SOA 26 Sentenced
to Prison
Civil Resistance Actions Continue
as Sentences Come Down
Twenty-six people ranging in age from 19 to 88 years were found
guilty in Federal District Court of criminal trespassing. Their sentences rangefrom
three years on probation to one year in federal prison, with 20 of the defendants
receiving six months in federal prison. Jack Gilroy, a high school teacher from
Endwell, NY and father of four was among those sentenced to six months and a
$500 fine. Jack is now incarcerated in Muscogee County jail. The latest reports
are that he and two co-defendents are being treated with "Southern Hostility"
not hospitality. Presently Jack is under 24 hour lockdown for no other reason
than he is a "jailed protester".
Even as the 26
were being sentenced, 11 more people engaged in nonviolent civil resistance
actions on the base and were arrested. Three people walked onto the base, including
Lana Jacobs, wife of Steve Jacobs who was sentenced to a year in prison. They
removed the white line at the entrance to Fort Benning, a line which strangles
political discourse on the post. Five other protesters delivered a letter to
Col. Richard Downie, newly installed director of the SOA / WHISC, "banning
and barring" the school for Latin American officers from further counterinsurgency
training at odds with a respect for human rights.