On Dec. 28, 2003, Saint Louis University junior R.J. Sak
participated in the 25th Annual Feast of the Holy Innocence
Retreat, Witness and Line Crossing, at STRATCOM Headquarters &
USA Space Command at Offutt Air Force Base, outside of Omaha,
Neb.

The group, consisting of approximately 25 people brought
together by the Des Moines Catholic Worker House, held a prayer
service at a gate of the Air Force base.

Following the service, Sak and six people, ages 18-49 years old,
crossed the line onto Air Force property, where they formed a
circle, read statements and prayed.

They were then arrested by the base’s military police

Dec. 28 is the Roman Catholic Feast of the Holy Innocence, which
commemorates the day King Herod killed innocent children in
Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the infant Jesus.

The group chose to demonstrate on this feast because Offutt
houses the operation command center for all land, air and sea
strategic nuclear weapons systems.

“When nuclear weapons kill, there is no difference between the
innocent and the guilty,” Sak commented.

The group linked the mass killings of King Herod to the mass
killings that nuclear weapons cause.

The group’s statement summarized the reasons for protesting and
crossing the line. Part of the statement read, “We consider the
work of Strategic Command, the expenditure of $400 billion this
year ($12,000 per second) for weapons and war planning to be an
unconscionable theft from those who lack basic necessities and a
preventable assault on human rights around the world.”

Sak’s own personal statement, addressed to the soldiers at
Offutt, read, “Certainly we would both have to agree that we share
a strong compassion for humanity. A compassion seeking peace for
ourselves and families, our communities, our shared nation and our
mother earth. We may not fully understand one another’s words,
thoughts or actions, but I fully accept you and respect you as my
brothers and sisters of this world.”

Sak later said, “Essentially, my intent was to invite soldiers
to sit, discuss and pray.” He continued to invite the soldiers to
join the group in a prayer before he exited the property of the Air
Force Base.

The protestors were then asked to leave the property before they
had finished their prayer service, and when they did not, they were
arrested.

The seven were detained at Offutt Air Force Base for about five
hours. They were peacefully released and issued with “Ban and Bar”
letters for one year, which stated that the seven people who
crossed the line are not allowed to enter any military property for
a year without being jailed and/or fined not more than $5,000.

The memorandum that they were issued included the following
statement: “Your misconduct while on Offutt Air Force Base,
Nebraska, created a substantial threat to the peace and order of
the base community and cannot be permitted to recur.”

At SLU, Sak is involved in SLUCAP, Micah House, the VOICES
program and also joined the group that attended the School of the
Americas protest.

Over Christmas break, Sak volunteers at the Saint Vincent House,
a family homeless shelter in Omaha, which is where he heard about
the demonstration at Offutt.

“I am going to explore not only what it means to be a student at
SLU but a Catholic, Christian today,” Sak said. “From this, I have
found it completely impossible to agree with the United States
government … In all practicality, what I did was for me to be
held publically accountable for my attempt of love and to
officially register my dissent with the U.S. government.

“This is an invitation for people to examine and question where
you are in your life, what you want to do, from your friends,
family, classes, and bigger and bigger until you reach the world.
It begins with yourself. If you are going to ultimately commit
yourself to love … it has to make a practical difference,” Sak
said of his commitment to social justice.