Anti-nuclear sweethearts convicted of lesser misdemeanor after September protest

Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999 | 11:16 a.m.

A pair of lovebird anti-nuclear activists who locked themselves together to the awning of the Foley Federal Building were found innocent of that act but guilty of refusing to come down from their perch when ordered by federal agents.

U.S. Magistrate Robert Johnston, following a two-hour trial Wednesday on four misdemeanor charges, sentenced Reinard Knutsen and his "partner and sweetheart" Susi Snyder to 12 hours each of community service at area homeless shelters for their Sept. 8 actions.

They also were ordered to each pay $10 court assessment fees. Unable to pay the $20, the couple turned to their two dozen supporters in the audience, who passed around a hat and collected enough to not only cover the fees that go to a fund for crime victims but also pay for dinner for the couple to celebrate their half-victory.

The trial was longer than the average misdemeanor trial, because Johnston gave the couple some latitude in airing their protests against the U.S. government's subcritical nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Although that was the motivation for their protest, it had little to do with the charges for which they were found guilty: not conforming to a direction given by a federal authority. They were acquitted of a charge each of disturbance that impedes the operation of government.

The couple, volunteer members of the Shundahai Network, an international nonprofit anti-nuclear organization known for its numerous protests and subsequent arrests at the Test Site, had faced up to six months in jail and $5,000 fines for each count.

"I am surprised that we were found not guilty," Knutsen said after the trial.

Federal officer Linda Glowacki of the General Services Division, who acted as the prosecutor and sole witness against the couple, proved to Johnston that Knutsen and Snyder refused to come down from the concrete awning after both she and a Metro Police sergeant had asked them to do so.

She was unable, however, to meet the burden of proof that the couple impeded the operation of the government, given that federal agents called the fire department, shut down the street and closed off the front entrance to the building.

Johnston also didn't buy the argument that the commotion caused government employees to stop working and look out the window, further impeding operations.

"I hope the workers did look out the window and hear that weapons tests need to be stopped and went home and talked about it," Snyder said in her closing comments after testifying that subcritical tests poison underground water and cause risks of birth defects.

Subcritical experiments are tests that are done without a nuclear chain reaction, which is prohibited by a moratorium since 1992.

Supporters say subcritical testing is necessary so that scientists can study how aging plutonium reacts in an explosion so that the U.S. stockpile of nuclear weapons can be safely kept.