Washington Post, July 6, 1996
AROUND THE REGION
Berrigan Group Encounters Passive Resistance at NSA
Longtime peace activist Philip Berrigan and 25 followers spent the Fourth of July protesting at the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade, but they couldn't get themselves arrested.
The group breached the security perimeter of the super-secret agency and goaded security forces for two hours. After being politely rebuffed by a public affairs officer, the group had to leave the way it came.
"Thank you very much. We appreciate all your efforts," said Stephen McAnallen, the NSA's public affairs officer. "We'll do our best to bring your concerns to the attention of the proper authorities."
The protest was a much quieter reprise of Berrigan's 1974 Independence Day protest of the NSA, which he calls "the brains of the military death machine." The NSA monitors electronic communications worldwide.
It's pretty effective, what they are doing," Berrigan said of the NSA's response to Thursday's protest. "They just waited us out. Very efficient. Very sterile. Just like the NSA itself. Nice and neat on the outside, while they're dealing death to the world on the inside."
Berrigan and his followers, members of Jonah House, an activist community in Baltimore, have been arrested for dumping blood on government buildings, banging on bomber planes and spray-painting "Auschwitz" across the hull of a nuclear submarine.
1997 Inaugural | Park Closures | Pennsylvania Ave. Closure
Peace Park | Proposition One
Legal Overview | Regulations