Planned protests begin at Bangor

POULSBO — Inside its gates Sub Base Bangor recently celebrated the arrival of its D-5 nuclear submarine missiles. Outside the gates it was anything but a joyous occasion.

“We’re here to say this is nothing to celebrate. Death and destruction at the hands of a government are nothing to celebrate,” said Jackie Hudson, a member of the Poulsbo-based Ground Zero center for non-violent action, who showed up at an impromptu protest of the D-5 Wednesday afternoon.

Ground Zero sponsored the gathering, complete with an inflatable Trident missile and a sign against nuclear weapons.

Both the celebration and the protest coincided with a court decision on the fate of the D-5 that was expected this week. Ground Zero, representing a number of peace and environmental groups, sued the Navy recently, claiming that the presence of the D-5 at Bangor violated environmental laws established under the Endangered Species Act.

Members of the organization said the base was not supposed to have D-5s present until the court decision was heard, which made their gathering even more necessary in their eyes.

“Our country was not founded on the principals of brutality and brute force but that’s what we’ve become and it’s our responsibility as citizens to bring our government back into compliance with domestic law,” said member Brian Watson.

Ground Zero will celebrate its 25th anniversary this weekend with protests, civil disobedience and workshops marking the date bombs were dropped on Nagasaki 57 years ago. The weekend event started yesterday with an all-day vigil at the Bangor main gates. The day included music, readings, silence and expressions of peace and non-violence training.

Today, Aug. 10 begins with a non-violent resistance action at 10 a.m. at the base’s main gate. A “theatre of the oppressed workshop” with Mark Weinblatt follows from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the Ground Zero Center with story circles covering 25 years of Ground Zero at 4 p.m. Dinner and a Ground Zero birthday cake will be served at 6 p.m. and live music featuring “All My Relations and Faith Petrick” begins at 7 p.m.

The Ground Zero Center is located at 16159 Clear Creek Rd. NW in Poulsbo. More information is available by calling (360) 779-4672, or going to www.gzcenter.org.

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