CODEPINK Hosts Vigil for Innocent Drone Victims at Virginia Home of CIA Director Nominee John Brennan |
January 15, 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Medea Benjamin, (415) 235-6517, medea@codepink.org Alli McCracken, (860) 575-5692, Alli@codepink.org Twitter: @codepink, @medeabenjamin CODEPINK Hosts Vigil for Innocent Drone Victims at Virginia Home of CIA Director Nominee John Brennan When: 7pm, January 15th, 2013 Where: Meet at Frying Pan Park at 2709 West Ox Road, Herndon, Virginia. From there we will walk in solemn procession to his house at 13351 Point Rider Lane, Herndon, Virginia. On Tuesday, January 15, 2013, human rights activists will hold a solemn candlelight vigil outside of John Brennan's house in Herndon, Virginia in memory of the innocent victims of U.S. drone strikes around the world. Last week President Obama nominated Brennan, architect of the American killer drone program, to head the CIA. Brennan is responsible for the escalation of drone attacks under the Obama administration. He was also a Bush-era CIA official — in fact, he was chief of staff to Bush's CIA director and then deputy director of the CIA at a time when the CIA was running a kidnapping and "rendition" program, which turned over detainees to foreign governments to be tortured. Vigilers will read off the names of innocent people killed, do a simulated drone strike and deliver a petition signed by over 5,000 people rejecting Brennan's nomination. The visuals for the action include a large model drone, photos of children victims and candles. “As recently as the summer of 2011, Brennan made the absurd claim that there had not been “a single collateral death” in a US strike in the past year due to the precision of drones. A group of 32 Americans recently returned from a peace delegation to Pakistan, where they met with innocent drone strike survivors and listened to their stories about losing loved ones as a result of American drones. The delegation learned that almost 200 children have been killed by US drones in Pakistan alone. “It is tragic that the person who is responsible for the counterproductive, illegal drone strike strategy that has killed so many innocent people and unleashed such fierce anti-American sentiment around the world is being tapped to head the CIA,” said CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin. “John Brennan withdrew his name from nomination for CIA director in 2008 because of the outcry by human rights advocates. Brennan is even a worse pick today and should withdraw his name once again.” This action is part of a broader CODEPINK campaign against John Brennan's nomination. Campaign organizers are available for interviews. ## |
