200 rally against Bush's order that scientists develop new nuclear arsenal
LIVERMORE -- Fifty-four people were arrested Saturday at the gates of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory during a peaceful protest of the lab's role in developing and maintaining the nation's nuclear arsenal. At least 200 more protesters cheered as some among them stepped up in small groups and knelt or stood calmly while police clad in riot gear warned them, then took them in wrist-locks and walked them away to be cited.
"For us this is a matter of conscience, to make a statement with our bodies that the activities of this laboratory are not enhancing security -- they're making us less secure," said Phil Klasky, 48, of San Francisco, moments before stepping forward to be arrested.
"Stop the bomb where it starts" was slogan of the day, which started hours earlier with a protest rally in downtown Livermore's Carnegie Park. Upward of 350 people gathered to hear music, share information and speak out against the Bush administration's nuclear policies.
Peter Ferenbach, executive director of Berkeley-based California Peace Action, said the day's events were about "opposing the holocaust we can all see coming" as the laboratory, at the Bush administration's order, develops a new generation of nuclear bombs more easily deployed as first-strike weapons.
"The members of the California congressional delegation need to hear from us like they've never heard from us before," he told the crowd, vowing his organization will help "to launch a campaign of escalating pressure" against nuclear proliferation. "The Bush administration is leading us toward unspeakable horrors. Preparations are under way right down the street."
Former Oakland City Council member and mayoral candidate Wilson Riles, who helped emcee the rally, said these weapons of mass destruction have been created, tested and used in all our names: "We are the responsible ones."
Jackie Cabasso, executive director of the Western States Legal Foundation in Oakland, told the crowd, "It's time to throw away the idea of national security and it's time to talk about human security;" every world citizen's right to live in peace and free of fear.
The rally moved mid-afternoon from Carnegie Park to Lawrence Livermore's main south gate; some protesters marched the three-mile stretch, while some drove.
There, amid drumbeats, chanting and cheers, they faced a row of helmeted California Highway Patrol officers. Those wishing to risk arrest were allowed to pass between the CHP officers in small groups, where they halted before another row of Alameda County Sheriff's deputies and University of California protective services officers. After refusing to disperse, an officer led each protester through the gate to be booked for blocking a public roadway.
"The whole world is watching," other protesters chanted as the arrests happened.
That was the true motive, lab spokesman David Schwoegler said: "This is a publicity stunt."
"People on both sides of this fence would like to see a world where nuclear weapons are never used," he said, adding that while the protesters believe the path to that world is through total disarmament, the scientists of Lawrence Livermore believe it's attainable through deterrence.
"They (the scientists) believe they're doing more for world peace and reduction of the nuclear arsenal than anyone on the other side of the fence," Schwoegler said. "The Soviet Union is no more, and that's not because of people carrying signs."
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