CWs Protest Production of New Nukes in Kansas City
Twenty-three activists, including Catholic Workers, gathered May 19 outside the Kansas City National Security Campus to protest nuclear weapons production. Six were arrested for trespass, including three Catholic Workers.
Photos: Jim Hannah via Brian Terrell.
At dawn on Monday, May 19, a group of 23 activists greeted workers arriving for the early shift at the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), a sprawling Honeywell-run facility that manufactures 80% of the non-nuclear components for the United States’ nuclear weapons arsenal. The protest was part of a weekend gathering of prayer, reflection, and resistance organized by PeaceWorks Kansas City, with support from Cherith Brook Catholic Worker and Jerusalem Farm, a Catholic intentional community. Catholic Workers from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin participated in the weekend.
Protesters held signs and banners condemning the facility’s role in the U.S. nuclear weapons modernization effort, including the accelerated production of the B61-13 gravity bomb—a device reportedly 25 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima. The KCNSC is currently involved in seven modernization programs spanning land, air, and sea-based nuclear systems.
In anticipation of the protest, KCNSC officials rerouted employees to another entrance; however, protesters brought their message to hundreds of morning commuters passing by the facility.
As part of the demonstration, six activists crossed the property line and were arrested. They face trespassing charges and are scheduled to appear in Jackson County court in late June. Among the six were Mike Miles (Anathoth Catholic Worker Farm, Wisconsin), Brian Terrell, and a former member of Holy Family Catholic Worker in Kansas City, Brother Louis Rodemann.
“The B61-13 is not only more powerful, but more flexible and more precise—features that make it far more usable,” according to Brian Terrell (Strangers and Guests Catholic Worker, Iowa). “The so-called modernization of nuclear weapons has created a new arms race.” He also noted that the facility is undergoing a massive expansion expected to double its size, supported by contractors eager to capitalize on nuclear weapons manufacturing.
It is estimated that the U.S. effort to modernize its nuclear weapons system will cost $1.5 to $2 trillion over thirty years, based on data provided by the Congressional Budget Office. “That’s pretty over the top, and we’re encouraging people to say no,” Mike Miles told an interviewer from “Jaws of Justice” on KKFI Community Radio, 90.1 FM.
The effort includes replacement of ICBMs, the development of new Columbia-class submarines and B-21 stealth bombers, warhead modernization, infrastructure expansion at KCNSC and elsewhere, and nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3).
Photos and further updates on the protest can be found at PeaceWorks Kansas City. Listen to numerous activists’ comments as the Jaws of Justice program reported live from the KCNSC site, beginning at about the 30-minute mark.
