Y-12 protesters release photos of security breach

OAK RIDGE, Tenn.—The three protesters accused of sneaking into the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and vandalizing a $549 million high-security building where bomb-grade uranium is stored have released five photos showing the fence they allegedly cut to get in and the slogans they allegedly spray-painted on the building, Oak Ridge Today reports.



The photos also show crime-scene tape the Transform Now Plowshare activists—an elderly nun and two other senior protesters—are accused of putting up, the blood they allegedly splashed about and the damage to the building they are suspected of causing with hammers. Chipping away at the building was a symbolic message rejecting “nuclear weapons as a cornerstone of our national policy,” the report said.


The protesters obtained the pictures as part of the discovery stage in advance of their trial, scheduled for Feb. 26 in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. The trio faces federal charges of property destruction, property depredation and trespassing. They have pleaded not guilty and could be sentenced to up to 16 years in prison

The security breach led to the firing of the security guard on duty when the breach occurred as well Congressional calls for the Pentagon to take over security at the nation’s nuclear facilities.