Sunday, February 14, 2021

SHUT DOWN CREECH! SPRING ACTION April 4 - 10, 2021


   Shut Down Creech, Creech AFB, Fall Action, 2020


National Mobilization to Peacefully Stop U.S. Drone Wars
   April 4 - 10, 2021
(Sunday through Saturday)
 


UPDATE:  Our 2021 weeklong spring convergence to resist U.S. killer drones in the Nevada desert has been scheduled!   We can't wait to work together again to nonviolently oppose the barbaric and deadly U.S. drone assassination program at Creech AFB that terrorizes communities around the world. 

We are pleased to announce that National Veterans For Peace is back again as a co-sponsor, and will collaborate with CODEPINK to make this a strong united resistance against killer drones.

Click HERE for registration form.  We are committed to a full week of nonviolent resistance, as a united front to oppose U.S. killer drones.  Due to the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we will take the necessary precautions to minimize health risks for all "Creechers" participating.  

We will wear face masks, observe social distancing, require tent camping and take other precautions to keep everyone safe.  We will open the event to those who must fly or take other public transportation to Las Vegas to attend, but we ask those who do to be extra diligent in abiding by safety precautions.  We ask that all Creechers weigh the risks carefully, and assume full responsibility for their health.   The registration form will articulate in more detail the measures we will follow.  We wil again offer assistance with transportation from/to Las Vegas and to/from Camp Justice/Goddess Temple. For further details please check the Housing & Transportation page on this website, and await the final registration and transportation forms in early March.

This year marks the 12th anniversary of Bay Area CODEPINK's twice yearly resistance to killer drones at Creech Air Force Base.  In 2015 additional organizations began collaborating with us, which evolved into the national mobilizations now known as "Shut Down Creech."  Please join us to help make our upcoming resistance even more exceptional!  


Special themes:  Last October marked the 19th Anniversary of the War on Afghanistan, one of the very poorest countries on earth.  We will stand in solidarity with the Afghan people and their right to live without U.S. occupiers. We will stand in solidarity of the people of Yemen who have been under the worst humanitarian crisis in the world for years, exacerbated by U.S. support for the ongoing Saudi and UAE's massive bombing campaign.  We will stand in support of the people of Iran and China who are forever threatened by an aggressive U.S. foreign policy.  We stand in support of Somalia, and other African nations who are are constantly battling U.S. hegemony and secret U.S. military interventionism. Bring all the troops home now!  Close all U.S. foreign bases. WAR IS NEVER THE ANSWER!  

Please come for part or all of this amazing Peace Convergence to nonviolently resist the terror of the illegal U.S. drone assassination program, and the global domination policies of the U.S. that cause severe suffering and death of millions around the world.  We will stay at the relocated CAMP JUSTICE, our peace encampment now set up on the "Goddess Temple" grounds, 3 miles from Creech AFB.  More detailed information will follow.  All meals are provided.

For detailed info about Housing, Transportation, Camp Justice, Meals, Sponsorship, Registration, etc, please click on tabs at the top of this homepage.  

..

- 2021 SHUT DOWN CREECH, Spring Action We organize two Shut Down Creech weeklong anti-drone mobilizations every year, spring and fall.  We are promoting a bigger mobilization for our fall actions because the weather tends to be a bit more welcoming in the fall.  Springtime can be beautiful in the Nevada desert too, so please consider joining us for either weeks. Encourage friends and family to join also to help make our spring mobilization a huge success.  

- CAMP JUSTICE:  The Goddess Temple (also called "Temple of Goddess Spirituality") is located 3 miles north on highway 95, from where we vigil daily at Creech AFB.  This welcoming refuge offers us shade trees, running water, showers, cooking facilities and much more. The Peace Pavilion provides a perfect outdoor meeting place, and our sacred "Goddess Temple to Sekhmet" offers a unique place to seek solace, and for healing, prayer and meditation.  The Guest House will not be available for sleeping due to COVID-19.  In normal years, limited beds are available first for those most in need:  our elders (70 & over) and those with physical limitations that make camping difficult. Early reservations encouraged.   There is a "Bed wait list" for others. (Not applicable this spring.)

More info on Camping, Guest House and other accommodation options.                                                                     

- Nonviolent civil resistance is tentatively planned for sometime in the week.  An online scheduled program will be available by late March.  If you can only participate for a few days, we recommend arriving by late Mon. night and departing in the morning or afternoon on Thurs, (April 5 - April. 8).

  

                                                      

Peaceful Daily Vigils, Monday - Friday, April 5 - 9, during rush hour commute times.

6:30 - 8:30 am and 3:30 - 5:30 pm.  On Friday, there will only be a morning vigil, and we will have closing activities in the afternoon.  All departures must take place by noon on Saturday, April 10.


Thousands of cars enter and exit at commute times, and we will stretch ourselves out along Highway 95 with large signs, banners and other visuals/props throughout the week.  We are developing vigil themes that will vary each day and we welcome any creative ideas for themes or offerings of help to make visuals & props. .

