Grannies Return for Vigil at Recruiting Office Today

"Blood and Roses" once again is the theme of Good Friday action.

Members of the "Seriously Pissed Off Grannies" Photo courtesy: myleftwing.com

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Today at 11:00 AM, the Seriously Pissed Off Grannies will return for their second Good Friday Vigil at the Army/Marine Recruiting office at 1317 NE Broadway.

They say they will be wearing black as a symbol of mourning for all of those killed during 5 years of war. From 11:00 to noon there will be a silent vigil with the reading of the names of those killed in the war during the past year. The vigil will continue until 3:00 PM.

The group says they are calling for an end to the bloodshed in Iraq. Sara Graham, one of the Grannies arrested and prosecuted in last year's demonstration said, "This is Good Friday, the anniversary of the day the Roman Empire killed Christ. Today, 2008 years later, we mourn the soldiers and the Iraqi people who have been killed by the United States' occupation of Iraq."

On Good Friday in 2007 six people were arrested at the recruiting office after placing symbolic "bloody" handprints, made of red tempera paint, on the windows of the recruiting office. They were charged and found not guilty of the misdemeanor charge that they "intended to cause substantial inconvenience to the United States of America."

At their jury trial they testified that their intention was to send a message that the war is wrong, that it was declared under false pretenses, and that they felt it is their personal responsibility as Americans to do everything they can to stop the war and bring our troops home. A judge who ruled independently of the jury on violation charges in the 2007 case found them guilty of placing graffiti. That conviction is under appeal.

"Today is the beginning of Spring," said Martha Odom, another of the 2007 defendants, "but instead of celebrating new life, we are mourning 4,000 dead US soldiers and the countless Iraqi lives that have been ended or ruined. The people of the United States want a new birth of peace, not more destruction."