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What Americans Really Have
to Fear: I was among the several people arrested on Sunday, January 31, while protesting outside the main gate of Vandenberg Air Force Base. The purpose of my protest was to criticize the development, maintenance, and potential use of nuclear weapons by the United States. I believe the nuclear
arsenal of the United States\the largest and most advanced in the
world\contributes to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Consider the
perspective of countries like North Korea and Iran. If the most powerful
nation in the world with the greatest military capability finds it necessary
to maintain several thousand nuclear warheads, why shouldnft
they have some? Moreover, the more prevalent nuclear weapons become, the more
likely terrorists are to obtain the materials needed to construct one. On Sunday
I was also protesting the American development of a space-based, anti-missile
defense system. This system undermines our previous
and future efforts at negotiating nuclear treaties with Russia and China. So my protest on Sunday, at heart, concerned the security
of the United States and the world. The story of my
arrest on Sunday (along with six other people) outside the gate of Vandenberg
Air Force Base, however, had nothing to do with the security of our
country\although we were cited for a gviolation of
a security regulationh (50 USC Sec 797). If
convicted, my fellow protestors and I face a potential fine of $5,000 and up
to one year in prison. The real story of our arrests concerns the United
States Constitution. Most of us were arrested for refusing to present government
identification to the military security officials. All of us were orderly and
peaceful. None of us was interrupting base operations. Most were elderly
(several in their 70s and 80s). We were simply standing quietly along the
shoulder of Route 1 holding peace signs. We were protesting in a location and
at a time pre-arranged with Vandenberg Base security. Base security officials
were expecting us and knew our purpose. If there was one
group of people that Vandenberg security officials did not have to be concerned about, it was
the eleven grey-haired protestors standing outside the gate under the
scrutiny of at least a dozen soldiers in a place and time known in advance by
the base. Nonetheless, shortly
after the protest began, the soldiers came out through the main gate of
Vandenberg, and, while filming us, requested that we each provide government
identification under the threat of arrest and criminal charges. While they
confronted us outside the gate along Route 1, the soldiers ignored numerous
people in civilian clothing that drove past us through the gate and onto the
base. The soldiers did not know the purpose of these civilians or the
contents of their cars. In fact, had I not been part of the protest, I could
have driven my car 50 yards past the protest site onto the base and left it
in a parking lot without being confronted and ordered to present
identification. People in civilian clothing can also walk past the protest
site onto the base to wait for a public bus without being stopped
and ordered to present identification. I
and my associates, holding peace signs, provided the
soldiers with no reason to believe (i.e., no probable cause) that we were a
threat to base security or operations. We did make it obvious that we were
critical of nuclear weapons and space-based, anti-missile systems. We refused to comply
with the orders of the soldiers because, as peaceful and orderly citizens, we
are afforded a right to privacy inherent in the
Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. By ordering us to present
identification and then arresting us because we refused to do so\without
probable cause that we were a security risk or were committing a crime\the
soldiers violated our protection against unlawful search and arrests under
the Fourth Amendment. The fact that the soldiers singled us out on the basis of our protest (while ignoring other
civilians who actually penetrated the base gate) violated our right to free
speech under the First Amendment. When I was confronted by the soldiers, I declared that I had no
intention of compromising base security and operations. I admitted that I had
a government-issued identification on my person, but refused to present it
because of my Constitutional protections. Ironically, no soldier or security
official ever looked at my government issued identification while I was
arrested, handcuffed, searched, had the contents taken out of my pockets (including
my wallet with my identification), fingerprinted, photographed, and released.
In fact, the soldier writing out my citation simply trusted me to state my
correct name, age, address, and Social Security number. If it was so vital
for security purposes that my failure to present a government issued
identification outside the base
gate should lead to my arrest and possible imprisonment, why didnft any Vandenberg base official look at my
government-issued identification while I was in their custody for hours inside the base gate? Nothing is more
detrimental to American freedom and security than a military that ignores the
rights of peaceful and lawful citizens. Americans donft
need intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads to keep them
safe; they need their soldiers to uphold and defend the law of the land. Scott
Fina
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