Upstate Drone Action
January 22, 2023: Celebrating Martin Luther King Day. Dr. King often spoke of the evil triplet of Racism, Poverty and Militarism. In his speech, Beyond Vietnam, he famously spoke of: “The greatest purveyor of violence on earth – my own government.” This remains the case today. He said “I cannot be silent,” and neither can we.
In that light, a number of us attended the yearly Syracuse University Martin Luther King Celebration Event. We brought with us reminders of the third member of Dr. Kings Triplet, militarism, so often forgotten in these days of increasing poverty and racialized violence in the U.S. Click to see our Flyer; Statement;
September 9, 2022: Time to Confront the Merchants of Death
Click here to read Jack Gilroy’s excellent synopsis of events and see more photos.
Click here to view a slideshow of the protests at BAE in Endicott and Lockheed Martin in Owego, facing the Merchants of Death. Change your ways! It’s time support life!
Local TV Coverage on Channel 34.
(wait about five seconds to play this link first covered by an ad)
More coverage to come, hopefully to include musicians present at the event.
A short video by John Amidon.
We had a couple of excellent rallies with some press coverage. BAE and Lockheed were suitably stressed.
Join us a BAE Systems in Endicott New York at 11 AM, and then at Lockheed Martin in Owego at Noon on September 9. Practical Information for attending September 6 Rallies.
We will tell them its time to change their ways and their products. Both companies make about 1% useful products that help us live better and 99% horrific weapons. Let’s work to change their minds. Read more about this issue: The Weapons Industry Transformed (with organization signators). Click to download Flyer (pdf) or Flyer for Social Media, another flyer.
Broome County activists in front of BAE Systems Offices in Endicott, NY
April 28, 2022: Latest court case dismissed In the Interest of Justice!
Earth Day: Friday, April 22, 2022
11:15 AM, Meet @ Syracuse Peace Council. 2013 East Genesee St, Syracuse, NY, 13210.
12:00 -3:00 pm – Earth Day Festival -Skit by Upstate Drone Action, Flyers
– Skit, distribution of Flyers at Thornden Park Amphitheater area. 🌏 Look for Mother Earth banners, Thornden Park Dr, Syracuse, NY 13210.
4:00 – 4:45 pm Hancock Drone Base Skit, Posters, Flyers
6001 East Malloy Rd, Mattydale, NY (E. Syracuse), 13211. At drone pilots & personnel shift change we’ll be vigiling, holding posters, and enact the earth day skit. Note: We are not planning to risk arrest at this event.
Directions from Peace Center to the park: Left out of lower back driveway onto Westcott st. Go 2 blocks. Take a right onto Dell st. Go 2 blocks. Take right onto Beech St. to Thornden Park Drive on left. Follow the road past the pool to the amphitheater area. Park along the road or circle around on the other side for more parking.
Video ‘Stop the War on Mother Earth’ produced and directed by Mary Anne Grady Flores
The First Earth Day: Fifty-two years ago, twenty million Americans turned out for rallies and marches in a nationwide demonstration of concern for the environment intended to shake the political establishment out of its lethargy and force the environment onto the national political agenda.
Since then the Earth has gotten hotter. We have to go beyond changing our light bulbs and recycling and again shake up the powers that be. An unspoken key driver of climate change is militarism and war, and we will have to confront this in order to change the course of our climate crisis.
- The US military is the single biggest institutional consumer of oil, emitting more CO2 than most nations on Earth.
- A key purpose of the US Military is to maintain access to and control of fossil fuel and other earth resources.
- The US military is exempt from environmental (EPA) regulations and is not required to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement.
- Militarism is devouring our resources and distracting our attention from the environmental problems that war can never solve.
End US racist interventionist wars! Decarbonize our society! Go green!
December 28: Upstate Drone Action held protests at Hancock Base Outside of Syracuse, and in Rochester and Binghamton at the Federal building to draw attention to the many innocent lives lost in the U.S. Drone attacks in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq over the last decade on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a holiday celebrated by Catholics and Christians throughout Europe and Latin America to commemorate the children killed by Herod in his attempt to block the new ‘king’ Jesus from coming to maturity. Like Herod’s campaign of terror, drone warfare knowingly kills innocents to achieve broad coverage.
December 28: Mark your calendar, Protest at Hancock Air National Guard Base inspired by recent NYT reports showing what we have been saying for years about Drone Warfare!
Interview with Nick Mottern of Ban Killer Drones Actions and Don’t Look Away Campaign:
Interview with Kathy Kelly on the Don’t Look Away Campaign:
Ban Killer Drones Don’t Look Away Campaign:
11/27: Syracuse, Ithaca
Photo by Peg Gefell
11/26: Don’t Look Away Banners at Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Syracuse near Hancock Base
Photos by Peg Gefell and Judy Bello
Press Release for “Don’t Look Away” Events
11/11/21: On Armistice Day, the painting of Daniel Hale was unveiled at Cornell University to join the other portraits of ‘Americans who Tell the Truth‘ (More to follow)
11/04/21: Ban Killer Drones Press Release on Reparations for Drone Victims
10/28: UDA goes to NYS Senator Schumer’s Syracuse Office, and then on to Hancock Base with their message. Read the Action Report HERE.
