Susan Crane (peace activist)
Susan Crane is a peace activist, a member of the California Catholic Worker movement[1] and a participant in the Plowshares movement. After decades of civil disobedience related to campaigns against nuclear war, she was sentenced to jail time in Germany in 2024.
Susan Crane | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Political activist |
| Organization(s) | Catholic Social Worker, Plowshares |
| Known for | Pacifism |
California Catholic Social Worker[edit]
Crane is a longtime member of California Catholic Worker House, an organization that provides support for people who are struggling with poverty and homelessness.[2] This organization continues the work of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Social Worker movement.
[edit]
Crane has been involved in four notable direct action protests through the Plowshares Movement where she worked alongside notable peace activists such as Sr. Anne Montgomery.[3] Crane has been critical of U.S. involvement in NATO and refers to the organization as a "war making force" believing it is beyond "anybody's control."[4]
Büchel Air Force Base[edit]
Beginning in 2018, Crane and 17 other peace activists broke into Büchel Air Force Base in Germany where U.S. nuclear weapons were being stored.[5] These weapons are known as B61s.[6] This direct action was known as part of the "Büchel is everywhere" campaign.[7]
Volkel Air Base[edit]
In 2023, Crane was arrested at Volkel Air Base in The Netherlands. She was interviewed about this direct action protest by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now in August that year. She was quoted as saying,
"We’re very concerned about the legality of the United States sending nuclear warheads to the five countries in Europe, particularly to the Netherlands and to Germany, because it’s against the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The treaty says that nuclear countries can’t share, as it were, their nuclear weapons with nonnuclear countries, and nonnuclear countries can’t accept these weapons. So, as far as we’re concerned, the Volkel Air Base, which is in the Netherlands, is a crime scene..."[8]
Arrests & trials[edit]
- November 2009: Kitsap-Bangor Naval Base, Washington[9]
- 2011: Trial at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor and Strategic Weapons Facility-Pacific (SWFPAC), Tacoma, Washington[3]
- 2023: Arrest at Volkel Air Base, The Netherlands[8]
Publications[edit]
- Disciples & Dissidents: The Prison Writings of the Prince of Peace Plowshares (2001)[10]
- ^ "Small Acts of Resistance to Nuclear Proliferation Spark Hope for a Better World – Catholic Worker Movement". catholicworker.org. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
- ^ "Redwood City Catholic Worker House". Catholic Worker Movement. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ a b Tsuchida, Chelsea (2010-12-03). "Elderly activists on trial in Tacoma". The Trail. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ Susan Crane Interview with David Hartsough. Retrieved 2024-05-09 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ Admin, LACW (2018-07-21). "PEACE ACTIVISTS GAIN ENTRY TO GERMAN AIR BASE WHICH DEPLOYS U.S. NUCLEAR BOMBS". Los Angeles Catholic Worker. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ "Peace Activists Gain Entry to German Air Base Which Deploys US Nuclear Bombs". duluthreader.com. 2018-07-19. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ "Nuke Free Europe: Human chain against nuclear arms in Büchel (Germany) – IPB – International Peace Bureau". ipb.org. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ a b "Activists Arrested at European Air Bases Protesting U.S. Nuclear Weapons". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ "Susan Crane Archives". Solitary Watch. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ Wilcox, Fred (2001). Disciples & Dissidents: Prison Writings of the Prince of Peace Plowshares. Haley's. ISBN 978-1-884540-52-3.