One missile protester sentenced in Bismarck
By JENNY MICHAEL/Bismarck Tribune

One of three men who dressed up as clowns, broke into a missile silo site in northwestern North Dakota and vandalized it in June was sentenced by a federal judge Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland sentenced Michael Walli, 57, to eight months in the custody of the United States Marshal with credit for time served since his arrest on June 20.

A federal jury found Walli, Carl Kabat and Greg Boertje-Obed guilty of destruction of government property on Sept. 14 for the June 20 vandalism to the Minuteman III missile silo site near Garrison.

Kabat, 72, and Boertje-Obed, 51, will be sentenced by Hovland today.

The maximum punishment for destruction of government property is 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines or both.

Hovland ordered Walli to pay a $100 assessment fee as part of his sentence. He and his two co-defendants also will be required to pay $17,000 restitution to the U.S. Air Force.

According to court documents, the Air Force was asking for $29,320.86 in restitution.

The three men admitted during the course of their two-day trial in September to dressing up as clowns, breaking into the missile silo site, spray-painting messages on cement surrounding the underground silo, splattering their blood on the site and pounding on the silo lid with hammers.

The three men testified to their beliefs that nuclear weapons are wrong, which they feel justified their actions.

Boertje-Obed, Kabat and Walli were arrested at the missile silo on June 20. They have been held in several jails since their arrest and have spent most of their time at the Burleigh County Detention Center.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Clare Hochhalter, who prosecuted the case, and Bill Quigley, a New Orleans attorney and Loyola University professor who represented Walli, were not available for comment Wednesday afternoon.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com )