In this time of de-escalation of worldwide conflict and disarmament treaties, the U.S. Space Command Nerve Center forges ahead, keeping concealed the billions of dollars in present and future budgets and total force planning for militarization and weaponization of outer space.

We leave Colorado Springs committing ourselves to:

• unmasking the whole plan of dominance and exploitation of space
• continuing the "hammering of swords into plowshares"
• joining the October 7th International Day of Protest and Actions against Star Wars

We will continue to preach the good news that God is our only true security, that "nonviolence or nonexistence" is essential for future generations, that our sisters and berothers make up the entire world and should never be targeted as enemy, that we must learn stewardship pf God's creation, not the destruction of it.

We pray and invite police, military, court and jail personnel, Pentagon and Corporate employees and all peoples to join us in this new and holy vision for 2020 and beyond.

Signed:
Sister Elizabeth (Liz) Walters IHM
Sr. Jackie Hudson OP
Sr. Anne Montgomery RSCJ
Sr. Ardeth Platte OP
Sr. Carol Gilbert OP

After a flood of news coverage in the last two days(front page stories in both the Denver Post and Colorado Springs Gazette today) which promised to continue(CNN was trying to line something up), charges were dropped and Liz, Carol, Ardeth, Jackie and Ann were released from jail at about 8 PM this evening.

An amazing turnaround in just 36 hours. The Rocky Mountain News and KRDO TV did interviews today and pressure continued to grow inside and outside the jail for this to be over with. The jail commander was in tears as he spoke to the sisters late this afternoon. Inmates in the jail were tearful as the five went down stairs for what they presumed was a transfer to federal authority perhaps. Outside the jail I personally witnessed warm hugs and personal good wishes from those returning to jail from their community work programs. Amazing stuff.

All were released by order of judge Samuelson. Newsrooms received a release which said that all charges were dropped with a continuing investigation which might result in the re filing of misdemeanor charges in the future.

Everyone will take some time to decide what to do next. Clearly the evil being confronted by Plowshares 2000 has not gone away. It has only temporarily ducked for cover, but for the moment the slate is clear in this one case. Stay tuned.

Bill Sulzman

Sept. 15, 2000 - COLORADO SPRINGS - Five Catholic nuns are sitting in the El Paso County Jail, refusing to post $1,000 bond for spilling blood and pounding hammers on a fighter jet during an air show at Peterson Air Force Base.

The nuns, graying and wrinkled, range in age from 52 to 73. They have vowed not to leave the jail until their criminal cases stemming from the Saturday incident make their way through the courts or are dismissed.

Earlier this week, the nuns refused to sign paperwork that might have gained them a personal recognizance bond and, consequently, their freedom. They'll be back in court Monday to face felony and misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief, destruction of government property and conspiracy to do both. The penalty upon conviction is eight years in a Colorado prison.

Their cases may be moved to the federal courts.

"We believe that under law, certainly under God's law, but under international law, we are not guilty," said Carol Gilbert, 52, a Dominican sister from Baltimore.

"We came to Colorado Springs because it's the center. The whole "star wars' technology is based here. . . . It seemed like the perfect place for us to come and shed light on what the government is trying to keep in the dark."

Asked if they are sanctioned by the Catholic Church, Gilbert said: "We are all in good standing with our congregations." Combined, they have 220 years with the Dominicans, the Religious of the Sacred Heart; and Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

They're part of the Plowshares peace movement worldwide that adheres to Bible verses found in Isaiah and Micah. One Scripture reads: "They shall hammer their swords into plowshares. . . . Nations shall not lift up their swords to other nations, nor should they train for war anymore."

There have been 70 Plowshares actions worldwide in the past 20 years, and more than a dozen people are incarcerated for their participation in those actions.

Cellblocks are not new to the nuns, who come from all over the United States. They say they've been in jail more times than they can remember after conducting protests at military installations across the nation.

The nuns say the United States should not spend billions of dollars on weapons of destruction when there is poverty worldwide. They are against war, especially nuclear war.

Last Saturday, while 150,000 people marvelled at acrobatic airplanes featured in the The Springs 2000 Department of Defense Open House and Airshow, the nuns walked onto the base carrying household hammers inscribed with "Sacred Earth & Space - Plowshares 2000" and 8-ounce baby bottles filled with their own blood.

To the nuns, these missions are liturgical.

