Anti-Nuclear Activists Blockade LANL Gates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 6, 2012

Six anti-nuclear activists were arrested at around 8 am today after blocking the road into Los Alamos National Laboratory. The action took place on the 67th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. Around 50 activists from Trinity Nuclear Abolition and (un)Occupy Albuquerque participated in the protest.

Cathie Sullivan of Santa Fe, who was one of those arrested, said today’s action was a culmination of 40 years of moral objection to nuclear weapons. Pamela Gilchrist, who fasted for 21 days against the ongoing nuclearization, said she hoped that her arrest would motivate citizens to get involved in stopping the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) facility. “I’m outraged that our senators (Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall) are trying to revive the ill-fated and ill-advised CMRR project,” she added. The CMRR would enable the lab to increase plutonium pit production.

Barbara Grothus, daughter of the late Ed Grothus, a renowned anti-nuclear activist and the moral conscience of the Los Alamos community, joined the blockade to honor her father’s legacy. She said Los Alamos should be a contributor to the health of the planet by working on sustainable technologies instead of endangering the world. Wind Euler, another arrestee, said: “I blocked the road into the lab to slow down the work of creating more weapons of mass destruction and more radioactive contamination. The lab is on indigenous lands, and the contamination of the waters and soils downstream from the lab will continue to damage the health of generations of Pueblo and other peoples living downstream.”

Benjamin Abbott was also arrested as part of today’s action. “I took part in the action to throw a wrench into the gears of the war machine. I oppose all weapons and military research that support U.S. imperialism across the world and the occupation of Palestine,” Abbott said.

The arraignment will take place at the Los Alamos Justice Center on Aug. 9, which also marks the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki.

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