activists sentenced for politically motivated break-in at tennessee nuclear facility

by Tim Phillips

In July 2012, Sister Megan Rice, Michael Walli, and Gregory Boertje-Obed went through three fences at the Y-12 nuclear facility with bolt cutters, splashed human blood – including blood from activist Tom Lewis of the Catonsville 9 – on a building where enriched uranium was stored, and spray-painted antiwar slogans. They were found guilty in May 2013 of depredation of government property and injuring, interfering with, or obstructing the national defense. Today Rice was sentenced to 35 months in prison, and Walli and Boertje-Obed were each sentenced to 62 months.

The July 2012 break-in amounted to the biggest security breach in the history of the U.S. atomic complex. The overall cost to the government from the break-in will probably exceed $100 million.