2 Activists Sentenced in Satellite Smashing : Courts: Anti-war crusaders say Rockwell International break-in was ‘act of conscience.’ One received 18-month prison term; the other 24 months.

A federal judge sentenced two anti-war activists to prison Monday, one for 18 months and the other for 24 months, for damaging a military satellite at the Rockwell International complex in Seal Beach.

Peter A. Lumsdaine, 37, and Keith Joseph Kjoller, 31, both of Santa Cruz, had pleaded guilty, calling the May 10 incident an “act of conscience.”

They said they intentionally took axes to the $50-million Navstar Global Position System satellite to bring the public’s attention to what they termed the government’s attempt to control the world through modern technology.

Rockwell has said the satellite has both military and civilian uses. According to the Dictionary of Space Technology, among the satellite’s uses are precision weapons delivery, photomapping, air traffic control, search and rescue operations, geodetic surveys, and tactical missile navigation systems.

“I had to slow the deployment of this system (which) makes conventional warfare much more lethal and nuclear war winnable in the eyes of some,” an emotional Kjoller told the judge.

“It’s something that I couldn’t let go by,” he said before receiving an 18-month sentence. “I tried to do what was right rather than what was convenient.”

Kjoller’s statements brought applause from nearly two dozen friends and supporters who packed the courtroom. The judge promptly scolded the audience, telling them that they would be expelled if there were any further outbursts.

“This is a court of law, not a rally or political demonstration,” U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor said.

Lumsdaine, who also made a statement before being sentenced, said he felt he “had to do something” to rid the world of a satellite he called “an engine of murder.”

Lumsdaine received the stiffer sentence because he was the one to actually strike the satellite with an ax, hitting it more than 60 times, his attorney, Leonard I. Weinglass, said.

Kjoller smashed windows in a sealed, dust-free room where a number of other satellites were stored but was unable to hit the Navstar, Weinglass said.

Prosecutors estimated that the pair caused between $800,000 and $1.5 million in damage.

Lumsdaine and Kjoller were arrested shortly after their pre-dawn assault in which they scaled an eight-foot, chain-link fence, broke into the building and attacked the equipment.

The damaged satellite was scheduled to be shipped to the Air Force in August. Weinglass said he was told that the damage caused at least a four-month delay in delivering Navstar--a space-based radio navigation network that uses a group of satellites to provide precise locations for Trident submarines, troops and various types of vehicles.

As part of a plea agreement, Kjoller and Lumsdaine entered guilty verdicts and prosecutors recommended terms near the low end of federal sentencing guidelines, which ranged from 18 to 24 months for Kjoller and 24 to 30 months for Lumsdaine.

“They acted out of conscience and not a matter of malice or personal gain,” Assistant U.S. Atty. David Hoffer said.

Despite the plea agreement, a probation report recommended that both men receive the high term under the guidelines. The report said Lumsdaine’s “social background and occupational activities are reflective of a lifestyle determined to incite the public conscience to review the government’s national defense strategies.” It also equated the incident to a “terrorist act.”

In addition to the prison term, Taylor ordered the men to pay $15,000 restitution. He also said they should be placed on three years’ probation after their release because “these are two individuals who tell us they are going to do this again.”

Kjoller and Lumsdaine have a history of involvement in anti-war demonstrations and various movements. Lumsdaine is founder of the Santa Cruz-based First Strike Prevention Program, a nonviolent direct-action group opposed to the Trident nuclear missile system. Kjoller has been described as a member of that group.

Both men also belonged to the Lockheed Action Collective, a protest group that staged demonstrations and blockaded the entrance at the Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. test base in Santa Cruz in 1990, friends said.

A spokesman for Rockwell declined to comment on the sentencings.