Anti-nuclear weapons activists Megan Rice, left, and Greg Boertje-Obed are pictured with Michele Naar-Obed after jury selection in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Monday. Rice and Boertje-Obed and a third defendant, Michael Walli, are on trial this week for vandalizing a uranium storage building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July.
This story was updated at 9 p.m.
KNOXVILLE—A federal official who oversees production work at two nuclear weapons plants and the guard who was fired after the unprecedented security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July could both testify this week during the trial of three anti-nuclear weapons activists accused of vandalizing a uranium storage building.
The federal official, Steven C. Erhart, oversees nuclear production work at Y-12 and the Pantex Site in Amarillo, Texas. He manages the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office, or NPO.
The guard, Kirk Garland, was the first security officer to reach the three anti-nuclear weapons activists, who cut through three fences in a high-security Protected Area at Y-12 before dawn on July 28 and splashed human blood and spray-painted slogans on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where most of the nation’s bomb-grade uranium is stored. Garland was fired Aug. 10, a few weeks after the intrusion.
Other anticipated witnesses during this week’s trial include Rodney Johnson, deputy general manager for security operations, as well as Special Agent Ryan Baker and security officer Sgt. Chad Riggs, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Theodore said during jury selection Monday.
The charges against the three activists—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli—have changed a few times, but the defendants now face two charges, one accusing them of property depredation and the other alleging they willfully injured the national defense. They face potential sentences of up to 30 years in prison.
Chris Irwin, an attorney for Walli, said the defense could call as witnesses Jim Sessions, former director of the Highlander Center, and retired Col. Anne Wright.
Jury selection lasted about 5.5 hours in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Monday. The panel of twelve jurors and two alternates includes 10 males and four females. They were selected from an initial pool of 70 people.
The trial against Boertje-Obed, Rice, and Walli starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Attorneys have said the trial could last four days.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Susie Williams Taylor says
Why would they be testifying???
John Huotari says
Which witnesses are you wondering about, Susie?