This is the second of a two-part series examining civil disobedience. This month, we look at civil disobedience
throughout Oregon and feature resisters talking about the impact of civil disobedience.

By Bonnie Tinker

Civil disobedience is a tactic of last resort for most people, but it is increasingly in use across Oregon. Grandparents, mitten-knitting mothers, carpenters, and retired mill workers are gong to jail in a desperate attempt to say what voters said last November: “Stop this war now!”

Who are they? What do they hope to accomplish? What do their family, friends and neighbors think of their arrests?
Listen to their voices:

Bend, Ore., March 20: Fran Davis, arrested for sitting in Rep. Greg Walden’s office says, “My family was divided on whether they were happy or sad or disturbed that I was arrested. Four of my five kids were terrific. One was concerned there would be an adverse effect on my grandson who is in Iraq, but my grandson said,‘Good for you, Grandma.’ He would like so much to get home; he was supposed to be out last June — he’s in the Army — but he’s been extended and won’t be home until October.”

Eugene, Ore., March 29: Carol Melia, arrested for sitting in Sen. Gordon Smith’s office says, “I have voted, called my representatives, written letters, held banners, engaged the arts, used every legal means the American people are given to make social change, and now will risk arrest as a last resort. I do intend to nonviolently, symbolically disrupt business as usual for the federal government in order to draw attention to the horrendous human cost of war, hoping to save some lives.”

Medford, Ore., April 5: Mary Madsen, who was willing to risk arrest in Rep. Greg Walden’s office says, “We were on the teleconference and he wasn’t saying much and I just said, ‘I’m pretty willing to just sit here until you give us some commitment.’ I don’t know where it came from; I didn’t go in there planning to say that. It was kind of scary but then I thought, ‘I said it. I have to stand by it, and I was ready to.’”

For some people, arriving at the point of civil disobedience is a long process and is related to a larger campaign. For others, it starts with a visceral reaction to a specific injustice and frustration with being unheard by elected representatives.

Bend and “The Central Oregon Seven”

Current campaigns to influence congressional representatives are an example of long-term organizing strategies coming together with grassroots anger at the failure of their elected representatives to end the war in Iraq. While the recent arrest of seven“grannies” in Bend caught many people by surprise, that action was the culmination of months of organizing. The local organizing was affiliated with The Rural Organizing Project (ROP, www.rop.org), and informally with Voices for Creative Nonviolence (occupationproject (at) vcnv(dot)org, or 773-878- 3815).

ROP had organized a series of four town halls in rural Oregon to coincide with the February Congressional recess. Voices for Creative Nonviolence was also prepared for the recess and launched the Occupation Project on Feb. 5. The project aimed to create sustained nonviolent civil disobedience aimed at ending funding for the U.S. war in and occupation of Iraq. CodePink, Declaration of Peace, Veterans for Peace and other national organizations joined in organizing the campaign.

“The Central Oregon Seven” were arrested on March 20 in Bend, Oregon after a careful campaign to influence Rep. Greg Walden (full story, www.rop.org/Walden.htm). It was a plan grounded in local grassroots activism, supported by the Rural Organizing Project and CodePink, and affiliated with the Voices for Creative Nonviolence Occupation Project. The women who eventually occupied Walden’s office appreciated the support other organizations gave them to raise public awareness of the cost of the war in Iraq and build a strategy to influence their elected congressional representative.

Amy Dudley, Organizer and Program Director for ROP, says that the occupation of Walden’s office in Bend was a perfect example of how to use nonviolent direct action effectively. “In Bend, one of the powerful things is that they had started off a campaign through phone calling, letters to the editor, etc., making reasonable requests that he meet with them. The local NBC affiliate said the women did everything right.” In February, ROP helped organize constituents in each of the four rural congressional districts in Oregon to hold “People’s Town Halls on the Cost of War.” Congressman Greg Walden was not in attendance at the town hall, although he had been asked to set a date for such a town hall for several months. Requests for aides from Walden’s office to attend were similarly unmet, leaving many at the town hall disappointed and frustrated with the lack of responsiveness from Walden’s office.

The Bend women, representing local human dignity groups from Central Oregon, were attempting to bring the resolution developed by 175 people at the Feb. 17 town hall in Redmond to Rep. Greg Walden. The resolution called on state representatives to cut off funding for the war in Iraq, prevent the spread of warfare into Iran, and publicize the cost of war to their constituents. Several members of CodePink had tried in vain for weeks to make an appointment to talk with Walden. They had tried since August to get a contact with him and sent a letter in August 2006 to try to find a date to meet with him during his recess time, but Walden wouldn’t commit to any date. He did not attend the February town hall meeting or even send a representative.

Fran Davis of Crooked River Ranch, one of the women arrested in Walden’s office on March 20, says that they had carefully planned the events leading up to their visit to his office, and came prepared to wait until he would agree to meet with them. They wanted to tell him about the many speakers at the town hall, including one National Guard soldier who said that troops had dumped gas and oil because they didn’t want to transport it and that he had finally resigned. They presented their documents to Walden’s aide and requested a conversation with their representative.“We wanted to ask him to please not vote for anymore funding for troops. He said come back the next day. We wanted just five minutes.” The women waited in Walden’s office until 10:00 p.m. when the police came and arrested them.

