39 peace activists arrested at the Nevada Test Site : lvimc

Sunday April 1, 150 people gathered to welcome 25 Peace Walkers in a rally just outside of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) to protest the proposed "Complex 2030" plan, the "Reliable Replacement Warhead" and the occupation of Iraq. The Western Shoshone National Council welcomed the gatherers, many of whom purchased passes to be on the Western Shoshone land where the test site is located. Speakers included Carrie Dann, activist and Shoshone elder, Fr. Louis Vitale, NDE, retired Colonel Ann Wright, SEIU local leader Jane McAlevey, and Catholic activist and actor Martin Sheen. After the rally a procession led by the Western Shoshone National Council representatives walked to the entrance of the Nevada Test Site. Carrie Dann crossed the line first and was soon joined by Fr. Louis Vitale, Martin Sheen, Ann Wright and 35 other men and women in this important nonviolent civil resistance. The Nye county sheriffs detained the "trespassers" in holding pens just inside the site.

The Peace Walkers, a diverse inter-faith group from around the country hosted by NDE, had started walking on Tuesday from the Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, and walked throughout the week to the NTS as a statement of peace, a protest of nuclear weapons, Complex 2030, and as a spiritual pilgrimage. Peace Walker Shaina Meiners said, "the Peace Walk was an amazing experience in opposites. In the shadow of the nuclear devastation at the Test Site and the bombings of the [Nellis] Air Force range, an awesome interfaith group came together for a nonviolent experience in enjoying the desert, sharing our traditions, and working for peace." The Peace Walkers started the morning with a sunrise ceremony led by revered elder and spiritual leader of the Western Shoshone Corbin Harney, a couple of miles from the NTS, before walking to the rally. Franciscan Friar Louis Vitale, O.F.M and Priestess Dr. Anne Key also offered blessings to the gathering.

After people finished crossing the line, the rally was asked to move back. The detainees were all processed within an hour. Carrie Dan was the last woman released. Complex 2030 is the name given to the administration's ambitious plan to rebuild and reorganize the Nuclear Weapons Complex by the year 2030, including construction of a new nuclear weapons productions facility that may be situated at the Nevada Test Site.

Several activists stayed in the area and offered free coffee, donuts and massages to NTS workers the Monday morning following the larger action.