Taking the SOA to Trial: the SOA Watch 15

WASHINGTON, DC--Fifteen human rights advocates are scheduled to go on trial on Monday, September 12, 2011 for engaging in nonviolent direct action at the White House in Washington, DC. The “White House 27,” a group of human rights advocates who staged a die-in on the White House sidewalk on April 10, 2011, to call on President Obama to shut down the notorious School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) and to put an end to the U.S. militarization of the Americas. The 15 defendants are facing the criminal charges of “failure to obey a lawful order” and “blocking and incommoding.” Despite facing a criminal trial, the human rights advocates are not intimidated.

The SOA Watch 15 are:

Alice Gerard, NY
Ann Tiffany, NY
Chris Gaunt, IA
David Barrows, DC
Ed Kinane, NY
Eve Tetaz, DC
Jack Gilroy, NY
Judith Kelly, VA
Maia Rodriguez, VA
Megan Felt, IA
Nico Udu-gama, DC
Paki Wieland, MA
Priscilla Treska, OH
Sarah Sommers, OH
Scott Wright, DC

The defendants plan to use their trial to shed light on the past and present history of US militarization and economic domination of Latin America, and to repeat the call to President Obama to shut down the School of the Americas by executive order.

Source:

http://soaw.org/news/news-alerts/3769-15-human-rights-activists-facing-trial-for-nonviolent-direct-action-at-the-white-house-in-washington-dc-to-close-the-school-of-the-americas-soa-whinsec