• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

 

Y-12 protesters face new national defense charge, longer prison sentence

Posted at 9:28 am December 5, 2012
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Transform Now Plowshares

The three anti-nuclear weapons activists pictured above allegedly cut through fences and vandalized a uranium storage building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and now face federal charges of property destruction, property depredation, and injuring national defense premises. From left to right the three are Michael R. Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed. (Submitted photo)

A new federal charge has been added against the three protesters who allegedly cut through fences at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and splashed human blood and spray-painted slogans on a uranium storage building.

A three-count indictment returned against Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli adds a new count of injuring national-defense premises, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said in a Wednesday morning press release. The new charge carries a longer prison sentence of up to 20 years.

The indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Knoxville on Tuesday supersedes the earlier three-count indictment from August.

The new indictment does not include the earlier trespassing charge. However, it does include the previous charges of property destruction and property depredation. Including all the charges, the protesters, who are opposed to Y-12’s nuclear weapons work, now face jail sentences of up to 35 years and fines of up to $750,000.

The Fruit of Justice is Peace Slogan on HEUMF at Y-12

Three anti-nuclear weapons activists who sneaked into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28 allegedly splashed human blood and, quoting Proverbs, sprayed paint on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility. The protesters also hammered the building, causing it to chip, and strung up crime scene tape. (Submitted photo)

The trial against the trio had been scheduled for Feb. 26, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. But it may be rescheduled as a result of the superseding indictment, the press release said.

It said the new charges are the result of an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The IG’s involvement has been announced previously, but it’s not clear if the FBI’s participation in any Y-12 investigations has been revealed.

The new count alleges that “on or about July 28, 2012, Walli, Rice, and Boertje-Obed, aiding and abetting each other, with intent to injure, interfere with, and obstruct the national defense of the United States, did willfully injure, destroy and contaminate, and attempt to injure, destroy and contaminate national-defense premises, specifically, buildings and grounds of the Y-12 National Security Complex.”

They allegedly damaged the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, which stores bomb-grade uranium.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey E. Theodore and Melissa M. Kirby are representing the United States in the case against the three protesters, who were motivated by religious beliefs and called themselves Transform Now Plowshares. They have been released from the Blount County Detention Facility pending trial but ordered to follow certain conditions.

Their July 28 intrusion at Y-12 stunned local and federal officials and residents and led to a series of investigations, staff changes, congressional hearings, a temporary suspension of nuclear operations, and a termination of the plant’s security contract with WSI Oak Ridge.

Filed Under: Police and Fire, Top Stories, Y-12 Security Breach Tagged With: federal grand jury, Greg Boertje-Obed, injuring national defense premises, Jeffrey E. Theodore, Megan Rice, Melissa M. Kirby, Michael Walli, protesters, U.S. Attorney, United States Attorney, Y-12 National Security Complex

Advertisements

 


Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Some of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require significant time to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

Comments

  1. Peggy Tiner says

    December 5, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    Good.

    Reply
  2. Sam Hopwood says

    December 5, 2012 at 3:19 pm

    I believe that we should give these dangerous domestic terrorists a hug and a BIG thank you for pointing out VERY clearly the shockingly low level of security at Y-12, but they committed the inexcusable crime of embarrasing a lot of powerful people. This, of course, requires that they be given stern punishment. Some things never change.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More Police and Fire News

Y-12 celebrates new fire station, emergency operations center

A new fire station and emergency operations center at the Y-12 National Security Complex will replace "severely outdated" buildings that were constructed in the 1940s, about eight decades ago. The new buildings will … [Read More...]

One person seriously injured in Wednesday crash

Two people were taken to a hospital, one with serious injuries, after a crash between a dump truck and a sport utility vehicle in Oak Ridge on Wednesday evening. The crash was reported at about 7 p.m. Wednesday at … [Read More...]

Democratic Women’s Club to hear from AC Emergency Rescue Squad

Representatives of the Anderson County Emergency Rescue Squad will be guest speakers when the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club meets at 6 p.m. Monday, January 23, at Shoney’s Restaurant, 204 South Illinois Avenue … [Read More...]

You may hear Y-12 sirens when maintenance performed

There will be maintenance work on the public warning siren system in Oak Ridge during the week of January 23, and people in the area might occasionally hear audio from individual sirens around the Y-12 National Security … [Read More...]

Officers can learn how to respond to radiological emergencies, thefts

A new center in west Oak Ridge will train law enforcement officers how to respond to radiological emergencies or potential thefts of radioactive materials. The Y-12 National Security Complex had a ribbon-cutting … [Read More...]

More Police and Fire

Recent Posts

  • Basketball: Wildcats beat West in rematch
  • Basketball: Lady Wildcats undefeated in district
  • Obituaries: Jan. 23-27, 2023
  • Speakers mostly support TRISO-X fuel facility at meeting
  • UPF construction could cost more, take longer
  • Y-12 celebrates new fire station, emergency operations center
  • One person seriously injured in Wednesday crash
  • Oak Ridge EM prepared for cold weather to prevent failures
  • Covenant Health donating land for Roane State health science center
  • School board approves aviation career path

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2023 Oak Ridge Today