5 plead not guilty to trespassing at PilgrimMar 15 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Sean Teehan Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.
Five people arrested while protesting at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station pleaded not guilty to trespassing charges in court on Thursday. Two of the defendants -- Paul Rifkin of Cotuit and Michael Risch of Falmouth -- were arrested Wednesday about an hour after a Plymouth district judge dismissed trespassing charges against them and nine others accused of trespassing during a demonstration at the power plant in May. "It was a symbolic act of standing up and defying the dismissal," Rifkin said about the latest arrest. On May 20, 14 protesters were arrested after marching onto power plant property in an attempt to deliver a letter to company owner Entergy Nuclear. The effort was in response to the disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan. A number of those arrested are members of Cape Downwinders, an anti-Pilgrim group that says the plant should be shut down. Three protesters accepted a deal with prosecutors, and a judge dismissed charges against the other 11 on Wednesday. Disappointed that they would not have a public trial, about 30 defendants and supporters marched onto Pilgrim property Wednesday with signs comparing the plant to Fukushima. Security guards there warned the demonstrators that they would be arrested if they did not leave the property. When Plymouth police arrived, Rifkin, Risch, Susan Carpenter of Orleans, Elaine Dickinson of Harwich and Ben Almada of Manomet refused to leave the property and were arrested on trespassing charges. All five were released on bail about five hours later, Rifkin said. The group filled up a front-row bench at Plymouth District Court on Thursday morning as they waited for their case to be called. In the brief court proceeding, Judge Brian Gilligan released all five defendants on personal recognizance and ordered them to stay away from the plant. Dickinson said Wednesday marked the first time she has ever been arrested and that it reflected her principles that the plant should be shut down. "It just seems absurd to me that they would put people at so much risk," she said. All five defendants are due back in court May 22 for a pretrial hearing. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=27928243 |