Inside the Belly of the Beltway Beast

Senior Woman Protesting War Faces Jail Time For Immediate Release June 29, 2007 Contact: Pete Perry, 571-271-1313 WASHINGTON – Dressed in the ancient mourning symbols of sackcloth and ashes, a senior citizen protesting war was arrested twice Friday, and violated a stay away order. For the sixth and seventh times this year, Eve Tetaz, 75, a retired D.C. public schoolteacher was arrested for nonviolently protesting the illegal and immoral war and occupation of Iraq. She will be arraigned in D.C. Superior Court Saturday morning, but it is unknown whether she will be released or held. Tetaz, of 17th Street, N.W., was first arrested in front of the White House in a protest organizers described as a mourning for children killed in war. The arrest happened at 12:45 p.m. and was conducted by the U.S. Park Police. "All life is sacred," Tetaz said. "No one is collateral damage." Wearing a hand-made burlap dress and shawl and faced smudged wit...

Dear Friends I would like to share with you my decision to participate in a direct action which will most likely lead to my incarceration for some time. As a result of my last arrest at the Hart Senate Office Building, I spent the night in jail and at my arraignment the next day, was released into 3rd party custody, and ordered to report weekly to pre trial services. Additionally I must stay away from the entire Capitol area. I am unable to comply with these orders, and after careful and prayerful consideration, have decided to take the initiative by deciding the circumstances under which I will begin serving my sentence. I have decided on this course of action I hope that this action will receive media attention, but I can't be sure that my arrest would spark any interest on their part, since Paris Hilton seems to be the main focus of their interest. So be it. There are many who have chosen to speak truth to power in this fashion. I think of Rosa Parks, whose action was the ...

Among those arrested in front of the White House for nonviolent resistance was David Barrows, Father Louis Vitale, Father Jerry Zawada, Harold Nelson, Katie Murphy and myself. Vigil Raises 'Voices Against Terror' By Jenna Johnson Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, June 24, 2007; A06 The mock prison cell, the barking dog belonging to another protester, people asking names and ages. Sister Dianna Ortiz said yesterday that the sights and sounds during a 24-hour vigil and protest at Lafayette Square against torture took her "back to that place" and time -- Guatemala in 1989, when the American nun, then 29, taught Mayan children about human rights. It took her back to the day she was blindfolded and taken to a prison for reasons she still doesn't know. To an interrogation, cigarettes burned on her breasts, being forced to dance naked, raped repeatedly. Back to hell. Ortiz escaped within a day as her captors transported her to another prison. But each year on June 23,...

Anti-war Marine receives discharge below honorable Associated Press Published June 14, 2007 KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- An Iraq war veteran was kicked out of the Marines with a general discharge after he wore his uniform during an anti-war demonstration, the military announced Wednesday. Lt. Gen. John Bergman, commanding general of Marine Forces Reserve in New Orleans, agreed Monday to give Adam Kokesh a general discharge under honorable conditions, based on a military panel's recommendation. Kokesh's attorneys argued that their client, a corporal, was not subject to military rules because he is a non-drilling, non-paid member of the Individual Ready Reserve, which consists mainly of those who have left active duty but still have time remaining on their eight-year military obligations. His reservist service had been scheduled to end next Monday. Kokesh had received an honorable discharge from active duty in November. He got in trouble after a newspaper published a photograph of him in ...

Faces of conflict Marine Corps challenge anti-war vets By IAN SANDS Each summer, it seems, the Iraq War springs another issue for the peace movement to rally around, symbolized by a specific face with a story to tell. In 2005, it was Cindy Sheehan’s loss and her dogged insistence that Bush explain why we invaded Iraq, where she lost her 24-year-old son. In 2006, it was Lieutenant Ehren Watada’s refusal to deploy. This summer, the latest phase of the movement may be epitomized by two more faces: Marine Corporal Adam Kokesh and Marine Sergeant and Boston-chapter president of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) Liam Madden, both of whom were honorably discharged from the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), a group of unpaid reservists that can be, but rarely are, called up. The pair learned this past week that the Marine Corps was recommending they receive “other than honorable” discharges as a result of certain aspects of their anti-war activities. Kokesh’s troubles began after he received ...

Yesterday Adam Kokesh of Iraq Veterans Against the War and his attorney held a press conference at Union Station shortly before departing for a military hearing in Kansas. What awaits this brave member of IVAW and the individual ready reserves of the US Marines is a possible re-discharge to "other than honorable." This is unheard of, as the individual ready reserves have typically already been discharged. Why is this being done? Simple: Adam Kokesh has been vocal in his opposition to the war and continuing occupation in Iraq. At the press conference, Adam quoted Thomas Jefferson: "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." So, if the media needs a new "face" of the anti-war movement, let it be Adam. Yesterday he, Tina Richards from the Swarm on Congress and several other supporters boarded the Yellow Rose of Texas Peace bus bound for Kansas. They will fight this assault on veterans' First Amendment rights. Interestingly enough at the press conference,...