"It's a very spiritual act," said Ardeth Platte, 64, a Dominican from Baltimore. "It's a very nonviolent, loving act. We use our blood as a symbol of life. It sort of unmasks what the government does not show us. They do not show us the bodies of hundreds of thousands of people who were just murdered in Iraq or killed in Kosovo. They will not show the bloodshed, so we pour out our own blood. Then we hammer."

On Saturday, each nun struck the plane or a nearby communications satellite receiver four times with the hammer - a total of 20 strikes in all - to commemorate the first plowshares action Sept. 9, 1980, at the King of Prussia General Electric plant in Pennsylvania where nose cones for nuclear weapons were built. After striking the military property, two of the nuns knelt and prayed the Lord's Prayer.

Lt. Mike Andrews, spokesman for Peterson Air Force Base, said authorities were still trying to determine how much damage was done to the $18 million F/A-18 hornet and the Milstar mobile receiver, part of the $32 billion Milstar communications system.

"It's unfortunate they chose to use this as a way to get their message out," Andrews said.

On the women's ward at the El Paso County Jail, there is an unusual calm.

"I have heard reports from supervisors that the ward has never been quieter. There are special prayer groups going on," said El Paso County Sheriff's Cmdr. Tim Schull. "But I have a problem with nuns being in my jail."

The five inmates, with streaks of gray in their hair and grandmotherly glasses on their faces, stood in blue El Paso County jail jumpsuits waiting to be searched and returned to their cell. "Do you have any weapons?" the guard asked.

"Any weapons?" one said. "We trying to get rid of all weapons."

The women, ages 52 to 73, are Roman Catholic nuns and part of a radical peace movement known as Plowshares. They staged a protest Saturday at Peterson Air Force Base's air show. The action came exactly 20 years after the first Plowshares protest.

Working in two groups about 40 feet apart at Peterson, the sisters used hammers to hit a fighter jet and a satellite receiver, then tried to throw their own blood on the equipment - in one case successfully.

The sisters were made aware of pending criminal mischief charges in their first court appearance Monday. They could face additional charges when they are formally arraigned next week.

Bond was set at $1,000, but none of the women, all long-time activists, plans to bond out. They want their case to go to trial, giving them a forum to express their views.

They said they are ready to serve time in jail, as each has done before. They are representing themselves in court, though a local attorney has volunteered to help them.

"We genuinely believe we are not guilty," said Sister Liz Walters, 57, of Detroit during an jailhouse interview this week. "We are upholding God's law and international law."

The Air Force and Colorado Springs Police Department take a different view. They see the protest as an attempt to damage multimillion-dollar equipment. City police are handling the case because Peterson is on city land.

The women, none of whom lives in Colorado Springs, are all sisters in good standing of the Roman Catholic Church, working in peace and poverty projects around the country.

One of the Peterson suspects, Sister Anne Montgomery, 73, of Brooklyn was at the first Plowshares protest at a General Electric plant in Pennsylvania in 1980.

The women said they began planning Saturday's protest nine months ago when they formed what they call Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares 2000.

In considering places for a protest, the Springs stood out because it's home to all U.S. military space operations. In particular, the nuns object to Space Command's plan for dominating and exploiting space.

"This is a very important place for us," said Sister Carol Gilbert, 52, of Baltimore. "We will not be complicit with (Space Command's plans)."

Officials with Space Command declined to comment on the action, other than to give details of what happened.

The sisters wanted to stage a protest around Sept. 9 to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1980 Pennsylvania protest. It was providence, or God's will, they said, that Peterson's air show - the biggest in the Springs in three years - landed exactly on the anniversary.

On Saturday, the sisters entered the show and began scouting out the displays. They picked their targets: a Marine Corps $24 million F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet, which has been used to bomb Iraq, an action the nuns strongly oppose; and a ground station for the $32 billion Milstar satellite communications system.

Their aim, the nuns said, was to symbolically disarm the equipment but avoid injuring anyone or acting in a threatening way.

Split into two groups, the nuns exchanged hand signals at 10:15 a.m. and began the protest. At the F/A-18, the nuns walked up to the aircraft, hammered the plane's bomb carriage and then threw a baby's bottle of their blood on the landing gear.

When military members noticed them, the nuns said they dropped their hammers, got on their knees and prayed.

At the satellite display, the nuns said they ducked under a rope around the exhibit and began hammering the equipment and unfurled a banner. Before they could throw blood, Air Force security seized them.

Air Force technicians collected the fluid. Col. Robin Chandler, a Peterson spokeswoman, said tests showed it was a mixture of human blood and corn syrup. The nuns said it was all blood from their bodies.

Chandler said the damage done to both displays was minimal. The F/A-18 took off later that day.

