A Report on the
Easter Monday Arrest and Detention in
April 9,
2007
Civil Disobedience Action by NC Stop
Torture Now:
Serving Aero Contractors, Inc. with Citizens Arrest
Papers for
Their CIA-Sponsored Secret “Torture Taxi” Flights of Extraordinary
Rendition
Background
This is at base about whether America should
be a country that pretends not to torture people, while at the same time allowing
a system, called “extraordinary rendition,” that exports torture to be done
elsewhere, with our CIA directing and sometimes participating [some of the
torture is even done at CIA-run sites by CIA personnel, we are told in Stephen
Grey’s ‘Ghost Planes’]. We of NC Stop
Torture Now want to lift the veil of secrecy and lies perpetrated by our
government, in our names, with our tax dollars.
We want to sever the NC link in this secret, ineffective, cruel and
immoral, and counter-productive process, in which innocents and others are
tortured in the name of national security.
I personally come to this effort through my
Judeo-Christian faith and the NC Council of Churches. The mandate of Jesus to “love one another”
seems not to allow for torturing one another.
The words of the Hebrew prophet Micah to “do justice, love kindness, and
walk humbly with your God,” seem to call us to name when injustice
happens. Most religious denominations
and most faiths have official words against the use of torture. And yet, our so-called “Christian” President
and his minions allow it, as have many other American leaders before them. And, this Aero Contractors situation is now
in our own back yard. So we are called to act locally; faith demands noticing
and action.
NC Stop Torture Now is a
collaboration of people and groups in
In early 2007,
Three of these Aero pilots
live in
The Civil Disobedience Action at Aero
Contractors, Inc.,
My pastor, Rev.
Our goal was to
serve the leadership of Aero with a citizens’ arrest warrant asking Aero to
cooperate with the FBI investigation into their CIA extraordinary rendition flights
and also with the German indictments of three of their pilots implicated in the
rendition of an innocent man to be tortured overseas.
Would they let us in
past their gates to serve our citizens arrest papers? Would we climb their barbed wire fence to get
arrested for trespass if they did not let us in? Would anyone pay attention?
Our hope was that
media would notice this concerted citizen action, even as the Aero leadership
and the CIA would hide. One more step in
the uncovering of the
Opening. The main gate on the private drive to Aero
was open. And so, we marched down the
¼-mile private drive to the Aero office site with a banner and signs. In the early morning cold, some were able to
drape many yards of oversized yellow tape saying CRIME SCENE across Aero’s chain-link, barbed-wire-topped
fence outside the building compound. We
were massed, ready to serve our papers, clear about our intent. A few media looked on from back at the road.
Stopped. An immaculately pressed professional from the Johnston County Sheriff’s
Department, Captain Bengie Gaddis, walked up to the other side of the main Aero
fence. He politely informed us that we
could not hang our Crime Scene tape from their fence. We could assemble, but not violate their
property. We listened, and kept the
Crime Scene tape on their fence. There
was no consequence.
Request. We told Captain Gaddis that we had papers we would like to convey to
Aero management. He refused to convey,
then said he would ask Aero management about it, and he went back to the
building. We waited, sat in,
planned. He returned within the half
hour. No, he said, the Aero management
would not meet with us or accept our papers.
We could wait, but no one would respond.
Interim. We decided to sit in a while and think through options. Should we climb the fence? No—one person might then be caught alone—and
we were a group. What’s next?
Decision.
Several of us who knew we would risk arrest seized this quick minute and
ran over and zoomed through the gate, sharp on the tail of the big mower
machine. In a matter of seconds, the
big gate closed behind us, capturing some of us in, some of us out. The outsiders yelled words of our intent at
the 20 or so lawmen who suddenly appeared on the pavement, and who apparently
had been ready and waiting for us behind the Aero edifice. A few of the many officers who milled about in
the warming sun placed us in plastic handcuffs that tightened like slip ties
around garbage bags. The complement of stocky
men included several with leather jackets full of badges indicating their former
Separation. Now
we were two groups—the arrested and the witnesses. Among the arrested were two young girls.
