The Saint Patrick's Day Four
Encyclopedia
The Saint Patrick's Day Four (also, The Saint Patrick's Four, or SP4) are four American peace activist
s of Irish Catholic
heritage who poured their own blood on the walls, posters, windows, and a US flag at a military recruiting center to protest the United States' impending invasion of Iraq. The four consisted of a Vietnam War
Veteran, former Binghamton City Mayor John Burns' son, and two sisters. Peter De Mott
, Daniel Burns, and Teresa and Clare Grady each are members of the Ithaca Catholic Worker
community, which teaches that Christians should practice non-violence and devote their lives to service of others. They each served between four and six months in federal prison for their action on Saint Patrick's Day
, March 17, 2003, in Lansing, New York
, near Ithaca
where they reside. The story of their protest and trial was the subject of a 2006 documentary film, directed by Adolfo Doring
.
The four activists were then retried on federal charges in Binghamton, generally considered to be a more conservative area where obtaining a conviction would be easier. However, local activists staged a massive protest outside the courthouse each day of the trial, and organized a six-day Citizen's Tribunal on Iraq (modeled after the World Tribunal on Iraq
), featuring many internationally known speakers.
The four defended themselves pro se, but were assisted by a team of attorneys, such as William P. Quigley
. Although they were cleared of the most serious charges, they were convicted of misdemeanor charges of damage to government property and entering a military station for an unlawful purpose. All of them have been released from prison after serving their terms.
. He is married to Jessica Stewart, and they have two children. He has traveled to Iraq
and to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of a delegation from Christian Peacemaker Teams. Some of his siblings perform as The Burns Sisters
.
Teresa Grady was born in 1965. She works as a dance instructor, and as a licensed massage therapist with a private practice. She is a founding member of the Ithaca Catholic Worker community after working with a similar community in San Jose, CA. It was there that Teresa says she began to understand the connection between local poverty and global war-making. Fluent in Spanish, Teresa also works to assist refugees from Latin America. Along with Danny and Clare, she visited Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2005 and attempted to gain access to the U.S. military base there, which is housing hundreds of prisoners, many without charges or access to attorneys. Teresa graduated from the Alternative Community School
in 1983.
Clare Grady was born in 1958, and has worked as a kitchen coordinator at Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen for seventeen years. In addition to belonging to the Ithaca Catholic Worker community, she also belongs to the Atlantic Life Community, Phillip
and his brother Daniel Berrigan
being notable members. She is married to Paul Sayvetz, and has two daughters. Clare and Teresa are daughters of John Peter Grady, a peace activist, who as one of the Camden 28, broke into a local draft board and destroyed records.
Peter De Mott
was born in 1947 and died in 2009. He served in the Vietnam War
as a United States Marine and later served in Turkey as a U. S. Army translator. During this time he developed strong anti-war beliefs, and joined the Catholic Worker Movement
in 1979, with a focus on addressing the causes of poverty, unemployment and homelessness. In 2003, he traveled to Iraq as part of a Christian Peacemaker Team. He was married to Ellen Grady (sister of Clare and Teresa), and they had four daughters.
Peace activist
This list of peace activists includes people who proactively advocate diplomatic, non-military resolution of political disputes, usually through nonviolent means.A peace activist is an activist of the peace movement.*Jane Addams*Martti Ahtisaari...
s of Irish Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
heritage who poured their own blood on the walls, posters, windows, and a US flag at a military recruiting center to protest the United States' impending invasion of Iraq. The four consisted of a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
Veteran, former Binghamton City Mayor John Burns' son, and two sisters. Peter De Mott
Peter De Mott
Peter De Mott was born in 1947 and died in 2009. He served in the Vietnam War as a United States Marine and later served in Turkey as a U. S. Army translator . During this time he developed strong anti-war beliefs, and joined the Catholic Worker Movement in 1979, with a focus on addressing the...
, Daniel Burns, and Teresa and Clare Grady each are members of the Ithaca Catholic Worker
Catholic Worker Movement
The Catholic Worker Movement is a collection of autonomous communities of Catholics and their associates founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ." One of its guiding principles is hospitality towards those on...
community, which teaches that Christians should practice non-violence and devote their lives to service of others. They each served between four and six months in federal prison for their action on Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...
, March 17, 2003, in Lansing, New York
Lansing, New York
Lansing, New York can refer to:*Lansing , New York, a town in Tompkins County.*Lansing , New York, a village in the town of Lansing....
, near Ithaca
Ithaca
Ithaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and...
where they reside. The story of their protest and trial was the subject of a 2006 documentary film, directed by Adolfo Doring
Adolfo Doring
Adolfo Doring is an award-winning American documentary filmmaker and director of music videos.-Video career:Doring came to New York City in the mid-eighties to study Sociology at Columbia University, then interned for Rock and Roll photographer Joel Brodsky...
.
