| At 1:00 in the morning on February 21st
1985 the Nuclear Train train
transported approximately 200
nuclear bombs through the nearby
town of Montezuma. Having left
the Pantex Plant in Amarillo,
Texas a few days earlier, it
would arrive later in the day
at the Naval Weapons station
in Charleston, South Carolina.
Pantex is the final assembly
point for all nuclear weapons
produced in the United States.
Montezuma is just on of hundreds
of small towns and cities through
which the deadly cargo travels.
Normally
the streets of downtown Montezuma
would be empty and quiet at
1:00 in the morning, but on
this day there were hundreds
of people waiting for the train.
While about 100 people from
Georgia, Alabama, and Florida
gathered to line the main street
where the train would pass with
colorful banners and signs,
50-60 law enforcement agents
were checking out the area,
and many townspeople, usually
asleep at this time, stood around
wondering what was going to
happen. The press was buzzing.
And
then, as the train approached,
five people went onto the tracks
with a banner and stood in front
of the train. Joe White, a Resident
Partner at Koinonia, was one
of the five and was joined by
friends from around Georgia.
The
five were taken to the county
jail and released the next day
on $5,000 bail each. They have
been charged with criminal trespass
and obstructing a train; the
maximum sentence for each charge
in one year in prison.
The
train is scheduled for May 21st
so by the time you receive this
newsletter they will have been
sentenced. Please keep them
and the judge in your prayers,
but even more, continue to pray
that in both our personal lives
and in our national policy,
we will learn the ways that
make for peace.
Source, 1985 Koinonia Newsletter
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