25 Arrested in Anti-Nuclear Protest at Hotel

Twenty-five anti-nuclear protesters who temporarily blocked a bus carrying delegates to a military and defense weaponry convention were arrested Wednesday morning during a peaceful demonstration in Costa Mesa and charged with obstructing a public driveway.

The arrests were made on the second day of protests by anti-war groups against the 26th annual Winter Convention on Aerospace and Electronic Systems (WINCON) in which 300 defense industry and Pentagon officials are meeting to chart future weapons programs. The delegates are lodged at the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel but are meeting under tight security at the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro.

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Richard de Francisco said three of those arrested were released from the Orange County Jail on their own recognizance but that the rest decided to stay in jail as a further protest of the WINCON meeting. A three-day maximum jail sentence was imposed on the 22 who did not want to be released.

The protesters, part of a contingent of 100 who gathered outside the hotel before dawn Wednesday, are members of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker, an organization that provides food, shelter and other services to the poor and is active in anti-war causes. The group had joined members of the Orange County Alliance for Survival, which has orchestrated the weeklong protest against WINCON.

Tim Carpenter, head of the Alliance, said his group would picket the hotel again today and on Friday and expects that more protesters will be arrested when they try to block buses carrying the delegates to the El Toro air station.

Passed Out Bread

“We have two ways of going,” Carpenter said. “Today we went the Catholic Worker way, and tomorrow we’ll go the Alliance way.”

The Catholic Worker protesters initially tried to pass out baskets of bread to the delegates as they boarded the bus at the hotel’s main entrance. With Costa Mesa police officers looking on, seven protesters linked hands and stood in front of the bus as it eased out of the driveway.

The bus, escorted by two police officers on motorcycles, was forced to stop. When police quickly arrested the seven, another group of five stopped the bus after it proceeded a few more feet. The routine continued for 20 minutes before all 25 had been arrested and escorted from the driveway by the team of police officers, allowing the bus to finally leave.

Other protesters stood on a sidewalk during the arrests holding anti-war placards and singing the song “We Are Not Afraid,” many with tears trickling down their faces.

Catherine Morris, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Worker who was not arrested, said the 25 had volunteered to block the bus and face possible arrest.

‘Personal Statement’

“They came out today not to write a letter, but to put their bodies in front of the bus,” she said. “They wanted to make a personal statement about the arms race. It is worth the effort if we can make just one person on that bus think about what he is doing.”

Morris said the Catholic Worker group had actually discouraged others who had volunteered to block the bus and face being arrested.

But, Morris said, “we are not interested in numbers. We want to make sure that people know what they are doing and are not just caught up in the flurry.”

Jeffrey Dietrich, 38, of Los Angeles, who was among the first group arrested, said the protest was staged to convey Catholic Worker’s position on nuclear arms.

“It was our intention to be here today and talk to these people on the bus. We wanted to tell them with our whole being that we are opposed to nuclear war,” he said before being led to a police bus that took those arrested to County Jail.

Silent Vigil

The protest followed a demonstration at the hotel Tuesday night in which 1,400 anti-nuclear protesters surrounded the hotel during a two-hour silent vigil. Most of the people arrested Wednesday attended that demonstration.

The WINCON delegates will conclude their annual meeting Friday at the hotel after two days of the closed-door sessions requiring security clearances at the air station. They are considered top authorities in defense weaponry, and this year they are focusing on further analysis of the Strategic Defense Initiative, the so-called Star Wars program championed by President Reagan.

Others arrested were Lisa Alvarez, 23, of Santa Monica; Lisa Apper, 32, Pacoima; Mathew Bell, 25, Ojai; Jamie Barnett, 25, Anaheim; John Barnett, 33, Anaheim; Jodie Carter, 47, Playa del Rey; Richard Coate, 23, Santa Ana; Father John Anthony Cortez, 29, San Dimas; John Hansen, 19, Irvine; Jacqui Holt, 33, Los Angeles; Kathy Hont, 29, Los Angeles; Harry Kirshner, 60, Temple City; Marcianne Miller, 38, Los Angeles; Eve Morgan, 57, Venice; Jack Nounnan , 52, Claremont; Christa and Julia Occhiogrosso , 23, Los Angeles; Jonathan Parfrey, 26, Los Angeles; Diane Posson, 49, Long Beach; Richard Rice, 25, Los Angeles; Ann Smith, 25, Los Angeles; Mary Smith, 28, Los Angeles; Charles Teixeira , 26, Los Angeles, and Andrew Tonkovich , 24, Santa Monica.

Carter, Cortez and Posson are the three released on their own recognizance.