PENTAGON
By Reba Mathern-Jacobson

Fifty members of the Atlantic Life Community (ALC) gathered for public witness and action at the Pentagon, Department of Energy (DOE), White House, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception during their August 5-9 Faith and Resistance Retreat in D.C.

Their theme contrasted the choices people make for disfigurement (as done in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the genocidal sanctions against Iraq) versus transfiguration (the nourishment of all life). August 6 is also celebrated as the Feast of the Transfiguration, the time when Jesus revealed his divinity, foreshadowing his resurrection.

Retreatants entered the Pentagon on August 6 as a citizen inspection team, to review documents related to war plans against other countries. The group was not allowed past a security check point. Occupying the lobby, the group sang songs, leafletted, prayed, and exhibited photos of victims of U.S. foreign policy in Japan and Iraq until they were forced to leave.

Felton Davis, Bill Frankel-Streit, and Art Laffin were arrested when they refused. They were released pending an October 30 court date.

Similarly, the group attempted a citizens' inspection for nuclear weaponry plans at the DOE on August 7. Their request to meet with officials was denied. Federal Protective Service police were called to evict the group, who then continued the vigil outdoors.

Remembering all victims of the nuclear age and calling for an end to the Iraqi sanctions at the White House August 8, Ben McMullan and Mary Grace were arrested for stenciling shadows of children onto the sidewalk with spray paint and gluing photos of dying Iraqi children around them.

Ten others - Kristin Betts, Barry Roth, Eurydice Hirsey, Matthew Kennis, Coretta Warren, Liz McAlister, Paul Kilroy, and Reba and Scott Mathern- Jacobson were arrested when they refused to interrupt their prayer service to disperse. They were released later that day and have a court date October 1.

Visitors to the Shrine August 9 were welcomed with a banner 30 feet long that said, "Nuclear Weapons Are the Global Crucifixion of Jesus." ALC leafletters invited everyone to stand during the noon mass as a call for disarmament and the abolition of nuclear weapons. Shrine security forces called D.C. police to enforce the prohibition of banners or leaflets on the property. There were no arrests.

For more information, contact Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, 503 Rock Creek Church Rd. NW, Washington, DC 20010-1612, (202)882-9649.

Updating previous Washington, D.C., area arrests, five people were convicted and sentenced to a few hours of time they had already served following their May 6 arrest at the White House, protesting sanctions against Iraq. Judith Kelly, arrested during anti-war protests at the White House February 12 was convicted in June and sentenced to probation and community service.