Navy Arrests 31 at Disputed Puerto Rico Firing Range

U.S. Navy guards arrested 31 people who sailed small boats to a disputed military firing range on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques on Thursday, military officials said.

Most of those detained went to the firing range to protest the resumption of Navy exercises on the island, but six journalists were among the group, Navy spokesman Cmdr. Scott Bassett said.

The group was removed without incident, except for one person who resisted arrest and was restrained, Bassett said.

“We intercepted them as they came ashore,” Defense Department spokesman Kenneth H. Bacon told reporters at the Pentagon in Washington. “The Navy is responsible now for security of the range. And they’re doing a wonderful job.”

He said those arrested would be turned over to U.S. marshals to decide whether they will face trespassing charges.

Among those detained was Lolita Lebron, 80, a Nationalist Party member who served 20 years in federal prison for participating in the 1954 armed attack on the U.S. Congress, which injured four lawmakers. Former President Carter pardoned her for her crime.

Thursday’s arrests brought to 316 the total number arrested during and since federal law enforcement officers recaptured the bombing range from protesters May 4.

Protests have been waged since the April 19, 1999, death of Vieques resident David Sanes Rodriguez, a civilian security guard who was employed by the Navy and who was killed by an errant bomb.

His death unleashed pent-up resentment against the Navy in the Spanish-speaking U.S. commonwealth and sparked a drive to oust the Navy from Vieques, an island off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico. Residents have long complained that the Navy’s bombing exercises pose a health risk to Vieques’ 9,300 residents and threaten coral reefs and fish.

Under a deal between the White House and Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Rossello, the Navy can train using inert bombs for three years. The deal also calls for a referendum among Vieques residents, who will choose whether they want the Navy to leave or stay indefinitely for an extra $50 million in economic aid.