Twelve-year-old Moira Rider O’
The holding cell. The
eight of us arrested were boarded onto a paddy wagon. Stepping up high into this kind of bus is
tough when you cannot use your hands for balance. It was tight.
Walls between each van row were metal with small holes for ventilation
and communication. Women up front, men
behind.
Magistrates. One
by one, we were asked out of our holding cells to go down the hall to go to the
magistrate’s office, to hear what our charge was, what the cost was for us to
get out of jail ($500 each in cash, or get a bail bondman to post that for you
at a cash cost of 15%), and when we must appear in court to deal with our
offense of Second Degree Misdemeanor Trespass (May 10 at 8:30). Nonpayment of bail means sitting in jail there
until May 10, unless you pay bail in-between, the magistrate said. This was a surprise, as I had heard we might
spend the night in jail and then get out the next day on our own
recognizance. So, I went into a spin of
figuring if I wanted/needed to spend a month in jail, for witness to the cause—deliberation
that I shared with several others in the group before finally accepting the
release later on. The magistrate gave
each of us the two papers naming our charges, the bail cost, and court date,
etc. (Note, it later was revealed that
Patrick O’
Release of Ellen.
Somewhere early afternoon, longtime peace activists, the Biesacks,
sprung out their 16-year-old daughter Ellen by providing bond. All of us had made clear to the jail staff
that getting Ellen out was a priority.
Men meet with the Johnston
County District Attorney. In our room, we heard a quick word from
Patrick as he passed in the hallway after the men had gone upstairs to meet
with the D.A. This woman had last year
made friends with the Aero 14 who were arrested for civil disobedience on this
topic, and supports our cause. She
arranged for us to have a hearing this afternoon, regarding whether we wanted
to have a public defender assigned.
In District Court. We
were led in our heavy ankle shackles to sit in the jury box of one of the
District Court rooms. When it came our
turn, the judge instructed us that the only purpose now was to ask us
individually if we needed state-provided counsel. Each of us but Patrick declined. Patrick asked for the attorney who defended
them pro bono last year, and who could help us again this time. His request in court enabled the attorney to
be paid by the state this time. While
responding, Steve Woolford asked the judge when we might ask to be released on
our own recognizance. The judge said we
would deal with that. Patrick also asked
for that, as Stop torture Now defendents had proved to be trustworthy to return
to court in the past—in fact, he, said, we had positive motivation to come to
make our point. (It was after this
hearing when we would finally be allowed one phone call, to arrange for bond, and
so it was important to know if we would have to arrange that. The Captain in charge of the jail told us
women earlier that we had to get money soon or we would be moved into the jail
cells, as they had people who they needed to put in our holding room.) The judge then asked the DA whether she had
any recommendations on releasing us on our own recognizance; she had none—in
effect, agreeing with the dropping of bail.
The judge proceeded to grant a blanket reprieve, with the warning that
we were not to demonstrate again before the May 10 court date. Patrick clarified that he must have meant,
“with intent of breaking the law.” The
judge agreed with this clarification.
Late-Afternoon Release. After
more time in the holding rooms awaiting paper processing, the release
began. In the lineup outside our rooms, having
ankle shackles removed and awaiting for our plastic baggies of “property,” the
seven of us remaining after Ellen’s release had the opportunity to talk
together about next steps. I asked the
Captain a lot of questions about rules and conditions in the jail, as I was
still contemplating staying for the month.
I was surprised to hear that inmates in this jail cannot have any books
or papers brought from home—only books sent directly from the publisher. This is about eliminating transfer of
contraband, she said. This information
tipped my decision, as being here would not afford opportunity to read my own
books and write, and direct missed work from the cell. Finally let go after our release documents
arrived, we were let out the basement door and came up to the street, where
some loyal NC STN friends awaited to provide rides.
Court representation and
followup. Patrick will arrange a time we can all
consult with his court-appointed attorney to plan for May 10. And Christina Cowger will organize our
discussions of followup with Aero—mailing the arrest warrants we could not hand
over, etc. We ended one day’s witness.