Duluth man arrested after breaking into missile silo

DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE
Thu, Jun. 22, 2006

A Duluth man was among three protesters arrested Tuesday at a missile silo in North Dakota.

Greg Boertje-Obed, a member of Duluth's Loaves and Fishes Catholic Worker community, and two other men broke into the silo 75 miles southwest of Minot on Tuesday morning. The three hammered the silo, painted "disarm" on its lid and splashed some of their blood on it, according to a Loaves and Fishes news release.

Arrested with Boertje-Obed were Michael Walli, a Michigan native who works with the Duluth Loaves and Fishes for part of the year, and the Rev. Carl Kabat, a Catholic priest from St. Louis.

"This was their gift to humanity, their gift to the children, their gift to the world," said Michele Naar-Obed, Boertje-Obed's wife and Loaves and Fishes member. "Hopefully, that gift will be taken and brought to real life," and start a movement toward nonviolence, she said.

All three men are voluntarily staying in McLean County Jail after being charged with criminal trespassing and criminal mischief, according to McLean County Sheriff Don Charging. The men have each been offered the minimum bond of $500 to be released, but Charging said they have expressed no interest in paying.

Naar-Obed said the decision not to pay is a conscious one.

"It's an act of solidarity with those who cannot pay their bonds because of very little funds," she said.