CONCORD, New Hampshire - February 8 - On Tuesday, February 7, six New Hampshire citizens were found guilty of criminal trespass for a sit-in at Senator Judd Gregg’s Concord office on June 2, 2005. The six defendants were given a one-year suspended sentence of $200 and were called “people of conscience” by the presiding judge, Judge Sullivan.

"We are pleased that our concern regarding Senator Gregg's continuing refusal to to meet with NH citizens about the Iraq war received a public hearing," said Don Booth, one of the defendants.

The group was arrested on June 2 at Senator Judd Gregg’s office after having made approximately a dozen requests for a meeting and collecting hundreds of signatures in support of a meeting to discuss the Iraq war.

During the trial, the judge heard an account of the long process by which citizens had attempted to secure a meeting with the Senator. The efforts began on April 12, when a letter requesting a public meeting was delivered to the Senator’s offices in Washington, DC. Two subsequent formal appeals were made, along with a nearly daily presence at the Senator’s Concord offices during May, 2005. On May 6, citizens had a “read-in” at the Senator’s office at which they read the names of Iraqi and U.S. casualties. They left the offices at 5pm without incident.

On June 2, the six citizens decided to stay at the Senator’s offices at closing. “We felt a tremendous sense of urgency that day,” says Eileen Reardon, one of the defendants. “The Senator had been non-responsive to dialogue about the Iraq war for a month and a half, despite our respectful and repeated attempts. U.S. and Iraqi casualties were continuing to mount. We were compelled to wait to hear from the Senator.”

While the prosecutor tried to refer to the defendants as “protesters,” their lawyer, Nick Brodich, closed by emphasizing that they had tried repeatedly to secure a meeting the Senator. “The real issue,” says Anne Miller, one of the defendants and director of New Hampshire Peace Action, “is one of democracy as well as war. What recourse do citizens have when their elected representatives refuse to enter into discourse about crucial issues that affect us all? What could be more important than having a robust dialogue about a war that has cost the state of New Hampshire over a billion taxpayer dollars, and 2,250 American lives?”

Eileen Reardon of Keene, Anne Miller of Concord, Jessica Ellis of Belmont, Mary Lee Sargent of Bow, Lynn Chong of Sanbornton and Don Booth of Concord plan to resume their request for a meeting with the Senator. Next month, eight more citizens will stand trial for the same offense from arrests at Senator Gregg’s Concord offices in December, 2005.

To date, over $236 billion has been spent on the war and 2,250 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq.

###