A pledge to nonviolence guidelines and participation in nonviolence training, if needed, is required for full participation.  

Activists who can only participate in part of the week's activities are urged to arrive by the evening on Monday, April 5, so we will all be together on Tuesday to make preparations for a large peaceful civil resistance action tentatively planned for later in the week.


Creative and fun activities happen between the vigils and after dinner.  These activities are optional, but give us time to rejuvenate ourselves and help foster a more connected peace community. They include informal walks in the beautiful desert, visits to see the "wild horses," trips to local hot springs, visits to nearby nature preserves and more. We also have informal presentations/workshops given by participants who have personal talents, experiences or expertise to share.  If you have something special to offer, please contact us.


#SHUTDOWNCREECH


Click HERE for registration form..

Join us April 4 - April 10, 2021 at Creech Air Force Base, Indian Springs, Nevada for the Spring Action to nonviolently oppose and resist killer drone operations in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan,Yemen, Somalia, Libya and everywhere.  

Thanks to excellent journalism, it has been revealed that there are over 900 drone pilots operating out of Creech Air Force Base.  That means that there is a disturbing amount of remote murder on a daily basis happening at Creech alone.  A recent military official reported in 2018 that over 80% of all U.S. air strikes involve U.S. drones, either for surveillance and targeting, and/or for direct strikes, and approximately 80% of all drone strikes go UNREPORTED.  These are mostly strikes off any "battlefield," killing people as they are eating dinner in their homes, sleeping in their beds, driving their cars on the highway, worshipping in a mosque, attending wedding parties or funerals....living their lives.  Innumerable unarmed civilians, including women and children are being slaughtered by these cowardly weapons of destruction. This is unconscionable!  Let's make this SHUT DOWN CREECH spring action a very powerful stance against the brutality of covert U.S. drone killing. Please join us, and help spread the word. Support us in peaceful nonviolent opposition and resistance to murder by U.S. drones at Creech AFB.  People who aren't able to risk arrest are equally needed as support and as witnesses throughout the week.  Come one, come all. 

Together we are PEACE!

Shut Down Creech Team,
Toby, Eleanor, Maggie, Garett, and Sam



(Scroll down for more on:  WHY WE PROTEST AT CREECH) 

Inspirational Videos of past Anti-drone Resistance at Creech AFB:

            By Mauro Oliveira:
                Shut DownCreech 2016,  (Drone Strike on Funeral Procession) (4 min)
                ShutDown Creech 2015, "Drone Strikes - United States Terrorism" (25 min)
                       
            By Nico Colombant:  
                MusicVideo #1, Mike Rufo's "Streets of Plenty" (4 min)
                Music Video #2, Zoya Amarey, "Citizen's of the World"  (3 min)

                Fall 2016 CODEPINK Action, "Citizen's Arrest" of Base Commander  (6 min)

           By Chris Knudson:
                Spring 2019 Shut Down Creech, DRONES = BLOOD ON OUR HANDS! 
                (11 min)




Sponsored By:

CODEPINK: Women For Peace, San Francisco Bay Area 
Veterans For Peace, National

and more


WHY WE PROTEST AT CREECH:

In 2005, Creech Air Force Base secretly became the first U.S. base in the country to carry out illegal, remotely controlled assassinations using the MQ-1 Predator drones, and in 2006, the more advanced Reaper drones were added to its arsenal. Creech drone personnel sit behind computers in the desert north of Las Vegas and kill "suspects" thousands of miles away. The more primitive Predators have been mostly phased out. Independent research indicates that the identity of only one out of 28 victims of U.S. drone strikes is known beforehand. Though officials deny it, the majority killed by drones are unknown civilians.

In 2014, it was leaked that the CIA's criminal drone assassination program, officially a separate operation from the Air Force's, has been piloted all along by Creech's super-secret Squadron 17. In November 2015, four Air Force drone veterans (3 of whom were based at Creech) wrote to President Obama, “We came to the realization that the innocent civilians we were killing only fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism and groups like ISIS, while also serving as a fundamental recruitment tool similar to Guantanamo Bay. This administration and its predecessors have built a drone program that is one of the most devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world.”


Since 2009 dozens of activists have been arrested for allegedly trespassing at Creech, while attempting to peacefully interrupt the indiscriminate killing and burning of innocent people by drones.


The US drone program is rapidly proliferating as air bases are being converted to drone bases across the U.S. and abroad, but Creech remains a key drone base in U.S. state-sponsored global terrorism. Creech is where the killer drone program started--it is where we shall end it.

  • We must put an end to this desecration of our Mother Earth and all creatures who inhabit it.
  • We must put an end to the dehumanization of lives from Ferguson to Palestine to Syria and Yemen.
  • We must close all foreign U.S. military bases. Money should be prioritized for human needs, not war profiteering. 
  • We must put an end to drone murder, drone surveillance and global militarization.

      Shut Down Creech, Creech AFB, Fall Action, 2020