CPTnet
November 24, 1998
Fort Benning, Georgia: CPTers participate in vigil against School of the
Americas

On November 21 and 22 more than 50 people affiliated with Christian Peacemaker
Teams participated in a vigil demanding the closing of the School of the
Americas (SOA.)

The organizers of the vigil had anticipated that more than 2000 people would
attend the vigil and 1000 people would commit civil disobedience by crossing
the line on to the Fort Benning military base, where the School of the
Americas is located. On Sunday, November 22, more than 7,000 people showed up
for the vigil and more than 2300 committed civil disobedience, carrying
coffins and white crosses bearing the names of people whom SOA graduates had
murdered on to the base.

In the end, there were far too many demonstrators for Ft. Benning's military
police to arrest. They confiscated the coffins and crosses, drove the
demonstrators to a park in Columbus, GA and told them to walk the mile and a
half back to the vigil site. Not one of the 2300+ people, including those who
were crossing for the second and third times, was charged with trespassing.

CPT participated in the vigil by reading a letter from Guatemalan Mennonites
asking North Americans to close the School of the Americas on Saturday, Nov.
21. On Sunday, Nov. 22, eight people in CPT hats walked together on to the
base. Other CPT reservists, former delegation members and Peacemaker Congress
participants participated in the two day vigil and/or trespassed on to the
base with their local student, church or grassroots organizations.