84-year old WWII veteran/peace activist injured by military guards at Vandenberg protest

A Message from Vandenberg protestors (November 5, 2009):

Yesterday November 4th, during the longstanding peace vigil at the front gate of Vandenberg Air Force Base three people were arrested.   Dennis Apel was cited for the “ban and bar” that the base has against him.  Two other protesters who were in the designated protest area and had not crossed the line or broken any law, were arrested for not identifying themselves with ID.   One was Bud Booth who is an 84 year old veteran of WWII Army Air Corps (before there even was an US Air Force!) and a long-time peace protester at Vandenberg.

He was placed in metal handcuffs, and in while forcibly searching him for ID the MP grabbed the  center part of the handcuffs and swung him around, tearing his shirt and the skin on his arm.

Paramedics were summoned to give him first aid.   What do you think?

send letters of support to Bud at po Box 464 Los Olivos CA 93441, he does not use email.
The base commander is Col David Buck   send a copy of your letter to protest to him

Col David Buck (who has his own facebook page!)
Mailing Address:
30 SW/PA
Building 12,000
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Ca 93437-6267

join us November 17 at 11:55 pm at the front gate of Vandenberg AFB to protest the ICBM launch and the suppression of first peaceful protest.  see www.vandenbergwitness.org

MacGregor Eddy

>><<

http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=LOCAL&ID=565680312181456982&Archive=false

Protester injured in scuffle at Vandenberg : Bud Boothe a familiar face at base gate

NORA K. WALLACE, NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

November 6, 2009 7:04 AM

An 84-year-old peace protester was slightly injured Wednesday afternoon when he was arrested at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Los Olivos resident Eldon “Bud” Boothe was standing near the classified military installation’s main gate off State Route 1 as part of his monthly protest of the testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles at the base.

A total of eight people were involved in the protest, according to a base spokesman.

At about 4 p.m., when asked to provide identification by a base security police officer — as is required of people seeking to protest near the main gate — Mr. Boothe refused and was handcuffed, according to fellow demonstrators and a base spokesman.

As the incident unfolded, a security police officer allegedly lifted Mr. Boothe to his feet by holding onto his shirt, which ripped. The officer then apparently attempted to lift Mr. Boothe up via his handcuffs to obtain access to his wallet and identification, according to an eyewitness.

The action caused three gashes on Mr. Boothe’s arm, and civilian paramedics were called, according to the base and bystanders. A California Highway Patrol officer also responded.

“Mr. Boothe received a minor injury,” according to Stefan Bocchino, a civilian base spokesman. “His injury occurred when he began to swing his arm in an attempt to prevent his detention and being handcuffed by VAFB security forces personnel. Out of our concern for his well being and safety, we called on AMR to respond. They treated him on scene for the cut and then he was released once the processing was complete.”

Mr. Boothe, a World War II veteran, has a long history of civil disobedience and activism directed at the military, particularly in opposition of ICBM launches. The retired Federal Communications Commission employee routinely stands in silent protest outside of Vandenberg with other activists. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Also involved in Wednesday’s incident was Dennis Apel, a member of the Catholic Worker movement in Guadalupe, who is permanently banned from the base. Mr. Apel served two months in prison in 2003, after pleading guilty to throwing four ounces of his blood at Vandenberg’s main entrance sign shortly before the war began in Iraq.

Mr. Apel said his fellow protester had blood running down his arm, and was upset about being separated from his sick wife, who was across the street from a designated grassy protest area.

“I think the arrest is not mean-spirited, but misguided,” Mr. Apel said. “The officer was told to arrest us. He made an error in judgment in how he handled Bud. He strong-armed him when it was not necessary. He could have reasoned with him.”

In addition to Mr. Apel and Mr. Boothe, one other person was arrested, Mr. Bocchino said.

The 59-year-old Mr. Apel said he has been arrested six times for trespassing at the base, and convicted twice, in the past decade or so. He was arrested last month, but the citation never entered the legal system, he said. He and several other people — but not Mr. Boothe — have lifetime “ban and bar” orders against them at Vandenberg.

Mr. Bocchino would not disclose the names of the people who have been permanently barred from the base, citing privacy concerns.

Much of the dispute between the protesters and Vandenberg leaders centers on access to a public place to demonstrate. Years ago, Vandenberg officials ordered the painting of a large green stripe on the asphalt near the front gate as a line of demarcation. Those crossing the line without permission face arrest.

Mr. Apel says that despite the “ban and bar” order against him, he sees it as a right to be at Vandenberg.

“I can drive through Highway 1 but I can’t get out of my car and be in that area and protest,” he said of his ban order. “My feeling is if you enter the base without authorization, that they have a right to cite you for trespassing. It’s an act of civil disobedience, an act of conscience.”

“Vandenberg, for whatever reason, claims to extend the limit outside the base itself to the Highway 1 right-of-way because it runs through the physical boundaries, but not the active part of the base.”

The protesters plan to return to Vandenberg late Nov. 17, in anticipation and protest of a middle-of-the-night launching of a Minuteman 3 ICBM the next day.

e-mail: nwallace@newspress.com