Brief Bios

The Indictment of the State by the Nuclear Navy Plowshares

NUCLEAR NAVY PLOWSHARES

On Easter Sunday, April 3, 1988, Philip Berrigan of Jonah House (and original Plowshares 8); Andrew Lawrence of the Community for Creative Non-Violence; Sr. Margaret McKenna, a Doctor of Theology and member of the Medical Mission Sisters in Philadelphia; and Greg Boertje, former Army officer and member of Trident II Pruning Hooks and Epiphany Plowshares; boarded the battleship Iowa at Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia. The four boarded the battleship as part of a public tour greeting the vessel on its return from service in the Persian Gulf. The four disarmed two armored box launchers for the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, hammering and pouring blood, and unfurled two banners: Seek the Disarmed Christ, and Tomahawks Into Plowshares. The four worked for two or three minutes before they were seen by security. When ordered to stop they did so: a "security alert" was sounded and the pier was vacated of all but naval personnel. Hundreds of people had come on Easter Sunday to visit the USS Iowa and the USS America which was also on display. Tours of both vessels were shut down. 

    Andrew, Greg, Margaret and Phil were held for some time at the Naval Base, questioned by the FBI and then transported by the FBI to Virginia Beach. They appeared in court on April 4, were charged with criminal trespass - a charge which does not entitle defendants to a jury trial. Because of Greg’s status as a fugitive (stemming from his non-appearance at the sentencing for the Epiphany Plowshares) he was held on $25,000 bond. Though the others were offered a personal recognizance bond, they refused this bond as an act of solidarity with Greg. They were tried before a U.S. Magistrate on May 19, 1988 at the Norfolk Virginia Federal Court and convicted of trespass. In an effort to diffuse courtroom support, the sentencing of the 4 was set on different days during July 1989. Margaret was sentenced to time served (over 3 months), 2 years probation and 240 hours community service and prohibited from entering any military installation during her probation. She was then released. Andrew received a 4-month sentence. Greg and Phil each received the maximum sentence of 6 months. In March 1989 Margaret received a 4-month jail sentence for refusing to cooperate with the conditions of her probation. However she was credited with the time she already served before trial and ordered to jail for 20 days.