Revised plan as of March 24:
1.
On April 4 from 11 AM
- 11:45 AM we will hold banners on the sidewalk areas outside the facilities
of :
- Lockheed Martin at the intersection of Centretech Parkway and Lockheed Way, just across the street from the ACC Campus.
- Raytheon Corporation, near the intersection of Centretech Parkway and Airport Road.
- Northrup Grumman, at the intersection of Richfield and Alameda, about 1/4 mile east of the intersection of Alameda and Airport
2. At 12 o'clock noon we will gather for a one hour rally outside the
Buckley main gate at East Sixth Avenue and Tower Road. Parking is available
on the north side of Sixth Avenue.
It is a very simple plan. We need a minimum of 6 people to cover all
three sites and join up later to make it a go. (ha) How can we
fail? But of course we want a lot bigger turnout. By dividing
it into two we make it possible for some to take part in one activity only
if that is all the time they have.
Some other information,
suggestions, and talking points:
- We have 2 current issues to include in our banners and statements: the renewed interest in Eisenhower's farewell speech about the military industrial complex which is developed in the movie "Why We Fight" and the current assault on 4th Amendment rights by the Bush administration. Buckley and its corporate partners, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman exist in a physical layout that provides a prime example of this complex. The other issue might be summarized "If the government doesn't like how you exercise your 1st Amendment rights they will take away your 4th Amendment protections against illegal searches and seizures."
- We are suggesting that a banner be held at each site which quotes the line "Beware of the Military Industrial Complex" We will commit to doing one in Colorado Springs and ask that others commit to doing one for the other two sites. We have several signs which highlight the other issues connected to Buckley, global spying, participation in the illegal bombing campaigns in Iraq, nuclear war planning, Star Wars plans, space domination etc. We'll be happy to share those but encourage others to make signs including those which highlight civil liberties issues.
- The day after the initial plan appeared on a CSaction.org we got a call from the Aurora police. Nothing that we have planned should be construed as illegal. But the paranoid world we live in has the police monitoring all free speech activity with some motive to deter people from speaking out. They will likely call again. They will certainly be present on April 4. It is possible that they will offer to get us a better site for our demonstration at the Buckley main gate. Time will tell.
- One person has volunteered to leaflet at the Aurora Community College Campus on Monday April 3 to invite student and faculty to take part in our demo the next day. It would be a good idea if others might plan to leaflet moviegoers as they exit the film "Why We Fight" As they come out nodding and shaking their heads we can offer them a chance to see and protest the military industrial complex right here, right now.
- We will be breaking new ground by including the Northrup Grumman site in our demo. When I visited their front desk yesterday I was told that they had not yet started building a new facility which will add 500 more to their work force.
- We will be happy to facilitate those who want to carpool from Colorado Springs and then on to Greeley and the nuclear missile silo N-8 in Weld County. We hope others in the Denver - Boulder area will volunteer to do the same in those areas.
- There were at least 50 free parking spots in the ACC parking lot at 11 yesterday. So if we start there we should not have trouble with parking. Lots of onstreet parking also available near Northrup Grumman.
If you have any questions on this demonstration please be in touch. I'll put together a short flyer with just the core details of the plan. Feel free to do the same for your own purposes. Hope to see a big turnout on the 4th.
April 3 -
5-6 PM, Protest presence outside Broadmoor Hall with banners and leaflets
in advance of the opening ceremony at 6 PM. Perhaps including baloney
sandwiches as a suggested alternative to the high priced banquet dinner (ha)
7:30 - 9:30 PM, presentation by Bruce Gagnon and other panelists
on space and permanent war issues at Colorado College (site to be determined)
April
4 - Marathon road trip involving Bruce Gagnon coordinator of the Global
Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Bob Anderson (invited) of
Stop the War Machine-Albuquerque, and Frances Mendenhall (invited) of Omaha's
resistance campaign against Strategic Command which
inherited US Space Command when it moved there from Colorado Springs .
We have also invited peace activists from Denver and Boulder and other sites
along the way to join us. A video crew would film the days events.
The Plowshares nuns Jackie, Ardeth and Carol could be with us if their probation
status is cleared up by that time. The details are:
7:30 - 8:30
AM , protest outside Broadmoor convention center with info on the road
trip for press or participants who want a different program for the day.
11:00 - 1:00
Teach in, rally, picnic outside Buckley AFB Aurora, home of the largest
spy and war satellite base in the U.S. We are looking into possibly
having part of the activity at Aurora Community College, nearby.
3 - 4 PM
visit to active nuclear missile silo N-8 in Weld County a joint project of
Air Force Space Command and Strategic Command and site of numerous protest
actions including the Plowshares action in October 2002 involving Jackie,
Ardeth and Carol mentioned above.
7 - 8: 30
PM - Panel discussion on nuclear and space issues hosted near
the University of Northern Colorado campus in Greeley. Site to be determined.
April 5 Activities
focused on symposium events at the Broadmoor (The head of Strategic Command
will speak and chair a panel) with site visits to Schriever AFB and
one or more military contractor facilities such as Lockheed Martin and SI
International
We have a lot of
work to do in the next 2 months to fill in the blanks if this schedule is
to be carried out. We need lots of transportation and logistics help.
We need a big turnout for the events. The goal is to provide a real
alternative to the abstract, "group think" treatment of space and security
issues which goes on every year at the main stream space symposium
at the Broadmoor.
For more information
: Bill Sulzman 719 389 0644
email : bsulzman@juno.com
P.O. Box 915
Colorado
Springs, CO
