Mead Teacher Says Protest Worth Personal Sacrifice

A lot of teachers use time off to rest and re-group. Paddy Inman uses it to protest.

His extra-curricular activities could land him in jail.

The Mead Middle School teacher of 28 years was among 600 protestors arrested by Department of Defense Police at Fort Benning, Ga., on Nov. 16.

The protest marked the eighth anniversary of the massacre of six Jesuit priests and two female co-workers in El Salvador.

Nineteen of the 26 Salvadoran officers cited for the massacre were trained at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, according to a 1993 United Nations Truth Commission Report for atrocities during El Salvador’s civil war.

Inman was arrested along with Rusty Nelson, the head of the Peace and Justice Action League in Spokane.

Inman is on an unpaid leave of absence from Mead School District. When asked last week if he planned on returning to Mead he responded, “Not if I’m sitting in a federal penitentiary.”

Inman was charged with trespassing on government property, a misdemeanor offense. He was handed a similar charge for trespassing there last year and ordered to stay away.

Inman could get six months in prison for violating the court order.

The U.S. District Magistrate that Inman appeared before, sentenced three other protesters that day to six months in prison and a $3,000 fine.

Those protesters were facing felony charges and pleaded no contest before the magistrate.

Inman chose not to plead before the magistrate, opting instead to have his case heard before a district court judge.

“I want to take this to a higher court,” Inman said.

He was booked at the U.S. Marshals office in Columbus, Ga., and released on his own recognizance.

In April, Inman participated in a fast and vigil to support the closing of the school. U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy is sponsoring a bill to close Fort Benning.

Inman and Nelson arrived at Fort Benning four days before they were arrested. A mock funeral procession for the slain Jesuits drew 2,000 protesters.

The protesters were arrested when they tried to deliver petitions with more than 100,000 signatures calling for the closing of the school.

Inman said the protest is worth the personal sacrifice.

“It was an extremely moving experience,” he said. “It was spiritual. It was a respectful solidarity of people. The participants crossed all ages.”

But not everyone was impressed by the protesters.

“Public sentiment to close the school is being pushed by a campaign of misinformation by school opponents whose ultimate enemy is the United States government,” said Col. Roy Trimble, the school’s commander.

Inman said nothing could be further from the truth.

“Ask anyone what they would have done at Bunker Hill, during World War II, during westward expansion, knowing that genocide exists on U.S. soil.

“I’m ashamed of the Unites States government for having this school on U.S. soil. This school exists for the sole purpose of training U.S. soldiers for the support of Latin American dictatorships.”

Inman said he found Trimble’s comments disturbing.

“A military which is responsible has no right to question the patriotism of those questioning the government,” he said.

An Inspector General’s report recently criticized the School of the Americas for inadequate oversight of training materials.

The investigation was ordered after the DOD released the content of seven Spanish-language school manuals that condoned torture, blackmail and assassination.

Inman said he always taught his students to be willing to sacrifice, take risks and bear the pain of life’s uncertainties.

“At first I thought, ‘Nothing has prepared me for this.’ Then I realized everything in my life had prepared me to really let go, to accept the challenge,” he said.

, DataTimes