A Reflection from Dad

Padre John and Steve,

I have just come back from Georgia after being witness to Chris Spicer’s trial and his sentencing in Columbus, Georgia. Back on November 21, 2010, Chris engaged in a single act of nonviolence and civil disobedience by challenging the School of the Americas by crossing over the line. After the trial concluded, Judge Hisle rendered his decision and pronounced that Chris Spicer was guilty of the federal crime of violating criminal trespass laws preventing entry onto US Government property, specifically the grounds of Ft. Benning.

As you probably know, Ft. Benning is the location of the so-called School of the Americas nka Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation WHINSEC. At this site there has been training for Latin American military personnel in learning the tactics of torture, assassination, kidnapping, etc and there are innumerable documented instances of acts attributable to trainees from this program e.g. in El Salvador, Guatemala and more recently, in Columbia. .These horrendous acts continue to this date regardless of the name change.

In response, Chris gave an eloquent, faith filled statement sharing his experiences that helped transform his world view. He shared about the sister parish relationship and his additional three trips back to El Salvador to study, to serve and become closer in solidarity with families living in Arcatao as well as in the desperately poor ghetto that encircles San Salvador. He shared about El Mazote, the massacre in 1979 where an est, 900 Salvadoran men, women and children were massacred. He concluded by sharing the Nicene Creed and how his faith in Jesus brought him to Ft Benning.

Honestly, his statement was incredibly inspiring and powerful and it was done without notes. I could hardly believe this was my own son.

When he concluded, the judge sentenced him to the maximum possible sentence of 6 months. It mattered not that Chris was a first time offender, that he was very respectful of the Court and that he was a person of strong Christian faith. Chris knew that was the risk (as much as 6 mos) and he left the courtroom with the Federal Marshall with great dignity and spirit.

He is now serving time in the Irwin County Detention Center. Somehow, I truly hope that St. Joes Church can offer some way of providing prayers for Chris is a way that is sustainable. He will need prayer, letters, and visits when possible and hopefully will be re-assigned here to the northwest in about 3-4 weeks but that may be a long shot and he could stay in Georgia. As his legal team said, Chris is now a prisoner of conscience and everything our church can do to support him will be important in the weeks and months ahead. And it will be important for our family.

Dave