A group of defendants known as the Hancock 38 began a series of trials at the DeWitt Town Court on Tuesday evening. The protesters, many who are senior citizens, were arrested in April for lying across the entrance of Hancock Air National Guard Base in Mattydale. Approximately 30 of the original 38 will stand trial.

‘There shouldn’t be a trial. We should not have been arrested,’ said Ed Kinane, a defendant and 1967 graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. ‘We were involved in behavior protected by the First Amendment.’

Those arrested were protesting the MQ-9 Reaper drones remotely piloted from Hancock. They wrapped themselves in red-spattered sheets and lay down, blocking the gate to represent innocent civilians killed by the unmanned intelligence and armed aircraft, according to an article published in The Post-Standard on April 22.

Kinane said the issue is personal for him, as he is a Syracuse resident.

‘It’s our tax money that’s supporting this, it’s being done in our name, it’s generating enormous amounts of ill will against the United States, which threatens the safety of all of us,’ he said. ‘Right here in central New York, in effect, we’re within the war zone.’

Tuesday’s trial was preceded by demonstrations at the U.S. Attorney’s Office on South Clinton Street and at Hancock.

At the Attorney’s Office, a scene including a scale model drone and several protesters pretending to be dead innocents and freshly enraged al-Qaeda trainees. Signs at the air base read, ‘Drones=Terrorism,’ and ‘What if They Used Drones on Us?’

Retired Army Col. Ann Wright of Honolulu helped with the demonstrations. She retired from her 29-year military career in 2003 as a reaction against the U.S. invasion of Iraq. She worries about what blowback could come from using drones.

‘What goes around comes around,’ she said. ‘I think that somebody is going to say, ‘Well, America, you’ve killed thousands of people of ours with these things, we’ll just take out the U.S. Embassy.”

Capt. Anthony Bucci of the 174th Fighter Wing, the Air National Guard unit piloting the drones, cannot not comment on the trial while it remains open, but said the protesters had the constitutional right to protest and that ‘we in uniform support and defend the Constitution.’

Bucci said drones are a ‘highly effective platform to be able to stay over an area of interest’ for a prolonged period of time. He added that the drones provide ‘great imagery and intelligence … to make a better assessment of the targets they wish to go after and try to reduce collateral damage.’

Kinane and Wright said they are concerned that due process is not playing a role in deciding drone targets, and the use of unmanned weapons could escalate worldwide and at home.

‘What ever happened to due process? What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?’ said Clare Grady, a defendant from Ithaca. ‘Is it all up to the president and the military man with the gun in his hand?’

Tuesday’s proceedings were mainly taken up by arraignments, with many defendants representing themselves. Witnesses and evidence will be called as the trail progresses.

The protesters said they believe the trials will be an opportunity to relay their concerns to the community.’We as citizens are responsible for the actions of our government,’ said Ellen Grady, Clare’s sister. ‘When war crimes are being committed as they are now, we speak up.’

pbwayner@syr.edu

Published on November 1, 2011 at 12:00 pm