89-year-old war protester begins jail sentence

PHILADELPHIA – Bundled in two sweaters and a jacket against the biting wind as she sat in her wheelchair, 89-year-old Quaker antiwar activist Lillian Willoughby went to jail.

“I never dreamed I’d get this kind of send-off,” said Willoughby, of Deptford, as she sat Wednesday morning in front of the U.S. courthouse in downtown Philadelphia surrounded by about 50 banner-holding members of the Brandywine Peace Community.

The gathering was both a peace vigil and show of support for Willoughby and five other demonstrators as they reported to the Federal Detention Center to begin seven-day sentences for blocking the courthouse entrance on March 20, 2003, the day after the Iraq war began.

“It will be worth it if it gets the message out and people start working for peace,” Willoughby said.

Willoughby and the five other demonstrators – Michael Brix, 28; Marion Brown, 58; and Jason Fultz, 29, all of Philadelphia; and Cassandra Heino-Haw, 22, and husband Christopher Haw, 23, of Camden, N.J. – were among 107 arrested March 20, 2003.

The six were among the last to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge and elect seven days in jail rather than a $25 fine.

But the presence of Willoughby, just three months shy of her 90th birthday, and husband George – active members of the peace movement for more than 60 years – brought an element of star quality to the event.

It was Willoughby’s first arrest as a peace activist, and at times she seemed almost embarrassed by the attention.

“I have no worries whatsoever,” said George Willoughby, who has been arrested many times in nonviolent demonstrations and was honored two years ago in India for promoting the precepts of Mohandas K. Gandhi. “She knows how to take care of herself and she is doing this for the right reason.”

Also present at the vigil’s start, in full dress uniform, was Marine Lance Cpl. Elliot Ruiz, recently returned home to North Philadelphia from Iraq. Though he chose not to speak publicly, Ruiz quietly thanked several demonstrators for promoting peace.

The group remained in front of the courthouse, on Market Street between Sixth and Seventh Streets, for 75 cold minutes handing leaflets to tourists and passers-by and ignoring several truck drivers who blew their airhorns in counter-protest, one of whom added an obscene gesture.

There were brief speeches by some of the six, including Brown, who railed at the government for starting the war the day her grandchild was born, and Brix, who pointed out his pregnant wife.

“I go to jail for my unborn boy because I don’t want him, 25 years from now, to have to do the same thing I’m doing,” Brix added.

Then it was time for the brief walk one block north on Seventh to Arch Street and the Federal Detention Center, where they will spend the next six days.

Detention Center spokesman Tony Alexander said staff were not making special accommodations for Willoughby: “We are a completely handicapped-accessible facility. We’re well equipped to meet her needs.”

With some difficulty, Willoughby was wheeled through the front doors and then transferred to a prison wheelchair.

Her five associates joined her inside to a burst of applause and a chant from those outside: “We love you, Lillian!”