NY JUDGE SENDS 12 TO JAIL FOR PROTESTING US DRONES
- Dewitt, N.Y. 02/08/2014 (AP)
Twelve protesters who refused to leave an air force base while protesting the military's use of unmanned aerial drones have been sentenced to 15 days in jail each by an upstate New York judge.
An MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle. U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt
DeWitt Town Justice David Gideon found the members of the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars guilty Friday of disorderly conduct.
The Post-Standard reports the judge dismissed a trespassing charge but sent the group immediately to Jamesville Penitentiary.
Gideon said the protesters stopped cars and people from entering Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in suburban Syracuse during a 2012 protest.
The base is home to the 174th Attack Wing of the New York Air National Guard, which operates drones used for intelligence gathering and bombing ground targets.