Activists Call for an End to the Use of the Killer Drones
NEW VIDEO: Shut Down Creech Civil Resistance by Pazamidon’s Channel
UPDATE: Police are reporting 38 arrests including Col. Ann Wright, a twelve year old and a seventeen year old.
Father Louis Vitale is the first anti-drone activist arrested at Creech AFB. pic.twitter.com/SSZsOotR41
— Keith Rogers (@KeithRogers2) March 6, 2015
Hundreds of people from more than 18 states have converged at Creech Air Force Base for an event organized by the peace group CODEPINK coined #ShutDownCreech to protest the flight of killer drones from the base.
Activists have created 100 tombstones with the names and ages of children murdered by US drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. These will be displayed along the Drone Victim Memorial Highway, aka Route 95, that runs by Creech AFB.
Dozens of veterans from all over the country (most members of Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War) are among the activists.
Today activists will participate in non-violence training, in preparation for tomorrow’s civil resistance action. They plan to halt business as usual, and SHUT DOWN CREECH AFB to express their outrage at the atrocities committed by the illegal drone program. A memorial ceremony will take place at 8:00 pm this evening with coffins, banners, white masks and funereal attire. Activists will position themselves at the entrance to Creech AFB and read the names of drone victims.
“Activists are anticipating arrests with the charge of trespassing during their nonviolent protests tomorrow. How dare they accuse us of trespassing, when the very nature of the drone assassination commits lethal trespassing and terrorizes communities all over the world. Drones Make Enemies,” said Martha Hubert, one of the organizers from CODEPINK.
The activists have been persistent in spite of temperatures below freezing at the early morning vigils. They are available for interviews through the contacts listed below.
Contact:
Martha Hubert, CODEPINK Organizer, 415 722-3321
Toby Blome, CODEPINK Organizer: 510 541-6874
VIDEO: Shut Down Creech by Crystal Zevon
“SHUT DOWN CREECH!” – MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY FROM THE GERMAN DRONE CAMPAIGN
From WarIsACrime.org
We in Germany have been inspired by the strong efforts and the many sacrifices made by U.S. citizens to stop murder by drone, beginning with actions of civil disobedience in Creech in 2009. We were honored to work together with you on mounting the successful Global Action Day Against the Use of Drones for Surveillance and Killing on October 4, 2014, with more than 60 local actions worldwide (see http://globaldayofaction.
Under German law, extra-judicial “targeted” drone killings are murders that must be prosecuted. Each of the U.S. drone murders begins with a phone call from the drone pilot at Creech or another base in the U.S. to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, according to the testimony of former drone pilots in the U.S.A. If the German government were to prohibit the use of Ramstein Air Base for the illegal U.S. drone strikes, which by law it must, this would immediately put a stop these drone murders.
We see it as our special responsibility to build a movement in Germany which will bring sufficient pressure on the German government so as to end the illegal U.S. drone wars that are killing and terrorizing so many innocent people.
Let us work together hand in hand going forward to end the use of drones for surveillance and killing.
Thank you for your courageous efforts!
German Drone Campaign (Drohnen-Kampagne)
CLICK HERE TO READ REPORT FROM AIR FORCE TIMES