Greenbelt, Maryland, September 23 &emdash; The Gods of Metal Plowshares activists &emdash; Fr. Frank Cordaro, Sr. Carol Gilbert, Fr. Larry Morlan, Sr. Ardeth Platte and Kathy Shields-Boylan &emdash; who May 17 disarmed a B-52 "strato-fortress" nuclear bomber on display at the Andrews Air Force Base, were convicted today in Federal District Court. Following a two-day trial before a packed courtroom, the five were found guilty of "depredation of U.S. Government property" totaling less than $1,000 in damage.

The activists face a possible maximum sentence of one year in prison and/or a fine of $100,000 each. Probation is also a possible penalty.

The five interrupted an annual "Air Show" going on at "the President's air force base," calling the public display of nuclear and other weapons a "worship of false idols." They used household hammers to "beat swords into plowshares," to "disarm these gods of metal." Besides hammering holes in the giant bomb-bay doors of the world's largest nuclear bomber, all five poured their blood over the B-52, calling it "the bloodiest weapon of this the bloodiest century in human history."

Federal Judge Alexander Williams, Jr., set sentencing for Monday, January 4, 1999. However, he ordered that the five be jailed immediately after they declared their intention to refuse to cooperate with the post-conviction orders of the court. As a result, the activists will serve at minimum three and one-half months in jail. All the activists have been free on personal recognizance since their action in May.

The disarmament activists each testified on their own behalf and acknowledged freely that they had voluntarily tried to disarm the B-52, in view of the fact that religious precepts, moral imperatives as well as domestic and international law forbid the conspiracy to commit murder inherent in the possession of nuclear weapons.

In her testimony, Sister Carol Gilbert decried the corrosive influence upon children affected by the so-called "air show." She offered into evidence several photographs taken at the air show, of youngsters playing with the guns and ammunition made accessible, like toys, by the military. Kathy Shields-Boylan also emphasized the absurd nature of the weapons display with families picnicking under the wings of bombers.

Sister Ardeth Platte, OP, originally from Michigan, ran through her extensive biography of working for justice. She told of her years on the City of Council of Saginaw, the legal process of citizens working to keep Project ELF out of the state, the state wide referendum in which the populus overwhelmingly opposed the Navy facility's construction, only to be ignored by the Pentagon. Project ELF was built. Ardeth turned to nonviolent resistance and had much better results. First Wirtsmith Air Force Base closed, a campaign to which she and Sr. Carol Gilbert dedicated their time, then K. I. Sawyer, in the upper peninsula of Michigan closed once the two women moved there.

All but one of four proffered expert witnesses were banned from testifying by the judge, effectively strangling defense arguments. Dr. Frances A. Boyle, Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois, spent two and one-half hours on the stand clarifying and reclarifying for the prosecutor that international law makes nuclear weapons illegal, criminal and prohibits their use, threatened use and possession.

During cross examination, prosecutor Deconcini dwelled on the one U.S. judge on the fifteen member International Court of Justice in the Hague, the one dissenter for declaring nuclear weapons completely illegal. Dr. Boyle argued that one of 15 does not make a majority opinion in spite of the fact that the U.S. judge had worked for the U.S. State Department. Judge Williams declared that all of the arguments involving international law were confusing and he got virtually nothing out of the testimony of Professor Boyle. Prior to announcing the guilty verdict, Judge Williams, in a mess of confusion, contradicted himself perfectly. He said, "I came to believe that international law is part and parcel of our U.S. law," and then concluded that, "Higher law is not to be used as a defense in this case."

The experts whose testimony was ruled inadmissible by Judge Williams included Bishop Thomas Gumbleton from Detroit who would have addressed Christian ethics and morality supporting the disarmament action; Dr. Michael True, a retired processor of English, author and expert on social change movements and the legitimacy of nonviolent direct action; and Admiral Eugene Carroll, USN Retired, who intended to speak on the mission of the B-52 bomber including its nuclear capability.

In the words of Sr. Ardeth Platte, "we don't want to be acquitted on a technicality or because of ineptness, we want to be acquitted because we as citizens have a legal obligation to interfere with state crime, an obligation to obey and respect the supreme law of the land, to carry out this responsibility even in the face of misdirected federal prosecution.