Protesters Mark 1 Year Outside Navy Arms Station

The peace vigil at the Concord Naval Weapons Station turned 1 year old Friday. About 250 people showed up to mark the anniversary, including Brian Willson, who brought the protest international attention last September when he was struck by a Navy train and lost both legs.

Willson told the crowd “our liberation comes from being prepared to pay the price, to take the risks, to make the sacrifices for what we believe in,” and later 14 people where arrested. Several Navy guards were stationed inside the nearby base entrance.

But Friday was far from a typical day at the protest site, the intersection of a public street with the railroad tracks that cross the length of the sprawling Navy base.

On most days, fewer than 10 protesters occupy the site, and only one sailor or Marine guards the entrance. Time is marked by the train crossings, usually twice a week, and a routine of track-blocking protests and resulting arrests. The demonstrators have been there 24 hours a day since Willson was injured.

Residents Frustrated

Clyde, an unincorporated town of 450 adjacent to the East Bay city of Concord, is where the First Amendment clashes with everyday convenience.

Residents have become increasingly frustrated with the protesters, who have set up alongside Port Chicago Highway, the town’s two-lane artery. When a Navy train attempts to cross Port Chicago Highway, the demonstrators seek to halt it, forcing their arrest. The Navy sends security personnel in riot gear to line the tracks when a train passes, a procedure started after Willson was struck. The Navy guards arrest the protesters and turn them over to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department. Sometimes the confrontation ties up traffic into and out of Clyde for as long as 45 minutes.

“Nobody sees them except the people who live out here, and nobody in Clyde agrees with them,” said Nancy Klim, who lives in the house closest to the intersection.

Her 6-year-old daughter, Linsay, asked, “Can’t they vote somewhere else, not on the street?”

‘We’re Healing Ourselves’

“By making our voices heard, we’re healing ourselves for what our government is doing in Central America,” replies Mark Coplan, a spokesman for Nuremberg Actions, which organizes the protest. Protesters claim that weapons from the base are shipped to El Salvador and used against civilians there.

Traffic headaches top the list of neighborhood complaints, as well as the concern that fire and ambulance services will not be able to reach the small community in an emergency.

“Me and my neighbors feel we shouldn’t sacrifice for their cause,” said Donald R. Elam, a Clyde resident who has led a counter-protest. “They’ve had their say and now they’re just a continuous nuisance.”

When there are no trains passing, the protesters sit on lawn chairs at a folding table stacked with pamphlets and buttons. Shopping bags with food, coolers and sleeping bags are stashed underneath. A blackboard lists the month’s schedule of nonviolence training, and which of the 40 or more groups that help occupy the spot will be coming to help out.

575 Arrests

About 575 protesters have been arrested at or near the railroad crossing since last June, according to Lt. Doug Sizemore, who oversees all operations regarding the protesters for the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department. Sizemore estimated that the county has spent $235,000 policing the demonstration.

The drill for train movements has become routine and tactics have evolved on both sides. When protesters began a campaign of nonviolent resistance to arrest a few months ago, police began using more force to persuade limp protesters to vacate the tracks. Two broken arms, one sprained arm and one lawsuit later, the deputies now drag non-cooperative protesters onto nets for easier removal.

“They have their statement that they want to make. That statement is their arrest. We try and accomplish that in the most expeditious manner,” Sizemore said.

Dan Tikalsky, a civilian spokesman for the Navy, said the Navy estimates the annual cost of the protest, primarily for security personnel, at $2.25 million. But Tikalsky contended that the protests have not affected the operation of the base.

Changing Faces

The faces of the protesters have changed over the months. Only about two dozen of those attending yesterday’s celebration said they had been there in the beginning.

Mark Bryner, a part-time pantry cook, munched pumpkin seeds by the side of the highway during a quiet moment earlier this week, wearing a button that read, “My mom thinks I’m at the movies.”

“Jeepers, I’m 38 years old. I’m a kid that hasn’t grown up yet, but I gotta have some rights,” he said, defending the time he spends at the tracks.

Dan Werner, 19, a sophomore at Grinnell College in Iowa, has been with the group for a few weeks. “There’s more to freedom than just freedom of expression. There’s certain moral codes that a government has to abide by,” Werner said.

Werner was one of two protesters who administered first aid to two Marines hurt in a motorcycle accident not far from the railroad crossing two weeks ago. The other, along with one Clyde resident, used CPR on one of the men.

‘We Want to Save Lives’

“It was good symbolically. It showed we want to save lives, that that’s what we’re all about,” said protester Lloyd Churgin, an employee of UC Berkeley who took some shifts during his vacation this week. Since the accident, demonstrators said, more and more base personnel flash peace signs as they drive by. Spirits brighten visibly whenever they get that kind of response.

But most passers-by ignore them, and a fair number flash only half a peace sign, or honk and turn thumbs down. Many others are even less polite.

Sandy Hillard, a 12-year resident of Clyde and active member of the Nuremberg Action group, said she has had her car tires slashed, her pickup window smashed and been pushed down in the street by neighbors.

The demonstrators say they have no intention of halting the protest. “People come here because of their commitment,” Coplan said. “They don’t come for the sun.”