Statement of the Pershing Plowshares

Brief Bios

Gretchen Keiser, Advent 3: The Cost Of Waging Against War, Georgia Bulletin, December 12, 1985

PERSHING PLOWSHARES

In the season of Passover, Easter Morning, April 22, 1984 Per Herngren, a student and peace worker from Sweden; Paul Magno, from the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington, D.C.; Todd Kaplan, involved in work with the poor in Washington, D.C.; Tim Lietzke, member of Jeremiah House in Richmond, VA; Anne Montgomery, of the Plowshares Eight and Trident Nein; Patrick O'Neill, university student and peace worker from Greenville, North Carolina; Jim Perkins, teacher, father and member of Jonah House; and Christin Schmidt, university student and peace worker from Rhode Island; entered Martin Marietta in Orlando, Florida. Once inside, they hammered and poured blood on Pershing II missile components and on a Patriot missile launcher. They also served Martin Marietta with an indictment for engaging in the criminal activity of building nuclear weapons in violation of Divine, international and national law. They also displayed a banner which said: "Violence Ends Where Love Begins." They were apprehended after several hours.

During their jury trial in Federal Court they were denied a justification defense. They were convicted of depredation of government property and conspiracy. They were sentenced to three years in federal prison, given five year suspended sentences with probation, and each ordered to pay $2,900 in restitution. Both their appeal and motion for reduction of sentence were denied in Federal Court. Herngren, a Swedish national, was deported on August 27, 1985 after serving over a year of his sentence.