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"Meeting Adjourned!" Students Block UC Nuclear Labs Meeting
Posted November 20, 2006
Nine student and alumni members of the Coalition to Demilitarize the UC non-violently disrupted a UC Board of Regents meeting on Thursday, November 16, vowing to "prevent the Regents from effectively carrying out their duty as managers of potential Armageddon" until they sever ties with the US nuclear weapons at Livermore and Los Alamos.
Coalition to Demilitarize the UC protestors lock down (link arms) to disrupt the UC Regents' "business as usual" of managing potential Armageddon
The action began at roughly 10:40 a.m. as the Department of Energy Oversight Committee (the public face of the Regents' relationship with the nuclear weapons enterprise) was about to convene. The protestors signaled the start of their action by conducting a "unity clap" (popularized by the United Farm Workers in California), before informing the Regents: "Meeting adjourned! We won't let you meet until you meet our demands!"
As the Regents exited the room, the nuclear abolitionists linked arms on the floor and repeatedly chanted slogans such as "UC Nuclear Free!" and "No Nukes! In Our Name!" The police approached and ordered them to disperse. After a several-minute interlude, during which time the protestors continued to chant and shout critiques regarding UC weapons lab management, the UCLA police arrested each of them one-by-one -- but not until having to pry them out of "lockdown" position and drag their limp bodies from the building.
The protestors were held in custody for the next 90 minutes by roughly a dozen UCLA police officers in a room inside the same building (one day after the UCLAPD tazered a student repeatedly at the campus library, without provocation), before being released and told to leave the campus within 10 minutes. Each protestor has been charged with "Failure to Disperse," a misdemeanor under California State Penal Code 409. They have been ordered to appear in a Los Angeles court on December 18, though it is possible they will not actually have to appear.
The protest marked a dramatic escalation of tactics by the Coalition to Demilitarize the UC. During the past several years, we have repeatedly attempted to convince the Regents to abandon their ties to the nuclear weapons complex through letter-writing, petitioning, and utilizing their "public comment" period, only to be rebuffed and ignored at every turn. Now, we have opted to take more drastic measures. The initial response has been inspiring. Already, students at multiple campuses show signs of being galvanized by the action.
As many of the protestors chanted as they were dragged from the room, "We'll Be Back!"
To Read "The Emerging Crisis," a statement of our intentions and motivations during the action, click here.
Video of the Protest
Part 1, Click Here
Part 2, Click Here
Part 3, Click Here
Part 4, Click Here
Part 5, Click Here
Independent Media Coverage
Students Arrested for Blocking UC Nuclear Labs - Los Angeles Indymedia
Select Past Regents Meeting Actions
May 2005 - "We Vote No!"
May 2006 - "Students Take Over at UC Regents Meeting"
Additional Photos
Darwin (UCSB) speaks.
Caitlin (UCSB) speaks.
Andrew (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation) speaks.
Erika (UCSC) speaks.
Mark (UCSC) speaks. At Mark's feet lie over 500 paper peace cranes. They were deposited there by UCSB student Carleigh O'Donnel, who is coordinating a crane-folding project with the ultimate goal of creating one for every nuclear weapon in the US arsenal (currently about 9,600).
Ellen (UCSB) speaks.
