19 arrested during A-bomb protest at base

BANGOR, Wash. – Nineteen demonstrators were arrested Monday at the Navy’s Trident submarine base here when they blocked a road leading into the base to commemorate the 60th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during World War II.

The protesters were arrested for investigation of disorderly conduct and failure to disperse, said Deputy Scott Wilson of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department. They were released after the arrests, and if past incidents are an indication, they are unlikely to be prosecuted, he said.

The demonstrators, from the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, typically stage demonstrations at the base at least a couple of times a year, to protest the U.S. nuclear arsenal, but notify the Sheriff’s Office in advance and essentially coordinate their own arrests, Wilson said.

Nobody was hurt in Monday’s demonstration.

The protest began about 5:30 a.m. and involved dozens of people, and for about half an hour slowed traffic trying to get onto the base.