Last St. Patrick's Four Activist Released
by Tiffany Edwards
The Ithaca Journal
September 18, 2006
Not many former prisoners are welcomed home by their communities with music, flowers and celebration, but that is precisely what awaited Peter DeMott on Sunday at the packed Southside Community Center on South Plain Street.
DeMott, who was released Sunday morning from a federal prison in Brooklyn, is the last member of the St. Patrick's Four activists to be released from jail.
More than 100 supporters gathered at the center to hear the protestors speak about their experiences in prison and their continued dedication to nonviolent protest of the war in Iraq.
“It is good to see they are out and free,” said Collin McCarthy of King Ferry.
DeMott, Teresa Grady, Clare Grady and Daniel Burns were convicted on misdemeanor charges of trespassing and damaging government property for their 2003 protest at a military recruiting center in Lansing. During the protest, the activists splashed their own blood on the walls and doors of the center. Burns and Clare Grady served six-month sentences. Teresa Grady served a four-month sentence and DeMott served an eight-month sentence, including four months in prison and four in a half-way house.
Burns said many people at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the prison where he was held, were surprised he was there. The facility was not normally used to hold people convicted on misdemeanor charges.
“I was made an example of,” said Burns, adding sarcastically, “as you can see, I am changed.”
The loss of contact with family members was the most crushing aspect of being imprisoned, the protesters said.
“The only punishment they gave me was missing my kids,” Burns said. “I learned a little bit what it's like to be helpless.”
Burns is the father of two sons. Clare has two daughters and DeMott and his wife, Ellen Grady, have four daughters, ages 4 to 20. All four protesters were the main breadwinners for their families, Ellen said.
Kate DeMott Grady, 17, said she was proud of the actions of her family members.
“We all have a responsibility to stand up and say ‘no' when we see injustice being done.”
Kate said the support from her family and the community helped her deal with her father's absence. Visits to her father in prison also helped but were disheartening because she empathized with other prisoners who were removed from their families. In addition, prison policy prevented her father from visiting his brother, Steve, who died of brain cancer during Peter's incarceration.
“For a brief moment, we experienced what others are experiencing every day,” said Ellen, Kate's mother. She said the experience was “an inkling” of what families of Guantanamo Bay detainees are facing.
Throughout the program the protesters called upon the audience to focus on the victims of the war in Iraq — the thousands of Iraqi women, children and noncombatants who have been killed, and the dead and injured American soldiers. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, DeMott said the recruiting center was a particularly meaningful site of protest for him.
“I was trying to save (the recruits) from the anguish and the remorse I experienced participating in the war in Vietnam,” he said.
Since their release from prison, members of the St. Patrick's Four have continued to speak against the war and advocate peace. Clare Grady and Burns have spoken on the “myth of redemptive violence” in Virginia and Pennsylvania, while Teresa has traveled to Buffalo and to Ireland, where a 2003 protest took place against U.S. planes refueling at Shannon Airport on their way to Iraq.
“'Hate the sin but not the sinner' we're told, but how many of us do this?” Teresa asked. “When we stop talking to our fellow citizens about what is happening because it's not socially acceptable, we are participating in this fear factor, which subjects us to this war.”
The Ithaca Journal
September 18, 2006
Not many former prisoners are welcomed home by their communities with music, flowers and celebration, but that is precisely what awaited Peter DeMott on Sunday at the packed Southside Community Center on South Plain Street.
DeMott, who was released Sunday morning from a federal prison in Brooklyn, is the last member of the St. Patrick's Four activists to be released from jail.
More than 100 supporters gathered at the center to hear the protestors speak about their experiences in prison and their continued dedication to nonviolent protest of the war in Iraq.
“It is good to see they are out and free,” said Collin McCarthy of King Ferry.
DeMott, Teresa Grady, Clare Grady and Daniel Burns were convicted on misdemeanor charges of trespassing and damaging government property for their 2003 protest at a military recruiting center in Lansing. During the protest, the activists splashed their own blood on the walls and doors of the center. Burns and Clare Grady served six-month sentences. Teresa Grady served a four-month sentence and DeMott served an eight-month sentence, including four months in prison and four in a half-way house.
Burns said many people at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the prison where he was held, were surprised he was there. The facility was not normally used to hold people convicted on misdemeanor charges.
“I was made an example of,” said Burns, adding sarcastically, “as you can see, I am changed.”
The loss of contact with family members was the most crushing aspect of being imprisoned, the protesters said.
“The only punishment they gave me was missing my kids,” Burns said. “I learned a little bit what it's like to be helpless.”
Burns is the father of two sons. Clare has two daughters and DeMott and his wife, Ellen Grady, have four daughters, ages 4 to 20. All four protesters were the main breadwinners for their families, Ellen said.
Kate DeMott Grady, 17, said she was proud of the actions of her family members.
“We all have a responsibility to stand up and say ‘no' when we see injustice being done.”
Kate said the support from her family and the community helped her deal with her father's absence. Visits to her father in prison also helped but were disheartening because she empathized with other prisoners who were removed from their families. In addition, prison policy prevented her father from visiting his brother, Steve, who died of brain cancer during Peter's incarceration.
“For a brief moment, we experienced what others are experiencing every day,” said Ellen, Kate's mother. She said the experience was “an inkling” of what families of Guantanamo Bay detainees are facing.
Throughout the program the protesters called upon the audience to focus on the victims of the war in Iraq — the thousands of Iraqi women, children and noncombatants who have been killed, and the dead and injured American soldiers. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, DeMott said the recruiting center was a particularly meaningful site of protest for him.
“I was trying to save (the recruits) from the anguish and the remorse I experienced participating in the war in Vietnam,” he said.
Since their release from prison, members of the St. Patrick's Four have continued to speak against the war and advocate peace. Clare Grady and Burns have spoken on the “myth of redemptive violence” in Virginia and Pennsylvania, while Teresa has traveled to Buffalo and to Ireland, where a 2003 protest took place against U.S. planes refueling at Shannon Airport on their way to Iraq.
“'Hate the sin but not the sinner' we're told, but how many of us do this?” Teresa asked. “When we stop talking to our fellow citizens about what is happening because it's not socially acceptable, we are participating in this fear factor, which subjects us to this war.”
Copyright ©2006 The Ithaca Journal
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