It was quite a busy day at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada!
by Martha Hubert
We CODEPINKers, dressed in black with white masks, had a morning vigil from 6-8 AM dedicated to the DAY OF THE DEAD, with an elaborate altar, and tons of visuals up and down the highway. We were joined by an AP photographer who took lots of pictures. A few activists came up from Las Vegas to join us. It was a glorious sunrise and spirited vigil/protest. We closed in a circle with songs and each of us said a little something about why we were there.
In the afternoon, we were out again, joined by our local friend, Ruben and several defendants from the trials in Las Vegas, some of whom were arrested at SHUT DOWN CREECH in March of this year. We stretched the huge long SHUT DOWN CREECH banner across from the base, so that those leaving the base would just have to see it. We held several other banners, spaced like farm stand signs down the highway. We had various responses; lots tried to ignore us (not easy). We had some peace signs returned to us, waving, and very few middle finger salutes. It rained a little, though not enough to really bother us. We were gifted with a double rainbow after our protest. Our chief cook, Cecile made a scrumptious meal enjoyed by all.
That evening we had the first ever group action at Creech at NIGHT. We called it NIGHT OF THE DEAD. Five courageous souls crossed “the line” with a letter to be delivered to the commander. It took quite a while for the base security to see that we were there. Those five activists went pretty far past “the line” before the base security caught up with them. After being told that the letter would be forwarded, they walked backwards across the line, where they joined multiple supporters, singing, chanting and encouraging all who could here to think about the death and destruction caused by drones operated from Creech. There were NO ARRESTS.
Mission accomplished!
NOTE: CODEPINK along with our allies Nevada Desert Experience, Veterans for Peace and others have been protesting killer and surveillance drones controlle at Creech Air Force Base, 45 miles north of Las Vegas, NV, since July 2009.
Martha Hubert is an artist and a longtime CODEPINK organizer.
