June 11, 2018, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action.
Activists from Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action began their Summer campaign against nuclear weapons by holding banners over Interstate 5 during the morning rush hour.
The two banners read “ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS” and “RESIST TRIDENT—NO NEW NUKES.”
Monday morning’s action took place on the eve of the historic summit between the United States and North Korea to bring attention to the very real danger of nuclear weapons and the need for the US to lead efforts toward disarmament.
While the US has been calling for the complete denuclearization of North Korea, it continues to modernize and upgrade its nuclear weapons and delivery systems. It has declared, along with some other nuclear weapon states, that it will never sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), also known as the Ban Treaty.
Eight of the US Navy’s fourteen Trident ballistic missile submarines are based just 20 miles west of Seattle at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. The Navy is currently moving forward with plans to replace the existing fleet, and the Pentagon is developing a low-yield version of the W-76 thermonuclear warhead deployed on the Trident II D-5 missile.
Ground Zero Communications Coordinator Leonard Eiger said, “If the US is serious about denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, it should begin by at very least signing and ratifying the Ban Treaty. Only then can it begin to negotiate, in good faith, with North Korea regarding its nuclear weapons.
Members of Veterans for Peace, Seattle, Chapter 92 joined Ground Zero members on the first Monday of bannering.
