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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An 84-year-old priest from Tacoma has been ordered to serve three months in prison for trespassing on federal property when he and other peace activists protested at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.Three months in Federal prison for crossing a thin blue line? There was no property destroyed and yet the ASUA can stand in front of a Federal magistrate and ask for three months. How she believes in her mind that she is doing justice is beyond my ability to understand the apparatchik mentality.
Faced with prison, the Rev. William Bichsel told U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton during his sentencing hearing Monday that he was committed to his activism, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported (bit.ly/qkK0Mu).
"I would like to recommit myself to resistance to injustice," he said.
Bichsel and 11 other activists were convicted earlier this year of trespassing after they intentionally crossed a blue line separating state and federal property at the complex last year.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Kirby said Bichsel has previously served time behind bars for his protesting.
"The government has no issue with demonstrations," Kirby said. "The issue is crossing over that blue line. His history demonstrates he repeatedly commits this sort of crime."
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