Weapons protesters protest lessening of charge for trespassing

[Alberto Balsalm]

The four dozen regulars who show up weekly to protest at Edina's Alliant Techsystems come from all walks of life. Among them: nuns, college students, a surgeon and a retired chief executive officer of a major computer company. All share a commitment to civil disobedience. In nine years, there's been 176 arrests for nonviolent trespasses to protest Alliant's production of munitions.

Lately, they've found something new and surprising to protest. They're objecting to a new city ordinance that lessens the charge they normally face when arrested: trespassing. Now, it's a petty misdemeanor.

"It's impossible to get into jail," fumed protester David Harris, a 71-year-old surgeon from Red Wing, who fulfilled his court-ordered penalty from a previous trespassing conviction by publicly holding a sign that said simply, "Community Service."

At first glance, the ordinance might seem favorable to the AlliantAction protesters, who have been showing up regularly for almost a decade.

There's no jury trial. And no jail time, often considered a badge of honor among some protesters. Instead, they face small fines or dismissals.

But from an activist's perspective, the ordinance seems to be an attempt to rob them of a forum -- the opportunity to add to the public record that a jury trial provides -- to protest the weapons made at Alliant Techsystems, known as ATK. Under the new ordinance, protesters, who sometimes act as their own lawyers, don't present their case to jurors, who sometimes have been sympathetic in the past. Instead, they only go before a judge, who is likelier to more strictly interpret the law.

Protester Bob Burns, a retired chief executive officer for Control Data Corp., said the ordinance represents a deliberate attempt to prevent not-guilty verdicts by juries, and to muzzle free speech.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/186967.html

[86Dude]

Ha ha ha, dumbasses.

[Feenix566]

:yawn:

do they really think the munitions company is ever going to close shop because of their protests?

[86Dude]

They should take it to the next level and employ violence as one of their tactics. Even a threat would get them a misdemeanor and a jury trial.

[Feenix566]

but then they'd be protesting a munitions manufacturer (a promoter of violence) and using violence to do it...

[86Dude]

Yeah, I know, that would be terribly cool if it happened.