Monday, May 27, 2013

Fr. Steve Kelly, S.J. Back In Federal Prison


Fr. Steve Kelly, S.J. being arrested
A noted Jesuit peace activist who has spent over a decade in jail for nonviolent protest actions, mostly over Fr. Steve Kelly, who has been on probation since June 2012 after serving a 15-month sentence for breaking into a nuclear weapons facility, was sent back to prison May 20 by a federal judge. Kelly, 64, was transported from the SeaTac Detention Center to the United States District Court, Western District of Washington at Tacoma, to receive the 60-day sentence. With time served, he is expected to be released May 29. More than a dozen friends and supporters, including members of Tacoma’s St. Leo parish community and his Jesuit superior Fr. John Fuchs, attended the hearing. Some also attended a vigil outside the courthouse an hour before Kelly’s court appearance. Kelly was arrested March 29, Good Friday, for blocking a road outside the Lockheed Martin missile plant in Sunnyvale, Calif. A trespassing charge was later dropped, but he was taken into custody for an outstanding federal warrant associated with probation violations.
nuclear weapons issues, has been returned to prison for probation violations.
Link (here) to National Catholic Fishwrap

2 comments:

Qualis Rex said...

Arrested on Good Friday for blocading a road. What a wonderful example this "priest" is setting. Rather than reflecting on the passion of Our Lord during one of the most holiest days of the year, he chooses to grand-stand and break the law. Words cannot express.

Anonymous said...

Corporations like Lockheed Martin that produce weapons profit from war while the poor are hurt by it. The world is now in a perpetual state of war. Father Kelly wants peace and brings attention to the horrors of the military industrial complex through non-violent protest. Christ calls everyone to action. This is Father Kelly's way of serving Christ, and he deserves to be thanked for his courage. Words cannot express how lucky we are to have people in the world like Father Kelly.