76-year-old keeps trespassing on Air Force Base, feds say. She wants to ‘shine a light’
A 76-year-old woman accused of repeatedly trespassing at an Air Force Base in California said she isn’t surprised that a federal judge has ordered her to serve jail time.
The Grass Valley resident was found guilty on Dec. 3 of two counts of unauthorized entry onto a military installation in connection with entering Beale Air Force Base in Yuba County, about a 50-mile drive northeast from Sacramento, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
The woman, who was previously convicted of trespassing at Beale Air Force Base in 2013, was protesting with a group of people when she entered the base in October 2023 and on March 14, court documents show.
She ignored warnings from authorities to stay off the base and was arrested on both occasions, according to prosecutors, who said she “wanted to speak to the base commander.”
The woman told McClatchy News in an interview that she was protesting U.S. involvement in the war between Israel and Hamas.
As a supporter of nonviolent civil disobedience, she said she knew legal repercussions could follow if she stepped onto the base’s property.
“We were willing to risk arrest to shine a light on the genocide that was going on in Gaza,” she said.
On Dec. 5, Amnesty International said it has found a “sufficient basis” that Israel has been committing a genocide against Palestinians after Hamas’ attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The organization released a 296-page research report to support its conclusion.
Israel has consistently denied genocide accusations, according to Reuters.
‘I don’t have any regrets’
Following the woman’s conviction on Dec. 3, U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney sentenced her to five days in jail, 100 hours of community service and a one-year probation term, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
The sentence came as no surprise, she told McClatchy News.
“I don’t have any regrets,” the woman said.
She said the protest in March focused on the violence against Palestinians and “the role of the United States, our military, our weapons and our tax dollars.”
Most of U.S. foreign aid goes to Israel’s military, according to the Council on Foreign relations. The U.S. has “provisionally agreed” to give Israel $3.8 billion each year through 2028, the nonprofit based in New York City says.
Cited at least 16 times
The woman was banned from Beale Air Force Base as a result of her trespassing conviction in 2013, according to prosecutors.
She has been cited at least 16 times in connection with trespassing there, prosecutors wrote in court filings.
She told McClatchy News that she is a part of a group called “Occupy Beale” that has been visiting the facility since 2011 to protest the base’s role in military conflicts.
An “Occupy Beale Air Force Base” Facebook page says it is “a page of local actions preventing proliferation of drone warfare and calling attention to its immorality and unethical nature.”
“We’re just continuing to protest their part in the wars that we participate in,” the woman said.
During the protests in October 2023 and on March 14, prosecutors say the woman trespassed onto the base the moment she passed the facility’s white demarcation line.
She told McClatchy News that six other people were put in handcuffs and given a citation and that she was the only one who faced charges.
Another arrest
On Nov. 24, the woman was one of 26 people arrested at Travis Air Force base in Fairfield, The Union newspaper reported.
There, she and others demonstrated against the U.S. supplying weapons to Israel, she told McClatchy News.
“I watch the news every morning, and I’m horrified to see what’s happening every single day,” the woman said of the situation in Gaza.
As of Nov. 21, the Gaza Health Ministry reported more than 44,000 Palestinians have died in the war, with “more than half” of the deaths being women and children, according to The Associated Press.
About 1,200 civilians were killed when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7 2023, The Associated Press reported. An estimated 100 hostages remain in Gaza, and several are thought to be dead, according to the outlet.
The woman said “the hostages must be released, but you can’t kill hundreds of thousands of people.”
On April 1, she’s supposed to report to jail to serve her sentence, she said. The jail’s location hasn’t been decided yet, she added.
She told McClatchy News she’s “totally fine with” spending a few days in jail.
“I’m seeing it more or less as an opportunity to learn more about myself and others and the jail system,” she said.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 11:11 AM with the headline "76-year-old keeps trespassing on Air Force Base, feds say. She wants to ‘shine a light’."
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