Missile silo trespasser freed from federal prison
By DAVE CALDWELL, Staff Writer dcaldwell@minotdailynews.comA Texas man who was apprehended after trespassing on missile silo site near Parshall was freed from federal custody Friday after serving more than three months in prison.
James Richard Sauder, 55, of Texas, was charged with federal criminal trespassing, a Class B misdemeanor, after he scaled the fence at missile launch pad H-8 about 3 miles southwest of Parshall in order to stage a nonviolent protest against the nuclear weapons policies of the federal government.
Sauder stood trial Friday on the charge before federal Magistrate Judge Charles S. Miller, where he took advantage of an opportunity to address the court during his testimony rather than mount any significant factual defense against the charges.
And while Sauder was convicted in short order, Miller told Sauder that, having already served three months and eight days in a Rugby correctional facility, he didn't want to "waste any more of the taxpayers' money."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Volk called three witnesses to the stand for the prosecution, each of whom stated that they had seen Sauder inside H-8, the clearly marked enclosure surrounded by barbed-wire-lined fence, on the morning of April 15.
Meanwhile, Sauder made no attempt disputing the fact that he did something that was in violation of written federal statue. Rather, his attorney, Orell Schmitz, opted simply to ask witnesses if H-8 lies within the boundaries of the Ft. Berthold Indian Reservation.
After establishing that H-8 does indeed lie within reservation boundaries, Schmitz moved that the charges be dismissed on the grounds that the U.S. does not hold title or authority for jurisdiction on the site in question.
Miller denied the motion, at which time Schmitz called his star - and only - witness for the defense himself.
The intelligent and engaging defendant took the stand and immediately admitted he had been convicted twice before of trespassing on missile sites, most recently "in the early 1980s."
He described the native-inspired ceremonial headdress he was wearing when apprehended, the various items he symbolically placed at the site, and the suspicious-looking electrical cord spotted in the vehicle he drove that day that led military personnel to suspect for a time that the van was a bomb.
Once he described the three dozen white roses he took to the site, however, Sauder's diatribe turned much more serious.
Claiming his nonviolent act of civil disobedience was in solidarity with a generation-old society of intellectuals protesting the Third Reich in Hitler's Germany, Sauder told the court he was acting on behalf of the White Rose Movement.
He stated his belief that the U.S. proliferation of nuclear weapons is in clear violation of multiple international laws. Referring to North Dakota's 150 Minuteman III missiles, each of which carries multiple warheads, he said the weapons "profoundly threaten humanity."
"These are city-busters - genocidal weapons of mass destruction," Sauder said. Nuclear deterrence, he said, is "nothing but a euphemism for nuclear terrorism carried out by the U.S."
He also said that he chose Minot for the simple reason that Minot Air Force Base has had several nuclear snafus in recent years, referring to the base's nuclear security mockingly as "nuclear insecurity."
He cited the six "rogue" warheads transported mistakenly to Louisiana's Barksdale Air Force Base in 2007, the missile booster truck that overturned several months ago near Berthold, and the recent incident where a training missile fell on an airman causing fatal injuries.
"Of course it's unfortunate that anyone has to die, but it does beg a bigger question," Sauder said. "How is it that you manage to drop a nuclear missile in the first place?"
He also pointed out that it took more than an hour for him to be apprehended from the time he entered the restricted area.
"Either we get rid of the nukes, or they're going to get rid of us," Sauder said.
Once the defense rested, Miller told Sauder that, however misguided it may be, he understood Sauder's point.
"I think I understand his statement and I respect his views," Miller said, but continued that there are better ways to make a point than by breaking laws.
He ruled Sauder guilty on the charge and proceeded directly to sentencing.
Noting that the maximum sentence for the crime is six months in prison, Miller determined that Sauder had served enough time.
"If I release you today, you're going to do what?" he asked Sauder.
"Well, I'm not going straight to a missile site," Sauder replied as the courtroom laughed. Sauder told the judge he hoped he could "get a ride back to Rugby," as all Sauder's property remains at Heart of America Correctional Center there.
Noting the prison jumpsuit he was wearing belonged to the jail, he said, "Basically, I'm only in my own socks and underwear," to more laughter.
He then told the judge that his plans are to leave the state immediately "the same way I came in," south toward Texas.
Miller cautioned Sauder that should he violate the laws again, he likely would not be given treatment as "lenient" as his most recent brush with the law.
"I know if I'm the sentencing judge, you'll most likely be facing the maximum penalty - and it might be a felony," Miller said.
