In just ten months, the United States managed to transform an 82 year-old Catholic nun and two pacifists from non-violent anti-nuclear peace protestors accused of misdemeanor trespassing into federal felons convicted of violent crimes of terrorism. Now in jail awaiting sentencing for their acts at an Oak Ridge, TN nuclear weapons production facility, their story should chill every person concerned about dissent in the US.

Six veterans and activists in Oakland, and six more in Portland, OR, were arrested Thursday night at Obama campaign offices for occupying the spaces in solidarity with accused WikiLeaks whistle-blower PFC Bradley Manning. Dozens of veterans and anti-war demonstrators coordinated a West Coast set of actions that also included protests in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Seattle.

Iraq War veterans (left to right) Michael Thurman, Scott Olsen, and Joshua Sheppard occupying Obama’s campaign office in Oakland in support of Bradley Manning.

After the scheduled #noNATO march ended Sunday afternoon, May 20, a much-broadcast clash with police resulted in a fracture of the main protest group. Those who remained were almost all young, antiwar protesters who found themselves with several options: go home, head north or continue south to McCormick Place. The mix of around 150 local and visiting youth chose the latter and, around an hour later, wound up at the entrance to the NATO summit. They also met what appeared to be the most heavily equipped law enforcement officers in the area.

Nearly 50 U.S. military veterans at an anti-NATO rally in Chicago threw their service medals into the street on Sunday, an action they said symbolized their rejection of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the veterans, many wearing military uniform shirts over black anti-war t-shirts, choked back tears as they explained their actions. Others folded an American flag while a bugle played “Taps,” which is typically performed at U.S. military funerals.

This weekend, thousands of people converged on Chicago to protest the international meeting of the NATO militarist organization. This protest was originally scheduled to also be against the meeting of the G8 nations, but that summit was moved to rural Maryland because of government fears of disruption caused by protesters. The protests brought thousands into the streets of Chicago. The protests were the object of intense violence by the police, including pre-protest raids against activists.