Called to enact the Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah and Micah, Plowshares activists seek to \u201cturn swords into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks and train for war no more.\u201d It was this call to action that led Clare Grady, Martha Hennessy, Liz McAlister, Mark Colville, Carmen Trotta, Steve Kelly and Patrick O\u2019Neill to enter Kings Bay Naval Base in St. Marys, Georgia on April 4-5, 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once inside, the activists split into three groups. One (composed of Trotta, Kelly and McAlister) went into the fatal force zone, investigating the bunkers housing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Grady and Hennessy put up crime tape and carefully poured blood at the entrance to the administrative building as a symbol \u2014 according to Grady\u2019s affidavit \u2014 of \u201coffering life\u201d and \u201cwithdrawing consent.\u201d They then joined Colville and O\u2019Neill at what they called a nuclear weapon shrine. As O\u2019Neill struck the shrine, Colville dismantled an illuminated sign that said \u201cStrategic Nuclear Weapons,\u201d writing messages on it that included \u201cIdol,\u201d \u201cLove your enemies\u201d and \u201cSwords Into Plowshares.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four years later, after serving varied prison sentences, probation is ongoing for the Kings Bay Plowshares 7. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDid you have a wrangle with your supervisor to be here?\u201d Colville asked Trotta in the midst of 30 supporters gathered at the corner of the Riverside Church in New York City on April 4. Along with Hennessy and Grady, it seemed none of the four Plowshares had asked permission to attend the day\u2019s Walk for Peace and Nuclear Abolition. The other three Plowshares cheered them on from a distance. While McAlister couldn\u2019t attend and O\u2019Neill only missed out due to an Amtrak cancellation, Kelly remains underground since violating the conditions of his release last Spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Hennessy came up with the idea for the walk, planning was conducted by filmmaker Anthony Donovan. His 2015 documentary \u201cGood Thinking: Those who Tried to Halt Nuclear Weapons<\/a>\u201d informed much of the day\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ellen Grady (Clare\u2019s sister), said their intention with the walk was to acknowledge both the fourth anniversary of the Kings Bay action and the 55th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s “Beyond Vietnam\u201d speech. Delivered at Riverside Church in 1967, King called for a \u201crevolution in values,\u201d while identifying society\u2019s triplets of evil: racism, extreme materialism and militarism. King was assassinated exactly one year later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n