Video by Heriberto Rodriguez
Video by Heriberto Rodriguez
UDA Press Release: Press Conference and visit with Emily Cone, Senator Schumer’s Aide in Syracuse, NY, on October 28, 2021
Ban Killer Drones Press Release, October 19: Reparations for the Ahmadi family and all civilian victims of drone strikes.
Day of Atonement Actions on October 7 commemorate the beginning of the War in and on Afghanistan. Day of Atonement Letter to Clerics, Press Release. Stay tuned for photos and feedback from actions.
Video by Heriberto Rodriguez
Day of Atonement Actions are sponsored by Ban Killer Drones and Upstate Drone Action.
Upstate Drone Action stands in Solidarity with the movement to Shut Down Creech Airforce Base which houses the primary domestic aggregator and link to send pilot signals out of the mainland and receive feedback from killer drones flying over Asia and Africa. September 26-Oct 2
See the Ban Killer Drones Scrapbook of Creech 2021 Actions
Shut Down Creech, Fall 2021
Upstate Drone Action spent the afternoon at the Westcott Street Cultural Festival in Syracuse, disseminating information on military drones and the U.S. Drone Program in Solidarity with Shut Down Creech and Stand with Daniel Hale. It was a beautiful afternoon and we handed out hundreds of flyers to receptive festival participants.
Video by John Amidon
If you are interested in drone flyers, you can find the ones we used at the links below. If you would like minor changes, say in the contact info, contact the UDA WebMistress.
- UDA Trifold (This has info on Hancock Drone Base & UDA)
- Drones Fly, Children Die
- Drone Killing and Drone Surveillance (Drone killing vs Drone surveillance)
- Shutdown Creech 2021 (Ban Killer Drones ref to recent murders in Kabul)
All Out to Hancock, August 20, 2021
for Ban Killer Drones National Days of Action
US and NATO forces were leaving, have left, Afghanistan … the US has frozen the funds of the Afghan government, even blocked their loan for COVID relief, in hopes that the Taliban will not have the resources to manage day to day governance successfully … and still US drones are flying over Afghanistan and bombing with impunity, killing families, women and children and householders.
This must END!
No More Drones Bombing Afghanistan!
Video above by John Amidon.
Watch Mary Anne Grady’s Livestream from our 8/20 demo HERE.
Daniel Hale Must be Pardoned!
We raise our voice in deep concern on the silencing and imprisonment of Daniel Hale. Daniel Hale did not commit a crime.
Press conference outside the courthouse following Daniel Hale’s sentencing.
It is outrageous that Daniel Hale was charged, prosecuted and sentenced to 45 months in Federal prison for exposing a criminal program. Daniel Hale should be pardoned!
Daniel Hale leaked documents that revealed extremely high civilian death rates in U.S. drone attacks. The 33-year-old Air Force veteran first spoke out publicly against drone warfare in 2013. Daniel Hale’s whistleblowing also uncovered secret U.S. watch lists, Presidential drone kill lists, and other criminal and unethical aspects of the U.S. deployment of killer drones.
Since the Nuremberg Tribunal we have been taught that “just following orders” is not a defense. Soldiers, even in time of war, have a moral obligation to oppose illegal orders in every possible way, especially the killing, for any reason, of non-combatants. Read More …
Video of the Press Conference for Daniel Hale
Video by Wilton Vought
Press Conference and Sentencing Information for Daniel Hale
There will be a press conference for Daniel in New York City, on July 17 @ 10:00 am with a number of speakers. Media Advisory. Program for Press Conference. The Press Conference will be held at 10th Avenue and West 30th Street.
Daniel’s sentencing is July 27 @ 9:00 AM, in the Alexandria VA Courtroom. If you would like to attend, the details are here.
Ed Kinane: Trial For Drone Protest Hancock AFB
Ed Kinane of Upstate Drone Action is one of several people whose criminal trials for protesting at Hancock Air Force Base outside of Syracuse have been delayed due to COVID. Kinane discusses how drones are used to kill people in Afghanistan and how the courts have handled previous protests. With Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Radio Network.
April 22, 2021: Earthday At Hancock! World on Fire!!
February 14, 2021: Valentines Day A moment of light in the darkness. @ Hancock Base. Our message.
October 29, 2020: Alice’s Nightmare in Droneland Tableau @Hancock Air National Guard Base: Press Release, Video with Interviews, Blog Post
June 20, 2020: Weaponized drones are the knee on the throat of people of color all over the world. Dewitt Caravan and Vigil at Hancock Base See Video, Read Statement: Pandemic & Militarism
September 24, 2019: 6 Arrested at Hancock Base, Drones Fly, Children Continue
to Die More Info
June 20, 2019: 8 Arrested at Hancock Base, Drones Fly Children Die Action, See Video.
