​‘As long as any one nuclear weapon is still not dismantled nobody is free’ – 85yo nun jailed for protest

85 year-old sister Megan Rice, who broke into a US nuclear facility, has been released after two years behind bars. The peace activist has given an interview to RT in order to “help to break the silence of secrecy”.

An 85-year-old nun Megan Rice and two Catholic peace activists 66-year-old Michael Walli, and 60-year-old Greg Boertje-Obed, were charged with vandalizing the outside of a Tennessee uranium bunker. Originally sentenced to three and nearly five years respectively, they are now likely to remain free following two years in prison after the government said on Monday that it will not appeal to reconsider the sabotage charge.

“I wouldn’t say we’re really free. We feel that as long as one nuclear weapon is still not dismantled nobody is free,” Rice told RT on Wednesday. “The real victims are all of humanity, and the one who is to be convicted is the government of the United States, which has, for nearly 70 years, manufactured or produced and designed, developed weapons of mass destruction.”

READ MORE: Elderly nun among anti-nuke peace activists sentenced to prison

In July 2012, the activists found their way through the fences of the Y-12 national security complex in Oak Ridge. There they prayed and hung banners for about two hours, hammering on the outside wall of the uranium storage bunker, while referring to the Bible. Their protest allegedly caused $70,000 in damage during that time.

“What we were trying to do was to protect the planet from sabotage, let alone every nuclear facility. We just want to convince everyone that $10 trillion, close to that, in 70 years has been spent building weapons of mass destruction in the facilities around this country. And certainly thousands of bombs are still in existence and stored, and also in readiness in various places. So, all of that must be ended,” Rice explained, pointing out the importance of developing life-enhancing alternatives.

The trio had no remorse for their actions, according to AP, and, in fact, they were even lucky to stay alive, as they managed to enter the area that allowed security guards to use deadly force.

“Most people feel that it’s absolutely atrocious and insane to continue this profiteering industry, which is what it is, because the profits of making the weapons are going into the hands of contractors and it’s not for anything that will ever be used or could ever be used – or should ever be used,” Rice concluded.