November 06, 2011

The trial of the Hancock 38 ended late Saturday evening, November 5. Closing arguments ended just before midnight after 5 days of testimony at the Town of DeWitt Court House near Syracuse, NY. The verdict will be announced Thursday, December 1 at 5 pm. They had been charged with 2 counts of Disorderly Conduct.

At the anti-drone protest last April 22nd, activists from Upstate New York and beyond who had participated in a “die-in” at the main entrance of Hancock Air National Guard Base just outside Syracuse last April. The action symbolized the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan by hunter-killer reaper drones and protested the reaper in our midst and everywhere. The defendants also attempted to deliver an indictment focusing on the illegality of the drones to the base commander; the indictment was taken from them and thrown to the ground.

In court, defendants testified to the horrific destruction caused by MQ 9 Reapers and other Unmanned Arial Vehicles used by the defense department in Afghanistan and numerous other countries where we are not technically at war.

Defendant Ellen Grady of Ithaca said, “Our intention was to uphold the law because we know war crimes are being committed at the base. The Nuremberg Principles obligate us to do something in order not to be complicit with the war crimes of our government.” The Nuremberg Principles forbid wars of aggression, attacks on civilians and extrajudicial assassinations, all associated with drone warfare.

Photo of Hancock
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