September 21-27 in Little Rock: Campaign Nonviolence Events and Actions

Sunday 9/21: most likely from 1-2pm, Peace Picnic, location might be MacArthur Park but location still tentative. It will be “bring your brown bag lunch, blanket or chair” for enjoyment of fellowship, peace and friendship. This event is a joint effort of WAND, ACPJ, and other organizations.

Sunday 9/21: most likely from 2-5pm, Peace Conference, location might be at Bowen School of Law but location still tentative. This will be a conference-structured event presenting information on various peace topics (ex: gun control, nonviolent civil disobedience, conflict resolution, military spending, Middle East issues, domestic violence, bullying, other). It’s expected that there will be booths (most likely free) for peace-promoting organizations as well. It is a joint effort of WAND, ACPJ, and other organizations.

Saturday 9/27 from Noon-2pm: Peace Rally at the steps of the Arkansas State Capitol (grounds use now reserved with Secretary of State’s office). Advocacy: “Reduce U.S. Spending on Military Weapons”. This will be a peaceful standing demonstration with signs encouraged. The rally is a joint effort of United Church of Peace and as many other organizations and individuals as can be recruited. All people who think the U.S. spends too much on weapons are requested to help promote it and, of course, attend it.

This event is one of the dozens of Campaign Nonviolence actions
taking place nationwide during September, 2014, many of them
organized by groups with a strong history of protesting drones
killings and drone surveillance.  

Contact Dee Dee Boniecki about the Little Rock events and the raising the issue of drone warfare.  

See the full list of actions nationwide.

Related posts

Perhaps the single most significant consequence of the advent of killer drones is that they allow the state to efficiently separate war-making from the emotional involvement of the people of the country using them. In other words, with the coming of drone warfare, we have been denied the opportunity for empathy with those affected by our (direct and indirect) actions.

(See Why is "Ending the military drone program" a pillar of Campaign Nonviolence?)

On September 25, 2014, in Cedar Rapids, Brian Terrell of the Strangers and Guests Catholic Worker Farm will share about his experience in working towards nonviolence. Brian is one of the leading activists in the movement to end drone warfare.

(See September 25 - Catholic Worker Presentation with Brian Terrell)

The defendants, Ron Faust of Kansas City and Brian Terrell of Maloy, Iowa, participated in the April 15 “Trifecta Resista” protest at Missouri’s Whiteman Air Force Base, from where killer drones engage in combat in Afghanistan by remote control. They were arrested for trespass as they attempted to deliver an “indictment” to Brigadier General Scott A. Vander Hamm, the base’s commander. The indictment charges the chain of command, from President Obama to General Vander Hamm to the drone crews at Whiteman “with the following crimes; extrajudicial killings, violation of due process, wars of aggression, violation of national sovereignty, and the killing of innocent civilians” and demands that these crimes immediately cease.

(See Put the Drones on Trial! Join Ramsey Clark, Kathy Kelly, Ann Wright and Bill Quigley )

DoD Basing Plans Calls for Two Arkansas Drones Bases

 According to the Department of Defense Report to Congress on Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training, Operations, and Sustainability (April 2012), Arkansas has two (2) locations that have been designated as potential basing locations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) [i.e. drones] (p. 8 ff.).

The table below gives information on the types of drones that are proposed for basing at these two locations.

BASE	Predator/Reaper type	Shadow/Raven type	Other
Fort Chaffee		RQ-11B, RQ-7B
Little Rock		RQ-11B

How long will it be before you see and hear drones overhead?

Related posts

In Missouri: resistance to drone warfare at Whiteman Air Force Base, near Knob Noster, Mo., from which killer drones are piloted in places like Pakistan and Yemen.

(See Join Trifecta Resista May 30-June 1

Drone basing has been designated for Brownsville, Ellington Field, Fort Bliss, Fort Hood, Fort Worth, and Gatesville in Texas.

(See Will Texas Skies Soon Be Full of Drones? )

Tennessee has begun instituting laws that will limit the ability of law enforcement to conduct surveillance using drones, at least without a search warrant.


(See Tennessee Tries to Insulate Itself from the Coming of the Drones )