St Patrick's Day Four

January 27, 2006

(VCNV Note: Teresa Grady was sentenced today to 4 months in federal prison for her role as one of the St. Patrick’s Four who poured blood inside a recruiting station on March 17, 2003 to nonviolently resist the impending U.S. invasion of Iraq. A Family Support Fund has been established to assist the families of the St. Patricks Four.)

Judge Mc Avoy,

I would like to acknowledge and thank you for your leniency with respect to Peter’s special concern.

Throughout the trial I have seen your humanity peek through the structures of your office. You are one more reason for my hope in humanity and the goodness in all!

That being said, I have been saddened by your initial decision to ignore article 6 section 2 of the Constitution of this great nation which you so often reminded us you were sworn to uphold. This basically denied us the right to defend ourselves of the charge of “entering the military site for unlawful purposes”. We were trying to uphold international laws on March 17th 2003 which demand citizens to avert the great crimes of their government.

January 25, 2006

(VCNV Note: Peter DeMott is one of the St. Patricks Four who poured blood in a recruiting station in Ithaca, NY on March 17, 2003 to nonviolently resist the impending U.S. invasion of Iraq. Peter was sentenced to 4 months in prison followed by 4 months in a federal halfway house. Peter traveled to Iraq in November-December 2003 with Christian Peacemaker Teams).

I would like to begin my remarks by observing a moment of silence to honor the dead of the war in Iraq, the 2300 or so United States military and coalition personnel who have died as well as the tens of thousands of Iraqis who have been slaughtered, ninety percent of them civilians, thirty or so percent of that number innocent children.

by Katie Quinn-Jacobs, January 25, 2006
(VCNV note: Clare Grady is one of the St. Patrick’s Four who poured blood in a recruiting station in Ithaca, NY on March 17, 2003 to resist the impending U.S. invasion of Iraq.)

“As a mother who knows the preciousness of children, not just mine - but all children - I want the court to understand that before we walked into the recruiting station [March 17, 2003] a million people had already died in Iraq from U.S. imposed sanctions, half of them children,” said Clare Grady as she testified at her sentencing today in Binghamton federal court.

Grady was sentenced to six months of federal prison and ordered to pay her share of restitution for participating in a symbolic act of non-violent resistance at a military recruiting station outside Ithaca, NY on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Daniel Burns Sentenced in Federal Court
by Katie Quinn-Jacobs, January 23, 2006

(VCNV Note: For more information visit the St. Patrick’s Four website. Please contribute to the Family Support Fund to assist their families as these four carry their witness into the prison system, a witness of resistance made in behalf of all of us. Clare Grady, Theresa Grady and Peter DeMott will be sentenced on separate days this week.)

Daniel Burns, 44, was sentenced to six months of federal prison in Binghamton federal court today by Judge Thomas J. McAvoy for each of his misdemeanor convictions last fall. The two six month terms are to be served concurrently. Burns was also fined $250 for a contempt of court charge and was ordered to pay his share of the $958 restitution for damages imposed by the court.

Burns is one of the four non-violent peace activists known as the St. Patrick’s Four. The convictions stem from Burns’ participation in a non-violent protest at a military recruiting station outside of Ithaca, NY on March 17th, 2003 , where the four carefully poured their own blood on the posters, flag and walls of the recruiting station. Burns was the first of the St. Patrick’s Four to appear this week for sentencing in Binghamton, NY. Peter DeMott, Clare Grady and Teresa Grady will also be sentenced individually this week.

By: Jake McNamara
Ithaca Times, January 11, 2006
(Note: Please visit the website of the St. Patrick’s Four for more information)

On the night of March 12, 2003, a meeting at Catholic Charities on Buffalo Street pulsated with anxiety over the seemingly immanent invasion of Iraq. There, Ithacan Daniel Burns suggested pouring blood at nearby Lansing’s military recruitment center, an action that has commonly taken place in protests outside the White House, the Pentagon and other major government sites. Many agreed it was a good idea; fellow Ithacans Peter DeMott and sisters Clare and Teresa Grady agreed to join Burns.