Posted on Thu, Jul. 06, 2006 Grand Forks Herald

Missile protesters ordered held without bail

Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. - Three protesters arrested at a nuclear missile silo site in McLean County last month have been ordered held without bail until their trials on federal charges.

Greg Boertje-Obed, 51, and Michael Walli, 57, both of Duluth, Minn., and Carl Kabat, 72, of St. Louis, are charged with destruction of government property and destruction of national defense property.

The men are members of the Wisconsin-based group Nukewatch. The group, in a statement earlier, said the men broke a lock and entered a missile silo site in McLean County on June 20, where they painted the word "disarm" on the silo lid and poured some of their blood on the lid. Officials said the three were dressed as clowns.

The men originally were charged in McLean County but those charges were dropped and they were transferred to federal court.

Assistant U.S Attorney Clare Hochhalter said Magistrate Charles Miller, at a hearing Wednesday, found probable cause that a crime had been committed and ordered the protesters held without bail until their trial, which he said could be sometime in September.

The men, who plan to represent themselves in the case, are being held in the Burleigh County Jail in Bismarck.

Authorities said the destruction of government property charges carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and destruction of national defense property carries a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.