Peace Vigil at Rheinmetall

One thought on “Peace Vigil at Rheinmetall”

1. Dave Sprigg, Tempest Knight and Margie Pestorius were each found guilty for protest at Boeing Defence. Boeing is a massive US weapons company based primarily in Brisbane. It was revealed at trial that there are 1500 Boeing employees at their Australian headquarters in the CBD. They are designing weapons and organise some ADF projects.

   In January 2024, immediately following the ICJ hearing regarding genocide in Gaza, 12 Brisbane people attended at Boeing They held banners, read poetry, prayed and pasted pictures of children: a memorial to 15,000 children murdered in Gaza since the Israeli genocide commenced in October 2023. Many of these children have been killed with Boeing ballistic weapons, attack helicopters, and fighter planes.

   Tempest Knight plead guilty to unlawful assembly and wilful damage. A so called ‘plea deal was arranged’ where by the “enter with intent to commit an indictable offence” was dropped. Dave and Margie participated in a 4 day trial and one day of conviction with magistrates remarks and sentencing hearings.

   Dave must pay $1500 restitution part of a $5000 bill with the company admitting they had not replaced the glass doors of their weapons display cabinet. Margie was found guilty without conviction of assault and fined $1000. The assault was admitted in court to be very minor, with no effect and was a soft brushing of one person past another.

   The assault was found to have occurred as Margie Pestorius moved to stand in front of the door to prevent it being closed. “I was enabling communication from one space through to another. Also others moved through and pasted the pictures, read poetry and made speeches and prayed. We were an eclectic bunch.”

   Margie Pestorius has been applied with a court order banning her from attending inside 4 different Boeing weapons design venues. This is despite this being the only set of arrests at Boeing for any activist over the past three years since the local campaign kicked off.

   “Our goal was that people should know that Boeing is a weapons company. We were looking to withdraw social license for the vast amount of Australian money going to Boeing. Also that soon after the October 2023 bombings in Gaza, Amnesty International released pictures of 2 bomb fragments with Boeing serial numbers. These 2 bombs alone had killed 19 children and 24 adults. Boeing expedited orders worth millions of dollars of JDAM bombs to Israel.”

   “We also know that Boeing is making wing kits at Ferra Engineering in Tingalpa, Brisbane. And these wing kits we assume are being used in Israel when “smart” JDAMs are being dropped from aircraft.

   The magistrate was concerned that Boeing had been severely disrupted by the small effective occupation of the reception. The protestors had caused “significant disruption,” Magistrate O’Neil said, with the lock down of up to 1500 staff for one and a half hours. She indicated that this was the reason she was being severe imposing sentences and a conviction for Ms Pestorius.

   In January following local actions at Ferra and Boeing and Rheinmetall, rather than supporting an investigation into war crimes, the police issued warrants for the arrest of all 12 of the Boeing disrupters. Counter Terrorism Squad raided the homes of some of these folk, each committed to complete non-harm and the politics of nonviolence, and arrested them.

   Margie Pestorius faces a more serious charge now on March 6th for refusing to hand over a pin to her phone despite a warrant. For this there is a 5 years in prison maximum sentence. “The prosecutor already requested I be given a suspended sentence for Boeing because apparently 4 protest based public nuisance offences over 7 years is an incredibly threat to society”, said Margie following the court. “I also face a falsely placed charge of breach of bail, where the police have provided a photo of me in one place, and then have simply asserted I am in another place at Boeing.” “I am concerned at the level of interference in my life” said Margie.

   The crew involved was connected to Peace Group Wage Peace. Some of the same people were on trial the week before for building a similar picture on glass memorial – accompanied by a lock-down to the factory and stopping a student recruitment event. For that Sam Wheeldon and Dave Sprigg both received $900 fines with no convictions at Ipswich Court.

   There is a crowd funder for various legal expenses and court costs available at chuffed.🙂 

   _____________________________

   Margaret Pestorius

   Wage Peace

   -Disrupt Land Forces

   -Peace in Papua

   P: SIGNAL +61 0403214422

   E: pestoriusm@gmail.com

   W: http://www.wagepeaceau.org

   T: @wagepeaceau @Peace1nPapua

   I: https://www.instagram.com/disruptwars/  

   F: wagepeaceau  F: disruptwars

   _______________________________

   I live on Aboriginal Land

   Never ceded.

   Mostly Yidindji Territory

   But also that of the Yuggera.

   I was born on the Land of the Turrbul.

   #LestweForget the #FrontierWars

   _______________________________

   Reply