The "GD 10" Speak Out

May 2008



Greetings Fellow Peace and Justice Activists,

We, a group of peace and justice activists in the Burlington area, decided we needed to share with the wider community recent experiences and thoughts that have come out of our recent civil disobedience at war-profiteer General Dynamics. We hope this letter will articulate our concerns with the State of Vermont’s reaction to non-violent protest.

Our Story

On May Day a group of activists living in Burlington: students, farmers, artists, teachers, social workers, stone masons, and others, organized a peaceful occupation of the lobby at General Dynamics’ Armament and Technical Products Burlington branch headquarters. Acting in solidarity with the International Longshore and Warehouse Unions west coast port shut-down and in reaction to the mass murder and ecological destruction in Iraq, we entered General Dynamics with three demands.

The first demand was to give back all state tax breaks to the people of Vermont; General Dynamics, despite posting earnings of $573 million in the first quarter of 2008, has received over $3.6 million in tax breaks from the state of Vermont in the last five years. Millions of dollars that could better go to feeding, housing, and providing healthcare to those Vermonters who are in desperate need. Secondly, we asked GD to stop the manufacturing of gatling guns, missiles and other weapons of mass-destruction; since the 1980’s war profiteers (it was General Electric before General Dynamics) have been designing and manufacturing the gatling guns and missiles that have murdered men, women, and children all around the world, from El Salvador to Iraq. Vermonters want an economy based on peace and justice, not a recession cased by war and war-profiteering. Lastly, we asked GD to stop contributing money to political campaigns; our own anti-war Congressman Peter Welch has received at least $3500 from GD. War-dollars and the influence they bring have no place in our political landscape.

From 3:30 in the afternoon to 8:15 we peacefully sat-in the lobby of General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, asking to speak with a representative of General Dynamics. “No comment” was the official line from the GD corporate bosses, and after reading the “notice of trespass” the Burlington police, Chittenden County Sheriff and Burlington fire department removed us from the lock-boxes, processed, and released us.

While, for the most part, our interactions with the Burlington police department were professional and even quite amicable (some police even voiced support for our cause) our dealings with the state’s prosecutor have been less so. Threats and needless acts of intimidation greeted us at our arraignment. While the district attorney’s office was not successful in forcing $1000 in bail to four of those arrested District Attorney Donavan expressed his desire to seek from us over $6000 in “restitution” costs: $4043 to pay for City of Burlington police and fire personnel, $890 for the Chittenden County Sheriff and (outrageously) $1228.17 in cleaning costs to General Dynamics themselves. We have yet to see what, if any, plea bargains the state will place on the table for this trespassing charge but it seems obvious to us that we are to be made example of through the court. The State wants to send a message to Vermonters working for peace and justice that civil disobedience will no longer be tolerated.

Our Questions
Why has the state decided to pursue this action more vigorously? How much pressure is the District Attorney under from war-profiteers and other war-mongers in our state?

How will heavy and burdensome ‘restitution costs’ impact dissent in Vermont; how will they effect war resistance and the fight for social, economic, and ecological justice?

Thank you for reading reading this letter. While we all knew the possible consequences of partaking in Non-violent Civil Disobedience at General Dynamics, and are willing to accept the consequences to ourselves, we all felt that raising our case to the wider community could help everyone better prepare for the action needed to end the war and bring peace and justice to Iraq and Vermont.

While we are still planning our course of action for the court system, we welcome any and all support. Feel free to call the District Attorney’s office in Burlington if moved to do so! And please come to a meeting to plan our effort to stop GD’s weapons manufacturing.

GD out of Iraq! Peace Economy Now!

Sincerely,

The GD10

Will Benning
Jen Berger
Dana Demetri
S’ra DeSantis
Ciara Devozza
Chantelle Fisher-McKane
Nate Joseph
Nick Parrish
Rachel Ruggles
Kylie Vanerstrom