Veterans For Peace members David Soumis and Lars Prip participated in their Saturday outreach against the use of killer drones at the Madison Wisconsin Farmer’s Market, one of the largest in the country.
This particular Saturday, May 18, was also the weekend of area college graduation, including the University of Wisconsin Madison, so there were a lot of people from across the country in attendance.
We had the pleasure of being entertained by the National Guard Band, playing a lot of current rock, plus some very patriotic music, to assist them in their recruiting efforts.
Lars was kind enough to hold his sign next to the NG recruiting table, where he was informed by one of the recruiters that we (Americans) don't do that (I'm assuming he means don't kill kids).
He also objected to a display photo at VFP Chapter 25’s table, a weekly outreach, which is being manned by Steve Books and Jeff Goldstein. This is Lars’ explanation :
On the VFP Table to the recruiter’s right is a picture of a US Army Soldier, double amputee at the knees, in a wheel chair. The solider is very distressed and being comforted by a lady in a vexing halter top. It’s a very moving photograph in black & white and this young recruiter objected to this being displayed. It’s the truth of your trade young man and it will not be hidden as long as VFP has anything to do with it!
Lars Prip, foreground, David Soumis behind Lars.
Lars and David have been holding this outreach to talk to people about the illegal use of drones, the immorality of their use, and their upcoming use as tools of surveillance in the United States since July 2012 every Saturday, other than when trips are made to different locations across Wisconsin, including the massive Experimental Aviation Association fly in at Oshkosh Wisconsin.
The outreach has been very successful , with the model drone, made by Nick Mottern, http://www.knowdrones.com/ , drawing a lot of attention, with people asking about the model, and then leading into discussions on the drones themselves.
There has been many instances of near confrontations, a lot of negative feedback, mostly on the “fact” that drones save American lives, whereupon we quickly counter with the fact thousands are being killed by the drones, including women and children.
This often leads into discussion on American exceptionalism and imperialism.
We would highly recommend that chapters get in contact with Nick Mottern at the website listed above, and try to obtain a model drone. This is an excellent way to draw attention. Having a bunch of signs and others to assist holding them helps as well. We have had a lot of our friends stop by for conversation and to hold signs. Great solidarity here in Madison.