The seven women were released in about two hours on the condition that they not go back to his office for a year or they would be charged. The charges were “noncomplainted,” but the women were told that if they did it again charges would be pressed and they would be fined. At this point, the consensus of the group is that they will not risk arrest.

Davis is particularly concerned about potential fines. The threat of a fine stopped her from reconsidering civil disobedience, but she says it hasn’t stopped them from demonstrating on the street corner. “We’ve been working under the umbrella of ROP and they’ve been extremely supportive. We have also gotten involved with CodePink and Amnesty International so we’re not just a handful of pissed off grannies. We’re men and women of all ages involved in peace vigils; we’re making 3000 white crosses that will be going up on Hwy 97 where they will be quite visible.”

Asked if she would consider civil disobedience again if not personally faced with steep fines, she said, “You betcha. I’d do it again, especially knowing if there might be help with fines. I wouldn’t have a problem going to jail. I’m 71 now, still alive and well and still pissed off.”

Medford
Although the Bend women were not successful in speaking directly with Greg Walden, they are widely credited with influencing him to respond differently to a group in Medford who were prepared to sit in at his office on April 5 (see rogueimc.org/en/2007/04/8237.shtml). Citizens for Peace & Justice (www.medfordcpj.org) joined them to deliver citizens’ e-mails, letters and a resolution from the ROP town hall. Other advocates showed their support out front with signs stating “Where’s Walden?” “Fund Books Not Bombs!” and“Bring Our Troops Home Now!”

Much to their surprise the group was not threatened with arrest, but was granted a teleconference with Walden. Mary Madsen, one of those willing to be arrested if necessary, was shocked. “We were prepared (for arrest) when we went to visit Greg Walden’s office but he gave us a teleconference. He’s never done it for anyone before.” He also promised the group a town hall meeting in August with at least one to two weeks notice. That has since turned into a one hour meeting during business hours on July 3. “This is unacceptable— one hour the day before the fourth of July and no notice has gone out. We have notified him this is not acceptable.” The group will protest, but they are not yet sure of other steps they will take to get a real public meeting with Walden. Wes Brain, a Medford-based web radio host, says, “He just doesn’t represent us very well.”

Eugene
In March, seven people in Eugene were arrested while sitting in Rep. Peter DeFazio’s office: On March 5, Pam Garrison and Rich Klopfer (http://vcnv.org/2-arrested-at-rep-peter-defazios-office-in-oregon) were arrested, and on March 12, Peg Morton and Trudy Malony (http://vcnv.org/rep-peter-defazio-2-arrests-in-portland-or) were also arrested. On March 29, Michael Williams, Carol Melia and Karla Cohen were arrested in Sen. Gordon Smith’s office (http://vcnv.org/eugene-or-protesters-arrested-at-u-s-courthouse). Each group had the support of other group members who did not plan to be arrested and who left before the arrests began.

Because DeFazio and Smith’s offices in Eugene are in a federal courthouse, this group faced potentially serious penalties, months in prison, plus 12 months probation. The prosecutor initially proposed a $250 fine, 12 months probation, and several days of community service. With the advice of a pro bono lawyer, Lauren Regan of the Civil Liberties Defense Center, the group accepted a sentence of 20 hours community service, and deferred adjudication, which means that the charges will be dropped in 12 months if conditions, including not breaking any laws with further civil disobedience, are met.Michael Williams is not very concerned about the restriction on civil disobedience for the next year. “I was helping other people get arrested for two years before my turn came up. I will continue in that support role until next May,” he said. He figures several other people may be available to take his place, and he sees that as more useful than one person facing multiple arrests. “I really don’t know how much it helps for one person to be arrested many consecutive times. There is a lot to be said for honing a piece of metal to a fine point, but a long, sharp edge is probably moreuseful.” After his sentencing, he stopped by Ron Wyden’s office, left a message urging him to stop funding the war, and told them that if Wyden was still voting for funds in a year, he looked forward to being arrested in his office.

Although loosely affiliated with Voices for Creative Nonviolence, the Eugene group has a history of working together as an affinity group. Many of the members are a part of Eugene Friends Meeting (Quakers). They share in the 300-year-old Quaker history of nonviolent civil disobedience and the more recent Quaker experience of active involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam Peace Movement.

Peg Morton, a Quaker who was also arrested “crossing the line” at the School of the Americas, spent six months in federal prison after she turned 70 years old. She expressed the spiritual basis of her civil disobedience actions in a statement made when she was sentenced for the occupation of Rep. DeFazio’s office. “I call on the Spirit, the Higher Power by whatever name that is believed in so many faiths across so many races, cultures and borders by the rich and the poor. … I call on You to be present for us all, to grant us courage and compassion and the energy to go on, to embrace each other across all boundaries, to form a beloved community of peace, of commitment to the dignity of all human kind and to the life of the planet.”