Two Trials
Their first trial on state trespass charges, held in Ithaca, ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury.The four activists were then retried on federal charges in Binghamton, generally considered to be a more conservative area where obtaining a conviction would be easier. However, local activists staged a massive protest outside the courthouse each day of the trial, and organized a six-day Citizen's Tribunal on Iraq (modeled after the World Tribunal on Iraq
World Tribunal on Iraq
The World Tribunal on Iraq was a people's court consisting of intellectuals, human rights campaigners and non-governmental organizations, and was active from 2003-2005. Set up following the 2003 invasion of Iraq it sprung from the anti-war movement and is modelled on the Russell Tribunal of the...
), featuring many internationally known speakers.
The four defended themselves pro se, but were assisted by a team of attorneys, such as William P. Quigley
William P. Quigley
William P. Quigley is a law professor and Director of the Law Clinic and the Gillis Long Poverty Law Center at Loyola University New Orleans. He was named the Pope Paul VI National Teacher of Peace by Pax Christi USA in 2003...
. Although they were cleared of the most serious charges, they were convicted of misdemeanor charges of damage to government property and entering a military station for an unlawful purpose. All of them have been released from prison after serving their terms.
Biographical Information
Daniel Burns, was born in 1963 into a prominent local family, the tenth of twelve children of a former mayor of Binghamton, NY. He worked for twenty years in the film industry, and is a member of the Directors Guild of AmericaDirectors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
. He is married to Jessica Stewart, and they have two children. He has traveled to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of a delegation from Christian Peacemaker Teams. Some of his siblings perform as The Burns Sisters
The Burns Sisters
Folk, pop and rock are given a Celtic slant by Ithaca, New York-based vocalists the Burns Sisters. Accompanied by Rich DePaolo's guitar, Eric Aceto's fiddle and their own guitar and mandolin, the three sisters—Annie, Marie and Jeannie—harmonize with heartfelt spirit...
.
Teresa Grady was born in 1965. She works as a dance instructor, and as a licensed massage therapist with a private practice. She is a founding member of the Ithaca Catholic Worker community after working with a similar community in San Jose, CA. It was there that Teresa says she began to understand the connection between local poverty and global war-making. Fluent in Spanish, Teresa also works to assist refugees from Latin America. Along with Danny and Clare, she visited Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2005 and attempted to gain access to the U.S. military base there, which is housing hundreds of prisoners, many without charges or access to attorneys. Teresa graduated from the Alternative Community School
Lehman Alternative Community School
The Lehman Alternative Community School is a nationally renowned public, educational alternative, combined middle and high school in the Ithaca City School District in Ithaca, New York. Serving grades 6-12 with approximately 305 students, the school is known for its small class size,...
in 1983.
Clare Grady was born in 1958, and has worked as a kitchen coordinator at Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen for seventeen years. In addition to belonging to the Ithaca Catholic Worker community, she also belongs to the Atlantic Life Community, Phillip
Philip Berrigan
Philip Francis Berrigan was an internationally renowned American peace activist, Christian anarchist and former Roman Catholic priest...
and his brother Daniel Berrigan
Daniel Berrigan
Daniel Berrigan, SJ is an American Catholic priest, peace activist, and poet. Daniel and his brother Philip were for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for their involvement in antiwar protests during the Vietnam war....
being notable members. She is married to Paul Sayvetz, and has two daughters. Clare and Teresa are daughters of John Peter Grady, a peace activist, who as one of the Camden 28, broke into a local draft board and destroyed records.
Peter De Mott
Peter De Mott
Peter De Mott was born in 1947 and died in 2009. He served in the Vietnam War as a United States Marine and later served in Turkey as a U. S. Army translator . During this time he developed strong anti-war beliefs, and joined the Catholic Worker Movement in 1979, with a focus on addressing the...
was born in 1947 and died in 2009. He served in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
as a United States Marine and later served in Turkey as a U. S. Army translator. During this time he developed strong anti-war beliefs, and joined the Catholic Worker Movement
Catholic Worker Movement
The Catholic Worker Movement is a collection of autonomous communities of Catholics and their associates founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ." One of its guiding principles is hospitality towards those on...
in 1979, with a focus on addressing the causes of poverty, unemployment and homelessness. In 2003, he traveled to Iraq as part of a Christian Peacemaker Team. He was married to Ellen Grady (sister of Clare and Teresa), and they had four daughters.
External links
- Trial of 4 War Protesters Upstate Ends With a Mixed Verdict, The New York Times, September 27, 2005
- 3rd Antiwar Defendant Is Held in Contempt, The New York Times, September 23, 2005
- 4 War Protesters Called Zealots as Government Rests Its Case, The New York Times, September 22, 2005
- Danny and Teresa on Democracy Now after the federal trial, Sept 28, 2005.
- Peter and Bill Quigley on Democracy Now during the trial, Sept 22, 2005.