Frank Cordaro's sentencing statement to the court:

Frank Cordaro appeared at the Federal Courthouse in Omaha this
afternoon(2/24/06) on a Federal Misdemeanor Criminal Trespass charge.

I am a thirty-year member of the Des Moines Catholic Worker Community, a former diocesan priest, and a life-long believer that war is not the road to peace. For me, it's a religious issue, your Honor.
It is based upon my understanding of what it means to be Faithful.
That personally held conviction has carried with it some deep social and political implications and today it leads me into your courtroom.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak on my own behalf, Your Honor.

For 26 years, Catholic Workers and many other peacemakers have gathered in Omaha the day after Christmas for a two and a half day retreat to reflect and ponder a deeper and truer meaning of this holy observance. We come annually to build community amongst ourselves; we especially pray and reflect on the Gospel of Matthew's story of Jesus'
birth. Then, on December 28, the date in the Catholic Liturgical Year we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents, we gather at the gate to Offutt AFB to testify and proclaim this deeper and truer aspect of Christmas seldom considered or proclaimed.

The Feast of the Holy Innocents memorializes the killing of all the male children under two in Bethlehem. It was a massacre ordered by King Herod, in an attempt to put an end to the child Jesus before he became an adult. We read Matthew's story of Jesus' birth as a highly political text in which King Herod's killing of the innocent children casts the dye for the way Jesus will be treated in the remainder of the story. Put in its historical context, King Herod was a political operative of the Roman Empire. His primary obligation to Rome was to maintain political and economic stability and to secure his subject's allegiance to Rome. The birth of Jesus threatened Rome's stability and the allegiance of Herod's constituents. In ordering the killings of the innocent children, Herod determined that an end justified the means and the murdered children became collateral damage.

We then reread the story in the present day context. If we re-contextualize this Christmas story in today's world, then we must face a ghastly irony: that is, in the name of Peace, we, the most powerful nation in the World, represent the Roman Empire. And like the Romans before us, we and our political operatives commit a war of aggression against the few, and tens of thousands of innocents end up slaughtered in the process - all in the name of democracy, freedom and above all global stability. That is why we go to Offutt AFB, year after year, so that we can remember the teachings of the Prince of Peace and shed light on a truer and deeper meaning of the Christmas season.

In the last 26 years, we have vigiled at Offutt AFB through the civil wars in Latin America, the end of the Cold War, and through the first Gulf War. We are now in the midst of Gulf War # II and a declared new global War on Terrorism. Since the last time I crossed the line at Offutt, four years ago, things have changed for the worse, your Honor. Offutt AFB is now the home of the US Nuclear and Military Space Commands, called STRATCom. Its mission includes a new way of making war, a hybrid of nuclear weapons systems and space technology.
Its stated goal is the projection of US military might; both nuclear and conventional, anywhere on the planet within 30 minutes – dubbed a Global Strike Force.

With that in mind, I stood hand in hand with 3 other peace makers at the entrance drive of Offutt AFB on Dec 28th and made a slow but deliberate approach to Offutt's main gate. When we reached the gate we were asked to leave by the awaiting Offutt security officers.
We chose instead to take our witness on to the base as we opened the unlocked gate and stepped through. We were immediately and peaceably arrested.

This was all done, openly and nonviolently, Your Honor. No property was damaged nor was any human being threatened or disrespected. Permits were previously obtained through the proper authorities for our presence on the public property leading onto the base. The Offutt security people were told before hand that we were coming and of our intent to enter the base.

A serious crime, a crime against humanity is taking place on a daily basis at Offutt AFB, and I don't know how I could live with myself if I don't stand up and say it is wrong. Thousands of people are dying every day under the weight of Pax America; hundreds of Herods are killing the innocents to maintain the USA's global political and economic stability. I do recognize the need for trespass laws and I do not oppose them. In this instance, however, I believe I, and the others were justified; it was the breaking of a smaller law to call attention to a greater crime - a defense of necessity in my humble view.

Finally your honor, for the life of me, for the Gospel I follow and for the Jesus I believe in, I can not reconcile our country's possession of and intent to use nuclear weapons with my Christian Catholic Faith. Nor can I reconcile it with the national and international treaties to which our Government is a signatory. Whether we are talking Gods law, or man's law, I believe we are, as a nation, in violation of a law.

Some day, maybe today perhaps, I believe, as surely as the arc of human history bends towards truth and justice, our necessity defense will be acknowledged and the Justice system will side with the peace makers. If not today, then I shall find my peace in knowing that I have not violated God's law, and in believing that I have not violated man's law, either.

As you deliberate the sentence, I ask your understanding when I tell you that I can not in good consciousness pay any fine, as I live and work without pay at the DMCW as a volunteer for the homeless, that community service is my way of life every day, and that I could not accept a probation with a restriction against my work for peace.

I want you to know that no matter what the outcome of today's proceedings, I hold no ill will towards you, or anyone from the prosecutor's office or Offutt AFB. I believe the power of nonviolence and love will transform the fearful world in which we live, and I know it must begin with me.

Thank you, again, for allowing me to present this statement.