Frank Cordaro sentenced to 30 days
Oct 13th, 2007 by admin
October 5th
Friends,
Frank Cordaro just received thirty days in the Polk County jail after pleading guilty to criminal trespass.
Cordaro, and two other defendants Renee Espeland and Aaron Glynn appeared at the Polk County Court House at 1:00 p.m. today to face trespassing charges they received after the September 21st occupation of Senator Grassley’s office.
The three adults had joined the high school student-led occupation that grew out of the HS student group “Students Beyond War.” The Sept. 21 occupation was an act of non-violent civil disobedience in protest to the war in Iraq to demand that Senator Grassley stop voting to fund this immoral, illegal and unjust war.
The judge responded harshly in an attempt to deter further acts of civil resistance. Renee and Aaron, a senior at Hoover High School, each received fines over $300 and were released. Frank’s was taken into custody, and his 30-day sentence began immediately. He is being held in the Polk County Jail.
This sentence is clearly an attempt to stop those who seek peace to stop seeking it. The harsher consequences also mean our efforts are working. Let us not be intimidated. Let’s respond to this by increasing our efforts to end this insane war and future war.
If you are interested in a participating in an organized response, or have any questions in general, please contact Des Moines Catholic Workers:
Mona Shaw
monashaw@aol.com
319-621-4646 (cell)
John Tuzcu
jtuzcu@gmail.com
216-533-9925