Nun Who Protested at Missile Silo Is Released
A nun convicted of smearing her blood on a Colorado nuclear missile silo in an antiwar protest was released from federal prison Thursday after about two years behind bars.
Ardeth Platte, 69, and two other Dominican sisters were arrested in 2002 after they cut a chain-link fence surrounding a Minuteman III silo and used baby bottles to dispense their blood in the shape of a cross.
Air Force security left training exercises to respond, arriving at the site in armored vehicles. The three nuns, who were praying and singing, announced they were peaceful and surrendered, court documents said.
Platte, Jackie Hudson and Carol Gilbert were convicted in 2003 on charges of obstructing national defense and damaging government property. Hudson and Gilbert were previously released.
They said their protest was prompted by imminent war with Iraq.
“The charges remain bogus,” Platte said after her release. “It was, ‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us.’ And be assured, I would never stand with this government in any kind of killing.”
The nuns are members of the Dominican Sisters order in Grand Rapids, Mich.
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