Peace Activists to Stand Trial in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, January 12

United States District Court, 120 North Henry Street, at 1 PM

Press Conference at the Vigil for Peace on the corner of M. L. King Jr. Blvd. & Doty St. in front of the Madison Municipal Bldg, at 12 noon

Charged with trespassing are thirteen participants in WITNESS AGAINST WAR, a 450 mile walk from Chicago to last summer’s Republican National Convention in St. Paul “to challenge and nonviolently resist our country’s continuing war in and occupation of Iraq” (http://vcnv.org/witness-against-war). The activists from around the country were arrested by Department of Defense Police on August 10, as they attempted to enter the gates of Fort McCoy, a military installation in Wisconsin’s Monroe County.

Fort McCoy’s “vision” according to its mission statement is “To be the Premier Training Center and Force Projection Site of Choice for America's Defense Forces,” training more than 122,000 soldiers in 2007, active military as well reserve and National Guard troops from Wisconsin and around the Midwest and beyond. Included among those trained at Fort McCoy are “troops processing for mobilization/demobilization through the installation.” (http://www.mccoy.army.mil/AboutFortMcCoy/documents/FactsFig.pdf) In plain language, Fort McCoy is the site from which a large portion of US soldiers, reservists and National Guard members continue to be trained and shipped out to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The activists who will be on trial on Monday came to Fort McCoy with another “vision,” expressed with banners and signs calling for an end to the war and a leaflet meant to be distributed to soldiers there reading: “We come to Fort McCoy to, in some small way, act in solidarity with members of the military who choose to nonviolently resist this war by refusing to be deployed to Iraq. We encourage members of the active duty military, Reserve and National Guard to consider refusing deployment orders and to be in contact with the GI Rights Hotline regarding their rights within the military at 1-800-394-9544.”

Soldiers leaving and entering Fort McCoy on August 10 gave friendly greetings to the WITNESS AGAINST WAR walkers they passed in the few miles before they reached the fort’s main gate and seemed to welcome their plea for the wars to end. Several of the DoD police officers who met them at the gate, most of them veterans, some recently returned from combat, also expressed appreciation for the message brought by the walkers even as they arrested them. Any support for the activists among Fort McCoy personnel did not, however, rise to the higher ranks. In a letter responding to the activists’ peaceful intentions, Col. Daniel A. Culver of the fort’s Office of the Command Judge Advocate, cited “risk of disruption to Fort McCoy’s mission” as grounds to ban the activists from the installation.

The members of the public are invited to attend the trial and the press conference preceding it. Some of Monday’s defendants will be attending a fund raising event for the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice (http://www.wnpj.org/node/955) the evening before, on Sunday, January 11th, 5:30 - 9:30 pm – at the Harmony Bar and Grill, 2201 Atwood Ave, Madison. They have been invited to speak about their Ft. McCoy actions and the "Keeping the Guard Home" campaign from 6:15 - 7 pm as part of the evening’s program. The rest of the evening will include graduation cake for peace organizer, Todd Dennis, guitar music by Jason Moon of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, an 'open mic', and more. All welcome. ($10 suggested donation- sliding scale.)

The defendants, who will be representing themselves at trial are: Kathy Kelly, 54, Co-Coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence ; Jeff Leys, 44, of Watertown, Wisconsin; Joy First, 54, of Madison, WI; John Bachman, 56, Eau Claire, WI; Brian Terrell, 52, of Maloy, IA; Renee Espeland, 47 of Des Moines, IA; Kryss Chupp, 49, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Chicago; Ceylon Mooney, 33, Memphis, TN; Eileen Hanson, 34, Winona, MN; Joshua Brollier, 25, Clarkesville, TN; Lauren Cannon, 38, seminarian at Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL; Alice Gerard, 51, of Grand Island, NY; and Gene Stoltzfus, 68, of Ontario, Canada.

Contact: Joy First at (608) 239-4327 or < jsfirst@tds.net>

Jeff Leys at (773) 878-3815 or

Renee Espeland at (515) 664-1326 (cell) or purpleclothlydia@aol.com

Trial Statement for Joy First

January 12, 2009

Good afternoon Your Honor. Thank you for hearing our case.

I am here before you today because I cannot and will not remain silent when my government is engaged in an immoral and illegal war in Iraq and other places around the world. I am compelled to continue to do everything I can to call attention to the horror and suffering resulting from our government’s imperialistic and aggressive policies.

My co-defendants and I have done everything we can to try to bring the war and occupation of Iraq to an end. We have petitioned our President through letters, phone calls, and visits. We have petitioned our members of Congress, calling them, writing them, and visiting their offices countless times. We have been part of vigils and demonstrations, organized and attended town meetings, signed petitions, collected signatures for petitions and followed many other means to try to stop the unnecessary killing of innocent people for over five years.

Though what I have done has not stopped the war and occupation of Iraq, I strongly believe it is imperative that we, the people, speak out and I must continue my work for peace and justice.

So on August 10, 2008 I went to Fort McCoy to deliver a letter that has been introduced into evidence, a letter asking our young men and women in the military to follow their conscience and refuse deployment to a war that is illegal and immoral. During this action I was very aware that there will be 3500 members of the Wisconsin National Guard going to Iraq early in 2009. This is the largest deployment of the National Guard from Wisconsin since WW II. How many more of our young men and women have to die? How many more innocent Iraqis must die?

I was arrested for this action. But I am not sure why I was arrested. I do not think I broke any law. Citizens are allowed on the base to hunt, and fish. The night before we went to the base, there was a concert with hundreds of civilians being allowed on the base. Just an hour before we tried to deliver our letter, a friend was allowed to go to the PX on the base to buy supplies. It was because of our message and for that reason alone that we were denied our First Amendment right to free speech and were arrested on August 10, 2008, not because we did anything wrong.

We are a peaceful people, and engage in our actions peacefully, calling for an end to the violence of war, following the principles of Gandhi, King, Day, and others. I would not participate in any kind of violent action and I do not think that I broke any law on August 10, 2008.

I am called to continue to do everything I can to stop the suffering of war and work towards a peaceful world. I am at a point in my life where I think about the future generations. As a grandmother I feel like my arms must reach wide and embrace all the children of the world and work for a better world, a world without the terror of war.

I believe it is my First Amendment right to free speech that allows me to voice my concerns in this way. I also believe it is my obligation under the Nuremberg treaties to speak out when my government is acting illegally. According to the Nuremberg Principles, if we remain silent while our government is engaged in illegal and immoral activities, then we are complicit, we are guilty of being in violation of international law and of going against our most dearly held values.

It is our responsibility as citizens of this great country to speak out and call attention to the unjust actions of our government and demand that they stop the war now. We believe that we can make a difference.

Please find us not guilty as charged and join us in saying that we need to stop prosecuting those who speak out against the war. It is time to bring the real criminals to justice.

Thank you Your Honor.