"Silence Trident" Action Disarms Nuclear Navy's Project ELF

by Nukewatch

On Saturday, June 24, 2000, two peace activists performed a nonviolent act of disarmament and crime prevention by cutting down three wooden antenna poles for the U.S. Navy's Project ELF submarine transmitter. Bonnie Urfer, 48, and Michael Sprong, 37, both of Luck, Wisconsin, used hand-held Swede saws to take the dangerous and illegal nuclear-war trigger system off-line. They called their action "Silence Trident."

On June 24 Michael Sprong (left) and Bonnie Urfer cut down three poles that hold the nuclear Navy's ELF transmitter. ELF sends orders to missile-firing submarines around the world. The two have been charged in State court with intentional damage to property and face ten years and/or $10,000 fines. Letters to Bonnie can be sent to Ashland County Jail, 220 6th St. E., Ashland, WI 54806. Michael is out on bond. A trial date is pending. FFI Contact Nukewatch: 715-472-4185.

After Urfer and Sprong sawed through the heavy cedar poles that hold up the antenna lines, which are strung through Chequamagon National Forest near Clam Lake, Wisconsin, they attached a "criminal indictment" of the ELF/Trident system and waited for authorities. An Ashland County sheriff's deputy took over an hour to arrive and place the two under arrest on suspicion of sabotage and intentional damage to property. Plowshares activist Barb Katt, 42, who was a witness to the action, was also arrested on suspicion of being "party to" the two alleged felonies. Katt was later released for lack of probable cause.

Project ELF sends coded, one-way messages to deeply submerged, missile-firing Trident submarines around the world. The submarines can be ordered simultaneously to the surface where they can each launch 24 missiles that carry up to eight nuclear warheads apiece. From these forward-based platforms, enemy missile sites and command posts can be destroyed in less than fifteen minutes. This makes Project ELF the "trigger" for over 50 percent of U.S. strategic nuclear weapons. In documents Urfer and Sprong brought to the site, they charge that the ELF/Trident complex is illegal under international as well as domestic U.S. law against planning murder and indiscriminate warfare.

At a June 27 bond hearing for Urfer and Sprong, no charges were issued and no complaint was entered, but Circuit Court Judge Robert Eaton, acting on a police report, set a $1,000 cash bond for Sprong, who was denied his request to have an attorney present. No bond was set for Urfer, who is serving a 60-day sentence for previous ELF trespass convictions.

By early July, no charges had been filed, although a federal investigation was underway. The assistant district attorney claimed that "there are jurisdictional problems" that kept the state from entering a complaint. Negotiations between state and federal prosecutors as to which authority would bring charges were evidently ongoing. The lack of state charges after nine or ten days is unusual. Ashland County District Attorney Mike Gableman said a federal prosecution would be "more economical" for the county. In two previous ELF disarmament cases-George Ostensen's in 1987, and Donna Howard's and Tom Hastings' in 1996-state charges of sabotage resulted in "not guilty" verdicts.

Sprong appeared in Ashland County (WI) district court on Monday, July 31, 2000 to answer the charge of intentional damage to property brought by Ashland County District Attorney Mike Gableman, on behalf of the state of Wisconsin. Urfer was to appear by live video from the Ashland county jail, but did not appear due to a scheduling mix-up on the part of jail staff. Attorney John Bachman appeared in court on her behalf.

District Judge Robert Eaton presided at the hearing. Judge Eaton confirmed that Urfer and Sprong had received copies of the complaint against them and also confirmed that they waived their right to a preliminary hearing within 20 days. After which, the judge turned to DA Gableman and asked if the U.S. Attorney's Office in Madison, WI, was still considering bringing charges against Urfer and Sprong. Gableman reported to the judge that in conversation with "a deputy U.S. attorney" in Madison he was told that a decision on whether to bring federal charges would be made within ten days.

Judge Eaton, appearing somewhat impatient with the delay caused by jurisdictional wrangling between the state and federal prosecutors, declared that until a decision was made about who would ultimately prosecute the case against Urfer and Sprong, he would adjourn the hearing. Eaton concluded the hearing by ordering the parties to appear in Ashland County district court on August 28, 2000 for a preliminary hearing.

As they await word on who will prosecute the case, Bonnie Urfer remains in jail serving a 60-day sentence for previous ELF trespass actions. Michael Sprong remains out on bond.

Silence Trident Resources

Trident Resistance Network--Midwest
Michael Sprong or Beth Preheim
715-472-4184

Nukewatch
P.O. Box 649
Luck, WI 54853
715-472-4185 (phone)
715-472-4184 (fax)
www.nukewatch.com

Word Up!

Number of nuclear weapons on Planet Earth: 36,000.

Number of nuclear weapons ready to go off within minutes: 5,000.

Number of homeless people who could be adequately housed for the cost of one Trident submarine: 40,000.

--FOR Witness, Early Summer 2000.