Activist Guilty in Wrecking of AF Computer
An anti-nuclear activist who said she was trying to prevent nuclear war was convicted today of destroying government property for demolishing a computer at Vandenberg Air Force Base last June.
The Los Angeles jury spent less than two hours deliberating in the case of Katya Komisaruk, 28, who tried futilely throughout her trial to tell jurors about the nuclear threat. She was repeatedly barred from stating her views.
She faces up to 10 years in prison when sentenced Jan. 11 by U.S. District Judge William J. Rea.
The verdict was delivered in an atmosphere as charged with emotion as the trial, which was attended daily by dozens of anti-nuclear activists.
Komisaruk’s attorney, Leonard Weinglass, said the verdict will be appealed.
Komisaruk, who lives in San Francisco, is free on bail.
By her own admission, she slipped through an unmanned gate at Vandenberg on June 2. She found the computer that she believed controlled the NAVSTAR global satellite navigational system and attacked it with a crowbar, hammer and bolt cutters. She said she “hopped up and down” on computer circuit boards, and then went to the roof and attacked a satellite dish.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