As they were booked, the nuns sang and prepared for a ritual of their activism: time behind bars.

For now, the sisters will sit in jail waiting to see what the judicial system will do to them. They said most of their family members know where they are.

"They love us. They wish maybe we could do it another way," Gilbert said.

The women said they all also engage in less radical protesting: carrying signs, handing out fliers, praying in vigils. Montgomery said she is sometimes asked why she chooses a more radical path to protesting.

"People say, 'Why don't you write to your congressman?' Because it doesn't work," said Montgomery, a slight woman with tiny arms and pure white hair. "You have to put your feet where your mouth is. Breaking the law is sometimes the only way to get people to take notice."

As the nuns walked out of the jail visiting room, their beige plastic sandals flopping, they each smiled and waved. The last one flashed a peace sign.

On the home front, a group of Roman Catholic activists took action against what they see as the United States' militant posture -- toward outer space and against Iraq.

As thousands of people swarmed to Peterson Air Force base to check out the aerial maneuvers of the Thunderbird pilots last weekend, the activists walked onto the base and began hammering on an F-18A Hornet fighter plane and pouring human blood on a ground communications station used with the Air Force's Milstar satellite.

Carol Gilbert, Jackie Hudson, Anne Montgomery, Ardeth Platte and Liz Walters have been charged with felony criminal mischief and obstructing government operations. Representing three orders within the Catholic Church, the women face possible prison sentences from two to eight years for the more serious felony counts.

The action was part of a campaign of civil disobedience called Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares, inspired by the Biblical passage (Micah 4:3) that extols the hammering of "swords into plowshares." One of the women arrested last week, 73-year-old Anne Montgomery, was part of the original Plowshares action at a General Electric plant in 1980.

This time, Montgomery and the other activists are protesting the continued bombing of Iraq by U.S. jets and the American military's plan to "dominate and control space" for the purpose of fighting wars.

But Colonel Robin Chandler, a spokesperson for the 21st Space Wing, claimed the activists were detained before making contact with the Milstar/Ground 3 apparatus (though local space-peace activist Bill Sulzman claims the women were able to pour blood on the unit).

As for the protesters' charge of celestial imperialism, Chandler said it didn't ruin the base's otherwise successful air show. "It was a shame they chose that opportunity to stage those protests, but those things happen," she said.

Five women , Carol Gilbert OP, Jackie Hudson OP, Anne Montgomery RSCJ, Liz Walters IHM, and Ardeth Platte OP, representing three religious orders in the Catholic Church, naming themselves the SACRED EARTH AND SPACE PLOWSHARES entered Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs for the purpose of "hammering swords into plowshares" (Micah 6:8).

Their prophetic action which commenced at about 10:15 AM, consisted of all five women acting in concert against a mockup of the Milstar communications satellite and a Warthog A-10 aircraft. In each case the activists hammered on and then poured blood on the objects of war in question. As they were being arrested they unfurled two banners which contained an earth -sky logo and an inscription reading "Sacred Earth & Space Plowshares 2000". They then began to read their statements (cf. statement below) They were detained by Air Force security and were later taken into custody by local police and taken to the El Paso County jail. Charges are pending.

Anne Montgomery who was part of a plowshares action September 9, 1980, said: "Twenty years ago, during the first plowshares action at the King of Prussia G.E. Plant, I realized that if there is a weapon before me, I must disarm it."

Ardeth Platte added: "All within us and our religious congregations place our trust and security in the God of creation who made heaven and earth. We renew that pledge today by saying 'no, not in our names', to the idols (weapons of false security), of the U.S. Space Command and their vision of dominating and exploiting outer space to protect U.S. investments and vested interests. We refuse to allow false gods to be placed before us. We accept all sisters, brothers. resources and creatures as one with us in the web of life."

In their letter to friends Carol 52, Liz 57, Anne 73, Ardeth 64, and Jackie 65 state: "It is our love for God's people, Earth, and all creation that compelled us to disarm directly and symbolically these war-making idols. We acted with all love in our hearts. Now we await the legal consequences of our disarmament action..."

Local peace activist Bill Sulzman, Director of Citizens for Peace in Space noted that the action was signicant in that "the cutting edge of Christian anti war resistance has for the first time come head to head with the cutting edge of futuristic, space based war making."

