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Four peace activists who spilled human blood on an American flag to
protest the war in Iraq were convicted Monday of damaging governmental property,
but escaped the most serious charge against them.
The four members of Catholic Worker, a social justice organization,
were acquitted of conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States, said
group spokesman Tarik Abdelazim. They also were convicted of entering a military
recruiting station for unlawful purposes.
The defendants — Daniel Burns, 45; Peter DeMott, 58; and sisters Teresa
Grady, 39; and Clare Grady, 46 — splattered their blood on the windows
and walls, posters, pictures and an American flag at an Army and Marine Corps
recruiting station near Ithaca, about 65 miles south of Syracuse.
The Ithaca residents were arrested March 17, 2003. Dubbed "the St. Patrick's
Four," the group said that under international law they were not guilty
of a crime, and compared their actions to those of Gandhi, Martin Luther King
Jr. and Susan B. Anthony.
"That blood was already on the flag," Clare Grady testified.
"We just made it visible."
A previous trial in Tompkins County Court ended when the jury deadlocked. The
U.S. District Court jury deliberated about eight hours over two days.
