Tucson Raging Grannies make headlines around the world

When a handful of elderly women entered an Army recruiting office in Tucson two weeks ago, the last thing they expected was to be arrested for it. The very last thing any of them expected was to have the BBC calling for an interview. But the shenanigans of Tucson’s Raging Grannies have landed them in the international limelight.

The Raging Grannies had attempted to enlist in the U.S. Army at the military recruitment center 2303 E. Speedway the morning of July 13, 2005. Charged with Criminal Trespass, five members of the Tucson Raging Grannies deny they were trespassing and insist that they were serious about enlisting in the U.S. Army. Four media representatives were also cited.

“We were expecting them to dismiss our charges, and they didn’t,” Granny Pat Birnie said. “And we are delighted. It’s so totally absurd, I don’t know why they’re bothering. It’s really to our advantage that they didn’t dismiss.”

Birnie said she’s received calls from all over the world, including the BBC and papers in Sweeden and Canada. “Every nation has been calling for interviews, it’s been exciting,” Birnie said.

The Raging Grannies will be out in full force this Wednesday at 8:00 am in front of the recruiters’ offices. The Today Show, along with CBS, is expected to be filming the action.

AZCRC Member Detained for Fliering

An Arizona Counter-Recruitment Coalition (AZCRC) member was detained and charged with trespassing as AZCRC members were distributing counter-recruitment literature at the Fiesta Mall in Mesa.

A Phoenix area organization, the AZCRC has been active in building resistance to recruitment, especially amongst students and young adults, by opposing military recruitment on high school and college campuses.

The AZCRC has encountered varied reactions from students, school officials, security, and police. Some high school students work with the AZCRC, while others have already signed up in the armed forces. The AZCRC has been invited by some school officials to bring their literature into career centers, while at other schools, the AZCRC has been told to leave school property while fliering. The incident at Fiesta Mall is the first time an AZCRC member has been detained while doing counter-recruitment fliering.

Thousands of students have received fliers from the high school campus visits that the AZCRC have done all over the Phoenix metro area, during which they've engaged the youth in productive discussion on the alternatives to enlisting in the US military and also the effects of combat and war on veterans after their service has ended. More recently the AZCRC has flyered at South Mountain High School and Carl Hayden High School in December, at Agua Fria High School and at Tempe High School as well.

The AZCRC has participated in fliering and protesting at recruitment centers, hopes to build draft resistance, plans to put on a workshop at the Local to Global Justice Teach In in March, and will have some involvement in the Anti-Occupation/Counter-Inauguration demonstration on January 20th.