Fwd: From Art Laffin: Summary Account of the Pentagon 27 June 4th Court Hearing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, VA

[Frank Cordaro]

---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: Art Laffin <artl...@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jun 6, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Subject: From Art Laffin: Summary Account of the Pentagon 27 June 4th Court Hearing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, VA

Attached photos of defendants and supporters outside the courthouse courtesy of Chuck Booker, John Reuwer and Brian Winters

Dear Friends,

I'm writing to share an update about the June 4th court hearing for the Pentagon 27 who were arrested for a nonviolent witness at the Pentagon on March 27, 2026. (see attached press release).

Before the court hearing, which was at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, VA, the defendants and supporters held a short vigil outside the courthouse that included an opening prayer, scripture reading, and song. Supporters included ten people from the West Hyattsville, Mennonite Church, Philip Farah, from the Palestine Christian Alliance for Peace, and Dr. John Reuwer, who was part of humanitarian aid flotilla to Gaza and recently released, along with other flotilla members, by the Israeli military following their illegal capture.

During the vigil a prayer of healing was offered for Patrick O'Neill, principal organizer of the March 27th witness which marked his 70th birthday, who suffered a stroke on May 7th and has been hospitalized at Wake Med since. Last weekend he was moved from the ICU to a step-down unit and then transported from Wake Med to the Specialty Select Rehab at Duke Regional Hospital (Durham, NC).

A week before the hearing, charges for him, his wife Mary and daughter Bernadette, were dismissed without prejudice by the prosecutor. Please continue to pray for Patrick's healing and for the Rider-O'Neill family. For updates about Patrick see Caring Bridge: https://www.caringbridge.org/site/5829d060-4c1a-11f1-bba0-4f8f4f4601f6

Prior to the court hearing, the prosecutor met with us as a group to inform us how the government planned to proceed with the case. He told us that our charges of "interfering with agency functions" would be "dismissed without prejudice." This means the government reserves the right to bring up the charges over the next five years.  In our experience with these cases, the government rarely does so. He also said that Pentagon police would be serving us with a notice banning us from the Pentagon.  After our time with the prosecutor, we met as a group to discuss and decide how we wanted to respond in court to what the prosecutor told us.

When we appeared before U.S. Magistrate Ivan Davis, the prosecutor informed the court that it was moving for charges against all defendants to be dismissed without prejudice. To our surprise, the prosecutor never mentioned the Pentagon ban order to the judge. When the Magistrate asked if there were any objections, different defendants raised objections and made moving statements appealing to judge to have the charges "dismissed with prejudice," meaning that the charges can never be filed again. These objections were denied by Magistrate Davis. We also raised the issue about the Pentagon ban order and that it was unconstitutional and should be nullified. In response to these statements, the judge said it was outside of his purview and not part of the case before him.

When we left the courtroom, Pentagon police were outside the courtroom with copies of the Pentagon ban order. However, we were under no court directed order to take one and nobody did. It remains to be seen how the Pentagon intends to apply and enforce this ban for the defendants and others who engage in the weekly Dorothy Day Catholic Worker peace vigil, which now takes place at a Pentagon police designated area on the periphery of the Pentagon on S. Fern St.

We are deeply grateful for all supporters who attended the hearing and for those who could not be physically present and offered their prayerful solidarity.

In peace and hope for a disarmed world,

Art