Station. They cut through fences and enter the "deadly force" area (where they could be shot). On many occasions protesters are taken away by police and thrown in jail. ButÑperhaps to avoid publicity about the presence of nuclear weapons in the Bay AreaÑcharges are never filed against any of the protesters for their work at the weapons station. (Susan spends many weekends in jail but never serves any official time.)
1993 Hiroshima Day (August 8): Susan is arrested with Maxine Ventura while painting "shadows" on the sidewalk at Livermore Labs. Alameda, California. (Sentence: 60 days in Santa Rita jail.)
Susan: "The Livermore Labs is where the next generation of nuclear weapons is being designed. According to treaties our country has signed, including the Comprehensive Test Ban, we should be moving toward nuclear disarmament, not developing new weapons. Maxine and I also pointed out that the Lab is not a good neighbor. There is plutonium at a local children's park in Livermore. The Labs insist that it is not harmful."
1995 Hiroshima Day: Arrested for hammering on a Trident nuclear missile. (Time served: 9 months in Milpitas jail.)
Susan: "On August 7, 1995, Steve Kelley (a Jesuit priest) and I went into Lockheed-Martin in Sunnyvale, CA, where D-5 Trident missiles were being built. Around 8:30 in the morning, we climbed over the fence, walked in the door, and looked in various rooms until we found sections of the missile being worked on. We poured blood on the missile, and used household hammers to begin its conversion to peaceful use."
1997 Ash Wednesday (February 12): Arrested for hammering on an Aegis class nuclear destroyer at Bath Iron Works, in Concord, Maine. Of the four defendants, Susan gets the longest sentence because she turns her back on the judge during sentencing.
(Sentence: 27 months in Dublin federal prison.)
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1999
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited