(DC) Anti-war activists cheer judge's ruling

Anti-war activists cheer judge's ruling
By DENNIS YUSKO Staff Writer
Updated:09:07 p.m., Wednesday, January 5, 2011

ALBANY -- A Washington, D.C., judge on Tuesday dismissed charges against dozens of anti-war veterans and activists who protested in front of the White House last month.

At least three Capital Region residents were among more than 130 people charged with "failure to obey a lawful order" on Dec. 16, when they protested American involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in an anti-war protest with Veterans for Peace at the White House. Forty-two of those arrested, including John Amidon, a Marine Corps veteran from Albany, chose to fight the $100 tickets at trial.

On Tuesday, Judge Richard Ringell of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia dropped the cases after prosecutors declined to file charges due to missing or incomplete police paperwork, the Veterans for Peace group said in a statement. They pledged to return to Washington on Jan. 11 to call attention to the continued use of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.

"Clearly, the government and police felt that these veterans and their supporters acted with the courage of their convictions, and did not wish to spend the time and funds necessary for a trial proceeding," Veterans for Peace member Ann Wilcox said. "This is a major victory for the peace movement."

Among those arrested Dec. 16 were Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, Amidon, Joe Lombardo of Delmar and Linda LeTendre of Saratoga Springs.

before we get recognition. The public, in general, has forgotten we have a couple of pesky wars going on.
I think the belief at the time was that a few arrests would shut the masses up.

They were wrong.

keep pushing. I don't know if people don't care about the wars as much as it has become something we live with. I feel absolutely impotent that I can do no more than vote. I still can't believe the Repulsive Party won the House. It was won through ill-informed or uninformed citizens. Or complacency. Maybe pounding the pavement on a daily basis is needed. If we do not take control of our own destinies at this moment we may be lost forever. Complacency is how the Nazis took control of Germany. Lady, I so admire what you do. You put us all to shame at times.