Auxiliary Bishop Among Protesters Held at A-Test Site
Nearly 100 anti-nuclear protesters, including auxiliary Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, were arrested by armed guards Tuesday at the Nevada Test Site.
Retired Bishop Charles Buswell of Pueblo, Colo., now in his late 70s, was also taken into custody for trespassing at the classified facility in the desert 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
“I believe in God’s law of ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill,’ ” Buswell said. “And nuclear weapons are designed to kill.”
The demonstration was sponsored by Pax Christi USA, an international Catholic peace organization. Gumbleton, Buswell and 96 other protesters, including nine clothed in black religious robes, were loaded into three buses and taken to nearby Beatty, Nev., where trespassing citations were issued by Nye County sheriff’s deputies.
The protesters were released on their own recognizance and will not be prosecuted, in accordance with a policy announced April 30 by Nye County Dist. Atty. Phil Dunleavy when he dropped more than 400 misdemeanor prosecutions against test site demonstrators.
Demonstrators began a slow march onto government property about 10 a.m. A nun held a small wooden cross high above her head. Protesters carried signs denouncing nuclear weapons.
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