* * * Ongoing * * *
Street Heat Vigils at Hancock Gate: 1st & 3rd Tuesdays
Earth Day at Hancock Base: World on Fire!
Please join us at the main gate of Hancock Field, 6001 E. Malloy Rd, Mattydale, NY (Syracuse). Thursday, April 22, 2021 – 11 AM. We will gather before-hand at 10:15 AM, at the May Memorial Church parking lot at 3800 E. Genessee St., E. Syracuse
We are gathering at Hancock Field as the 174th Attack Wing pilots drones, murdering people in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. They are one component of the vast military mega machine which relentless;u consumes fossil fuels. The U.S. military is the single biggest institutional emitter of carbon dioxide in the world. It emits more CO2 than most nation-states
What we stand for is what we stand on, our lovely mother planet Earth. Please help us defend her.
This event is sponsored by Upstate Drone Action. No arrests are planned. Masks are required and social distancing will be practiced. We will stand a least six feet apart. Bring friends. Park on the south shoulder of East Molloy.
Valentines Day at Hancock Base:
Our Valentine’s Day Celebration on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. Video by Heriberto Rodriguez.
UDA statement:
Dear Hancock Field, Air National Guard:
“What if what you do to survive kills the things you love?” Bruce Springsteen asks this poignant question in a song (Devils and Dust) about a soldier fighting in Iraq. Our nation has been in a downward spiral. Beginning with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, now in free fall with the COVID 19 pandemic, the collapsing economy and the January 6 Capitol Insurrection, we are impelled to ask this very question today. Have we killed the things we love?
Have we become Drone Nation? Are all of us, in one way or another, just following orders and remotely controlled (directly or indirectly), or do we still have the capacity for following our conscience and our freedom of choice?
Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us to know, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend” – – which points to a very real solution so sadly overlooked by our government. So little money spent on friendship and love and helping people and so much money on war.
Dr. Cornel West, a man who has stood with us in front of this very gate at Hancock Field, reminds us, “Never forget, justice is what love looks like in public.” Have our seemingly endless wars and the use of force brought justice to this nation today?
We are here because of the 174th’s drone assassination program, and we are here because of love. We know you are our brothers and sisters and are part of our collective family. Paul Connett, new to our group, spoke eloquently at the last vigil. He said,“to kill people anonymously, from thousands of miles away, from an office, it is a different kind of warfare.” This is bringing us all low.
We ask you to look deeply within. Is what you are doing to survive destroying your conscience and destroying the things you love?
Charley Bowman’s video below captures Sherri Bauer reading our Valentines Message.
The event is endorsed by:
Broome County Peace Action; Know Drones.com; Saratoga Peace Alliance; St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality, Rochester, NY; Syracuse Peace Council; Veterans For Peace, Chapter 10 Albany,NY; Veterans for Peace, Chapter 90 Broome County, NY; Veterans for Peace, Chapter 147 Adirondack, NY; Western New York Peace Center; World Beyond War
Alice In Droneland:
Video by Heriberto Rodriguez
Knee on the Throat of the World
Video by John Amidon
Was Hancock Drone Base Responsible?
30 Afghans on Pine Nut farm killed by US Drone Strike. 6 Arrested at Hancock Field holding a banner which stated
“Drones Fly, Children Die – Our Hearts Are Breaking”
Video by John Amidon
Syracuse, NY. Tuesday, September 24, 2019. At approximately 10:30 am, six members of Upstate Drone Action (UDA) were arrested while expressing deep anguish and grief over the recent US drone attack in Afghanistan responsible for killing at least 30 pine nut workers and for the numerous other civilians slaughtered by the USAF and US government. Holding a banner which stated “Drones Fly, Children Die, Our Hearts Are Breaking”, the six members of UDA requested the Sheriff’s department enforce the law and stop the killings by the drone assassination program conducted at Hancock field (and other USAF bases across the nation.) With the veil of secrecy and lack of full disclosure, which drone attack center is responsible for this latest slaughter presently remains unknown to the American public. Will anyone ever be held responsible for these wrongful deaths? The six arrested were Ed Kinane, Ann Tiffany, Julienne Oldfield, Rae Kramer and Les Billips, of Syracuse, NY and Mark Scibilia-Carver of Trumansburg, NY, while standing at the main gate entrance of Hancock Field, East Molloy Road, Syracuse, NY. Press Release and Statement.
8 Arrested Protesting Killer Drone Assassinations at Hancock Air National Guard Base
DeWitt, NY – This morning, eight longtime members of the Upstate Drone Action Coalition were arrested for blocking the entrance to Hancock Airbase, home of the 174th Attack Wing. The blockade was composed of a tableau representing the aftermath of a drone strike with mothers grieving their slain children. Protesters used two large banners stating, “Drones Fly, Children Die: Our Hearts are Breaking!” and “Children are not collateral damage!” A grim reaper wheeled an 8’ high, 6’ long scale model of an MQ-9 Reaper drone through the tableau.
Video by Heriberto Rodriguez