Statement of the Paupers Plowshares

Indictment of the state by the Pauper's Plowshares

PAUPER'S PLOWSHARES

On Good Friday, April 17, 1987 two brothers, Fr. Pat Sieber, a Franciscan priest who works at St. Francis Inn, a shelter for the homeless and soup kitchen in Philadelphia; and Rick Sieber, a father of three who also works at St. Francis Inn; entered the Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, PA. Once inside they dug a hole and buried a foot-long coffin that listed the names of 65 homeless and poor people who have been buried in an unkept lot in northeast Philadelphia known as potters or "paupers" field since 1980. They also placed a 3-foot cross bearing the same names on top of the makeshift grave. They then approached a P-3 Orion aircraft - an integral part of the U.S. first-strike arsenal - and hammered on the plane's strobe light, cut wires in the nose of the plane and poured blood on a wing and fuselage area of the aircraft. While awaiting arrest they knelt in prayer and held a banner which said: "God Hears the Cry of the Poor." They left at the site a statement and indictment addressing the criminality of U.S. nuclear war preparations, the priority the government gives to arms over the poor, and how these arms preparations are actually killing the poor. In addition to signing their own names to these statements, they also signed the name "Lazarus" to represent the poor for whom they acted. They were arrested after a half an hour and charged with unlawful entry and destruction of government property. On June 12, the charges were reduced to one misdemeanor - unlawful entry. On August 5, 1987 after an hour-long bench trial, the pair were found guilty of unlawful entry. They were sentenced to one year's probation, fined $100 and ordered to pay $1,540 in restitution. In February 1989 their restitution was dropped and they paid their fine which went towards a victims compensation fund.