15 Protesting Arms Forum Weigh Risks, Draw Arrest

Kurt Parker, 17, decided nearly two months ago that he felt strongly enough about war to risk arrest at the annual weapons conference this week at the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro.

He thought long and hard about his decision, took civil disobedience classes and readied himself for the indignity of jail.

On Wednesday morning, the Huntington Beach high school senior pinned his “You Cannot Simultaneously Prevent and Prepare for War” button onto his black Levi’s jacket, got into his car and headed for the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa, where the delegates to the Winter Conference on Aerospace and Electronic Systems are staying. He was ready for anything.

He did not warn his parents.

Obstructing a Thoroughfare

“I just drove away,” Parker said, shuffling his Nike-clad feet while Costa Mesa police detained him in the hotel parking lot. “I left ‘em a note. They’ll find out.”

Parker was one of 15 protesters arrested early Wednesday on charges of obstructing a public thoroughfare. Costa Mesa Police Lt. Jack Calnon said there was no violence during the demonstration, which lasted about an hour.

The Marina High School student was protesting “because there’s an arms race that’s ending our future,” he said. The note--which Parker wrote Tuesday and propped on the family dining room table before leaving at 5:30 the next morning--explained that “I know what I’m doing,” he said. “I had checked out the consequences, and I thought it was right.”

Buses Blocked

About half of the group was arrested while trying to talk with delegates as they boarded two buses bound for El Toro. Most others were arrested while blocking the buses’ way off hotel property.

It was Jeanne Tanase’s first arrest. At 6:45 a.m., the 48-year-old Riverside schoolteacher stood solemnly in the early morning fog, clutching a picture of a bloodied Japanese child inscribed with the words “Hiroshima Nagasaki Never Again,” waiting for the confrontation to begin.

“I’m a bit apprehensive but rather excited I’m getting the chance to do this,” Tanase said. “I’m very much against war and killing with nuclear weapons and the United States being instrumental in a lot of killing around the world.”

Tanase walked away--one of about half a dozen protesters heading toward a cadre of helmeted Costa Mesa police officers--first turning to her husband, Brian Moucka, with a quiet “I need to go, honey. I love you.”

“It’s got to be done,” Moucka said, as he watched her leave. “But I cried last night. I’ll probably cry this morning.”

Flanked by police, Lee Sawyer, hotel security chief, greeted the group as it approached the chartered buses at 6:50. “This is private property,” Sawyer said. “We don’t want you anywhere where guests come out.”

By 6:52, the arrests began in a well-orchestrated effort that had been planned weeks in advance. An officer grabbed the protesters as they approached the buses, another took down names and yet another escorted the protesters past startled guests to a booking area set up behind the hotel’s tennis courts.

There, they were photographed and given the opportunity to be cited and leave on their own recognizance. If they refused, they were handcuffed and put in waiting Sheriff’s Department vans.

A second wave of protest started minutes later, as the buses began to roll out. An estimated 30 supporters and peace activists cheered on the protesters with chants of “God bless you,” “We love you,” “These are the patriots, the true heroes,” and a chorus of “America the Beautiful.”

The arrests followed a candlelight protest Tuesday night by about 1,200 people as delegates began arriving for the convention. More civil disobedience is planned for this morning. Organizations involved in the Wednesday protest included the Orange County Alliance for Survival, the Peace and Freedom Party and the Los Angeles Catholic Worker.

Arrested with Parker and Tanase were Kathleen Carol Colburn, 31; Charles Timothy Eby, 23; Margaret Anne Feigin, 56; Paul Haak, 34; Charles Frederick Hilfenhaus, 37; Catherine Canice Morris, 51; Jonathan Parfrey, 27; Bernice Therese Ranford, 60; John Bertrano Ronnau, 68; Richard Dennis Rose, 32, and Emily Tyler Stewart, 20.

Eby, Feigin and Hilfenhaus were cited and released at the hotel. Parker was released into the custody of his parents, who could not be reached for comment. The rest are being held in Orange County or Costa Mesa jails, Calnon said.

There was only one surprise in this predictable Orange County protest, the fourth of its kind here. After the protesters had been sent to jail and the police had folded up their tables preparing to leave, two renegade demonstrators knelt in the hotel driveway, blocking guest traffic.

“We’ll just stay here till the police show up,” said Phillip E. Kanehl, 32, of Zuma. “It’s taking long enough.”

Kanehl, along with a woman who identified herself only as “Everychild from Malibu,” didn’t have long to wait. But when the officers finally arrived, they only watched. Sgt. Richard DeFrancisco said the two would not be arrested.

Deciding his efforts were not effective, Kanehl ran out into Anton Boulevard traffic, blocking a police station wagon. He was arrested. As he was led away in handcuffs, DeFrancisco asked Sawyer to tell Everychild to leave. He did. She did not.

But when police tried to lead her away, she went limp, and it took two officers to drag her into a squad car. As the door slammed, she quickly sat up, flashed a grin and waved goodby.

Everychild--also know as Valerie Ann Sklarevsky, 40--was charged with resisting arrest in addition to obstructing a public thoroughfare, Calnon said.