilgenfritz Mr. Ilgenfritz is the pastor of Seattle's University Congregational United Church of Christ. Bearing witness for him was as joyous as singing or dancing. At one point I thought I heard him say that he saw no reason why he should not receive the maximum penalty. Although he and the other defendants, whose statements I recounted today, received a sentence of 6 months unsupervised probation, I think Mr. Inglefritz would have been happy to take whatever statutory consequences had issued from his action. A summarization of his presentation might be - when you stand up for your convictions you occupy a powerful place. As he greeted the judge, his fellow defendants, the prosecutor, and the spectators in the audience he turned to each and created for himself a circle of attention. The effect was quite dramatic and he spoke with more facility than I can reconstruct with my notes.With his back to the judge and faced toward the other participants, he declared: (I am going to use parenthesis for my best recollection of what he said.) "I woke up this morning with my heart singing. (And my heart has kept) singing all morning as well. (I have) planted a prayer, a hope and a dream for the people of Iraq. " Next he referred to his and his co-defendants presence in the offices of Sen. Murray and Sen. Cantwell and said that by being there ". . .in me (there was the) freedom of the Gospel, (and of) the radical and nonviolent Jesus." Subsequently he said that he felt obligated to do what he did "whether it has an effect or no effect, (whether there is) a war or no war, or if we have to come back to this place (or not). . . I stand here." At our monthly sing-a-long we often sing a song which has the following lyrics: Well I'm looking for some long time friends, Though a war has transpired since my last letter, the speeches I have shared with you are not postscripts to that war. Whatever our convictions may be, let it be said of us that we did not accept the on rush of world events as a fait accompli. If we are able to stand up and speak from our heart as those whose stories I have shared with you have, there is a connection between us and them. We are all trying in an active way to "follow the light". We are all good candidates for long time friendship. Best wishes from Seattle, Craig Anderson (electronic mail, April 14, 2003) Editor's Note: See also, Trials
of Conscience 1 and Trials
of Conscience 2.
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