All the following folks are before the courts on Monday January 29th. for their trespass actions at the "School of the Americas" last November. Send them a post card or solidarity letter
c/- SOA Watch
P.O. Box 4566
Washington DC
20017
USA
*your letter will be redirected to the resister. Previous sentences have ranged from 3-18 months.
“If... the machine of government... is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.” - Henry David Thoreau
On January 29, 2007 sixteen human rights activists will appear in federal court in Columbus to put the SOA/WHINSEC on trial.The sixteen were arrested on November 19, 2006, after carrying the protest to close the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) onto the Fort Benning Military Reservation, publicly defying the laws which prevent political speech on military bases and making a bold call for justice and accountability.
The sixteen were held at Ft. Benning and charged for "unlawful entry" by the federal court. Fifteen of the sixteen arrested were released after bail money ($500 - $1,000/per person) was posted. One person, Margaret Bryant-Ganer, opted to remain in prison, awaiting trial; she is being held at Muscogee County Jail in Columbus, Georgia. (Photo: Linda Panetta )
Read about the SOA 16 in the news.
The "SOA 16" are:
Margaret Bryant-Gainer, 38, Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia
Tina Busch-Nema, 48, Kirkwood, Missouri
Don Coleman, 69, a co-pastor at the University Church, from Chicago, Illinois
Valerie Fillenwarth, 64, a homemaker from Indianapolis, Indiana
Philip Gates, 70, a retired school superintendent from Prescott, Arizona
Alice Gerard, 50, a freelance journalist from Grand Island, New York
Joshua Harris, 30, from San Diego is a graduate student at Claremont University
Melissa Helman, 23, a student from Ashland, Wisconsin
Martina Leforce, 22, Berea, Kentucky
Julienne Oldfield, 69, Syracuse, New York
(Katherine) Whitney Ray, a 17 year old college student from Indianapolis, Indiana
Sheila Salmon, 71, Sebastian, Florida
Nathan Slater, 23, Berea / Edmonton, Kentucky
Mike Vosburg-Casey, a 32 year old piano tuner and chicken farmer from Atlanta, Georgia
Graymon Ward, 20, Raleigh, North Carolina
Cathy Webster, 61, a peace activist and grandmother from Chico, California