Santa Monica Officials Arrested in Nuclear Protest

Authorities Monday arrested 158 people, including several Santa Monica city officials and actor Martin Sheen, during an anti-nuclear demonstration at the entrance to the Nevada Test Site.

Energy Department spokesman Jim Boyer said most of those arrested were charged with misdemeanor trespassing and were released after being given a citation.

Santa Monica Mayor James Conn, City Atty. Robert Myers and Deputy City Atty. Robert Jacobs were among those arrested. They were seized after seeking to block a bus carrying workers to the nation’s nuclear testing facility, said John Murphy, spokesman for the SANE/FREEZE organization.

“I felt as though I had taken some small step on behalf of the future for my son and for the citizens of my city,” Conn said. Several other Santa Monica officials were also arrested. They were among more than 200 people who demonstrated early Monday in support of a nuclear test ban.

Boyer said some demonstrators apparently tried a new tactic, spilling a keg of nails on U.S. 95 at the entrance to the site. He said two semi-trailers and half a dozen other vehicles had tires punctured by the nails.

“I’d be very, very surprised anyone associated with us had anything to do with it,” said Peter Vergel, spokesman for the American Peace Test, a co-sponsor of the demonstration. “It’s not the kind of thing we condone.”

Boyer said about 25 demonstrators had to be forcibly removed from a road leading to the test site after they lay in the middle of the road in an effort to stop vehicles carrying workers to the top-secret facility.

The protesters were met by a counter-demonstration involving about 100 pro-nuclear demonstrators who carried American flags and signs promoting continued nuclear testing, Boyer said.

Authorities have stopped prosecuting trespassers in recent months, citing the cost and difficulty of dealing with large numbers of protesters.

Over the weekend, more than 200 people were arrested in Northern California demonstrations at the Concord Naval Weapons Station. In the largest demonstration there Saturday, more than 1,000 people demonstrated against alleged arms shipments to El Salvador, police said.