10 cited at nuclear demonstration at Bangor

By Staff report • August 11, 2023 1:30 am
A group attending the three-day Ground Zero conference protests in the street leading to the Bangor base. Ground Zero courtesy photo
A group attending the three-day Ground Zero conference protests in the street leading to the Bangor base. Ground Zero courtesy photo

Ten nuclear weapons abolition activists were removed from the roadway Aug. 7 by the State Patrol after blocking the entrance to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, site of the world’s largest concentration of deployed nuclear weapons.

The civil disobedience followed a demonstration at the entrance to the Trident submarine base by Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, which involved about 50 nuclear weapons abolitionists ranging in age from 16 to 80 and featured a flash dance in the road to the song, “War: What is it Good For?”

Mourning the victims of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and detonated in the Marshall Islands following World War II, activists held banners reading, “Abolish Nuclear Weapons.” Sue Ablao of Bremerton, Carolee Flaten of Hansville, Mack Johnson of Silverdale, Sean Makarin of Port Orchard and a handful of others refused to leave the road. Demonstrators were apprehended by WSP, issued citations and released.

The demonstration concluded a three-day gathering “Save the Planet-Abolish Nuclear Weapons” sponsored by Ground Zero of Poulsbo, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and Washington Against Nuclear Weapons Coalition.