THE STATEMENT OF THE SACRED EARTH AND SPACE PLOWSHARES 2000

We, women religious, naming ourselves SACRED EARTH AND SPACE PLOWSHARES, enter Peterson AFB, CO to unmask the false religion and worship of national security so evident at this U. S. Space Command Center, Schriever AFB (the Space Warfare Center), Cheyenne Mountain (NORAD), the Air Force Academy and Buckley Base in Denver (referred to as Total Force Base).

We reject the U.S. Space Command Vision for 2020:

• to dominate space for military operations
• to exploit space for United States interests and investments
• to control and own space as a U.S. 4th frontier making all other nations vulnerable to U.S. conventional and nuclear attacks
• to integrate space forces for warfighting
• to abuse the Aleutian Islands and other land with interceptors and spy satellites
• to waste more billions and billions of dollars and more human and material resources, causing the destruction of Earth and desecration of space.

We reject the breaking of International Law, including the ABM Treaty of 1972 and the Outer Space Treaties. Above all we reject the breaking of God's Law. We reject the vision of the Space Command that "the way a nation makes wealth is the way it makes war." We reject that the United States must control space "as critical to both military and economic instruments of power - the main sources of national strength."

Our security is neither in wealth nor in war. It is in the God of the universe who calls us "to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. " (Micah 6:8). We believe deeply in the vision and practice of the nonviolent Jesus, in the Beatitudes (Mt.5), and the spirit of our religious vows.

We choose:

• to open obedient ears to what justice requires: to act to unmask the heresy which equates power with violence and rejects the essential relationship between humanity and God's universe.
• to walk humbly in the way of Christ, a way of solidarity with the victims of violence and the impoverished, and to resist military technology, which increasingly targets the innocent and vulnerable, and poisons the resources on which they depend.
• to love mercy: to act to heal rather than increase the division between the "haves" and the "have nots" whom the Space Command fears will challenge a widening economic gap.

In this spirit we act as an invitation to all to "hammer swords into plowshares ... that nation will not lift sword against nation or will they ever again be trained to make war. " (Micah 4:3)

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:

Carol Gilbert OP, 52, entered the Grand Rapids MI Dominican Sisters on September 8, 1965. She is currently missioned to peace and justice organizing at Jonah House in Baltimore, MD, and is a member of the Atlantic Life Community. She has been a junior high school teacher, a 20-year MI peace activist and more recently a plowshare activist. In this disarmament action she hopes to enflesh the spirit of Dominican life - "to give to others the fruits of their contemplation," and "to speak truth to power."

Jackie Hudson OP, 65, entered the Grand Rapids MI Dominicans on September 8, 1952. She is currently living in Bremerton, WA and missioned by her congregational leadership to peace and justice organizing with the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, WA. Prior to her work with Ground Zero, she was a teacher and peace activist in Michigan. In this disarmament action she hopes to enflesh the spirit of TRUTH, which is the hallmark of Dominican spirituality.

Anne Montgomery RSCJ, 73, became a Religious of the Sacred Heart on September 8, 1948, is currently living in Martha's Pax Christi House, Brooklyn, and is a member of the Kairos Community in New York City. She has been a teacher, plowshare activist and member of peace teams in Iraq, Bosnia, and most recently, of the Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron. In this disarmament action she hopes to enflesh the spirit of her congregation: to enter into "the reality which lies at the heart of the sufferings and hopes of the human family." (Anne was a member of "Plowshares Eight," the first plowshare action.)

Ardeth Platte OP, 64, became a Grand Rapids MI Dominican Sister on September 8, 1954. She is currently missioned to peace and justice organizing at Jonah House in Baltimore, MD and is active with the Atlantic Life Community. She has been a high school teacher and principal, a City Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem in Saginaw, MI, a plowshare activist and nonviolent civil resister to injustices and warmaking. In this disarmament action she hopes to enflesh the Scriptures and spirit of her religious and intentional communities: to praise God, to bless all of God's people and creation, to preach truth with love.

Liz Walters IHM, 57, entered the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on September 8, 1961. She works with the most destitute people of Detroit, MI - the homeless poor. In addition, she coordinates an urban eco-justice project. Previously she was a teacher, and a high school principal. She has been a peace activist in Michigan for the past 21 years. In this disarmament action she hopes to enflesh the charism of her religious congregation. "Impelled by the growing realization that we are interconnected with the whole web of life, and that the escalation of violence, increasing global poverty, and the exploitation of the earth, threaten all of creation, we renew our passion to live the liberating mission of Jesus. ..."

Even though they may not be there long, I'd love to get their jail address and send to them some of the responses we've been getting. I know they say they don't want this, but we do and I think, in the long run, they'll appreciate it.

Thanks so much.