Despite a history of what most would call activism, Carol Melia, also a Quaker, is quick to clarify that she is well-known in her neighborhood as an ordinary person. “I am not an activist,” she says. “I will never be an activist. I’m everything else. To me the word activist is a way … people separate themselves from those who are taking action. I go to my kids’ recitals, I water my garden, I knit mittens for everyone at Christmas AND I have all of my representatives on speed dial. You can take action and not sacrifice your life. It’s easy.”

Ongoing Statewide Organizing

Tom Hastings of the Portland-based Defund the War Campaign (defundthewar.com), whose members have been arrested many times while attempting to visit Gordon Smith in Portland, recognizes the invaluable work of people outside of the metropolitan area who are trying to influence Oregon representatives.“Our communication with Smith has gone from token to nil; we can’t even get in the building. We can’t get off the sidewalk. Smith doesn’t care what people in Portland think.”

Reaching Smith in Portland has been particularly difficult because his office is in a building privately owned by Portland General Electric (PGE). PGE’s security guards have simply been having anyone arrested for trespassing whom they think may be a protester as soon as they set foot on the property. On June 22, Peter Bergel of Peaceworks in Salem and Bob Projansky completed arguments in their trial challenging the use of the trespassing statue to prevent visits to Smith’s office. They argued their case on constitutional grounds based on a provision that says it is the duty of inhabitants of Oregon to “instruct” their representatives. “The invocation of Oregon’s criminal trespass statute has here unconstitutionally restrained us from our right to assemble together in a peaceable manner to consult for our common good and from instructing our representative or anyone on his staff,” said Bob Projansky in his closing argument. A decision is expected by the end of July. Peaceworks is encouraging the Defund the War Campaign to work more closely with ROP and human dignity groups across the state to more effectively influence representatives who are not dependent upon Portland area votes.

Whatever the outcome of the Bergel and Projansky trials, and despite court restrictions on protesters who have been arrested, we can expect growing campaigns of civil disobedience as long as the war in Iraq continues.

In August, the Occupation Project will launch a reinvigorated campaign of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience to end Iraq war funding. They will continue with a strategy of occupying, both legally and while risking arrest, the offices of representatives and senators who refuse to publicly pledge to vote against any additional funding of the Iraq war. The project will work in conjunction with campaigns organized by Declaration of Peace, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, CodePink, Veterans for Peace, Grassroots America for Us and others, and is expected to continue at least through September.

Civil Disobedience — Why do we do it?
Civil disobedience is a tactic and is most effective with a clear goal, but the reasons for choosing this course are often very personal. Listen to the voices:

Peg Morton, in her statement to the federal court in Eugene: “Many if not most of us are discouraged and many feel powerless. We are fed buckets-full of fear. We cannot succumb to these emotions. Those who are suffering in Iraq, the entire Middle East, Darfur, Colombia in South America, millions in Latin America. they all depend on us as allies. In fact, we need each other. We depend on each other. We cannot let them down.”

Clyde Chamberlain, arrested with Civil Resist and the Surge Protection Brigade (surgeprotection(at) riseup{dot}net): “I guess I see civil disobedience as possibly the only viable way to change our country and the world. I believe Gandhi and Martin Luther King both reached that conclusion. A stand has to be made and some must be willing to sacrifice to further that cause. For me, it has become a moral and ethical obligation to my fellow humans. … Children must be taught other ways. Not just in America but around the world. I believe that education, love, compassion and understanding are the keys. War and conflict do not and will not make us or anyone else free.”

Karla Cohen, speaking to the judge at her sentencing in Eugene: “And I can tell you, judge, without hesitation, that our democracy is so diminished, the rhetoric maintaining the occupation so perverse, that a determined, visible, peaceful, and yes, disruptive dissent, is not one tool for ending the bloodshed in Iraq, but the only tool. If our government acted as we do, on conscience, from a sense of moral imperative, I wouldn’t be standing before you today.”

Carol Melia, arrested in Eugene: “It’s not hard. Taking a direct action is a spiritual experience. Direct action feels like doing the most effective work against the war with the least amount of red tape, meetings, taking minutes, fundraising and the rigmarole. You just take your body and put it where it needs to go to stop the illegal war. It draws attention and builds the movement.”

Fran Davis, arrested in Bend, and grandmother of a soldier in Iraq: “Why is it worth it? It got Greg Walden’s attention. Friends saw it on TV and radio and I was surprised, and greatly encouraged by the response. Only one person said, ‘You’re an idiot.’ The others said ‘You go girl.’ They thought it was worthwhile. I got thank-yous from people who didn’t have the courage to do it themselves. We have to get this war stopped — it’s idiotic.”

The voices from Oregon in 2007 echo the Nuremberg Agreements that were signed, under the leadership of the United States, in 1945 following the defeat of Nazi Germany. They are supposed to be binding upon every government in the world today:“Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience... (They) have the duly to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring.”

Bonnie Tinker is a Quaker, a grandmother, and a member of the Surge Protection Brigade. She has been arrested three times since October 2006. Her organizing and public education that is within the law is carried out as the Director of Love Makes A Family, Inc., a membership organization www.LMFamily.org. They are currently seeking volunteers for an educational booth at the Oregon State Fair.