ANZUS PEACE
FORCE PLOWSHARES: Early in the morning on January
1, 1991 Moana Cole, a Catholic Worker from New Zealand, Ciaron O’Reilly, a
Catholic Worker from Australia, and Susan Frankel and Bill Streit, members of
the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington, D.C., calling themselves the
Anzus (Australia, New Zealand and U.S.) Peace Force Plowshares,
entered the Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, NY. After
cutting through several fences, Bill and Sue entered a deadly force area and
hammered and poured blood on a KC-135 (a refueling plane for B-52’s) and then
proceeded to hammer and pour blood on the engine of a nearby cruise missile armed
B-52 bombers that could be used in the
Middle East. They presented their action statement and an indictment to base
security who encircled them moments later.
Simultaneously, Moana and Ciaron entered the base at the opposite end of the
runway, and made a sign of the cross with blood on the runway, spray-painted
"Love Your Enemies - Jesus Christ," "No More Bombing of Children
in Hiroshima, Vietnam, Iraq, or Anywhere!" and "Isaiah Strikes
Again." For approximately one hour they hammered upon the runway chipping
at two sections, one being nearly 5 feet in diameter, before they were
detained. In their action statement they declared that they came together from
three different countries to reclaim the acronym from the ANZUS Treaty and
create a "new pact for peace, which is the way of the Lord." They
also asserted they were acting to prevent war in the Persian Gulf and called
upon people to nonviolently resist war and oppression. In their indictment they
cited the U.S. government for war crimes and violations of international law.
All four were indicted on January 9th on federal charges of conspiracy and
property destruction and faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. After
being held in jail for over two months, they accepted pre-trial release on
March 6th. They went to trial in Federal Court in Syracuse in May and were
convicted by a jury. On August 20th, they were sentenced to twelve months in
prison and ordered to pay $1800 in restitution. After serving 10 months Bill
and Sue were released from prison in mid-June 1992. Moana and Ciaron were
released in late June on bail pending a deportation hearing. In October 1992,
Moana returned to New Zealand following her court-ordered voluntary
deportation. Ciaron returned to Australia on April 7th following his
deportation hearing on March 29