172. Sister Megan Rice: The School of the Americas and the Nun Who Broke into a Nuclear Facility

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hello, and welcome to Reverie True Crime. I'm your host page.
Today's episode is about a nun named Sister Meghan Rice,
who is eighty two years old. When she and fellow
activists Greg Borcie Obed and Mykekwali went on a mission

(01:02):
in Oakridge, Tennessee that would capture the world's attention. They
had a goal, and it was a bold one to
breach one of the most secure nuclear facilities in the
US and make everyone aware of the dangers of nuclear weapons.
This act of civil disobedience was not an isolated incident,

(01:26):
but it was the height of decades of tireless commitment
to peace and justice. Sister Meghan Rice lived her life
devoted to education and missionary work. Then she went on
to be a symbol of anti nuclear activism. She showed
the world the moral implications of nuclear weapons and the

(01:48):
links that people will go to advocate for a more
peaceful world. This is the story of a nun who
stood up to the nuclear industry with only her strong
faith and a commitment to humanity. Let's get into it.
Before we learn about Sister Meghan Rice and her very

(02:10):
interesting life, we need to understand what she was protesting against.
So I want you to imagine the world in nineteen
forty six. World War II had just ended, but in
would come a new global issue. The United States, fearing
the spread of communism across the Western hemisphere, was determined

(02:34):
to secure its powerful influence. It wasn't just a battle
of ideologies. It was a battle for control and power,
and in the Panama Canal zone, a new institution was
born to fight that battle. The School of the Americas,
also known as the SOA, were training Latin American military

(02:58):
officers to strengthen regional security. But beneath the surface, the
School's actual goal was way more strategic. The US wasn't
just offering technical skills. It was shaping the militaries of
neighboring countries to serve American interests. Soldiers were learning counter insurgency,

(03:21):
which means they were learning how to detect, disrupt, and
destroy anyone who seemed like a threat to US influence.
Training included intelligence gathering, psychological warfare, and even ways to
control civilians. The United States believed that by equipping foreign

(03:41):
armies with these skills, they could create a wall of
protection against leftist uprisings, no matter the cost. For almost
four decades, the School of the Americas remained hidden in
plain sight, training thousands of Latin Americans solons. But in
nineteen eighty four, scrutiny over the United States involvement in

(04:06):
Central America grew very intense. The solution moved the school
out of foreign territory and onto US soil. Fort Bennington,
Georgia became its new home. This move was thought to
be intended to protect the school from all the criticism.

(04:26):
By that time, the school's reputation started to fracture. Rumors
that there were assaults on human rights connected to its
graduates swirled through the press, but the US insisted that
the school was only a force for good. What they
didn't admit was how those very tools could become weapons

(04:48):
of oppression, allowing violence to spread across Latin America. The
school claimed their training was all about military tactics, leadership,
and cooperation, but that wasn't the real story. Soldiers learned
not only how to fight rebels, but how to demolish

(05:10):
entire movements. The message was crystal clear. Any opposition to
US backed governments had to be neutralized by any means necessary.
Something that really shocked everyone was the fact that the
school was using torture manuals. These manuals showed up in

(05:33):
declassified documents and were lessons on how to be coercive
during interrogations that people argued were basically impossible to tell
apart from torture. The school denied promoting abuse, but the
evidence said otherwise. Students were taught to pull information out

(05:54):
of people through fear, intimidation, and physical force, tactics that
that many would later use on their own citizens. However,
there were many people who supported the school and argued
that its programs were all about stability and giving Latin
American militaries more professional qualities. In the nineteen nineties, human

(06:19):
rights courses were added to the curriculum, but was it
too little, too late. Many graduates had already left behind
a legacy of carrying out assassinations, disappearances, and massacres across
Latin America. Yet despite all the criticism, the US government

(06:41):
stood firm. Officials would still claim the school was necessary
during the Cold War, helping to prevent the spread of communism.
What they didn't own up to was how those very
skills that they were teaching at Fort Benning were fueling
brutal regimes and silence any political disagreements. The SOA was

(07:05):
not just training soldiers, it was creating enforcers loyal to
their governments but feared by their people, and as the
years passed, the consequences of that training would spread across borders,
leaving behind a trail of fear and bloodshed. The School
of the Americas thought their secrecy was a shield, but

(07:28):
they didn't consider even the strongest shields can crack, and
when it did, no one could ignore the pattern that
was found across Latin America. A scary truth was becoming undeniable.
Graduates of the school were at the center of some
of the region's most horrific human rights abuses. One of

(07:52):
the most known examples came from El Salvador. In nineteen eighty,
Archbishop Oscar Romero, a vocal critic of government violence, was
assassinated while he was delivering mass His death since shockwaves
around the world, but the terror people felt was only

(08:13):
just beginning. A year later, the El Mezote massacre happened.
Soldiers from the US trained Applicato Battalion slaughtered over eight
hundred civilians, including women and children. Investigators found that many
members of that battalion had trained at the School of

(08:35):
the Americas, and El Salvador wasn't a one off case.
In Guatemala, the fingerprints of SOA graduates stained the nation's
civil war. In the nineteen eighties. Under Dictator Efrain Rios
mont a military officer trained at the school, government forces

(08:57):
launched a scorched earth campaign that targeted indigenous communities. Entire
villages were wiped out. Survivors talked about vicious acts, such
as mothers watching their children being burned alive. According to
the United Nations Truth Commission, Mott's forces committed acts of genocide,

(09:20):
leaving over two hundred thousand people dead or missing. In Columbia.
SOA graduates played important roles in operations by paramilitary an
unofficial military who were just organized like a military force,
and they were linked to the disappearances and killings of civilians.

(09:42):
Human rights organizations accused these groups of carrying out dirty wars,
killings that were not legally signed off on and were
made to take out political opponents under the guise of
fighting the Rise of rebellion. Declassified us DA, the documents
later confirmed that graduates from the school were involved in

(10:04):
civilian disappearances and targeted assassinations. The evidence was overwhelming, but
for years the US government brushed off the disapproval. They
argued that the school's purpose was to create military cooperation
and professionalize Latin American forces, but critics, including human rights organizations,

(10:29):
saw it much differently. To them that SOA was not
a place of learning, it was a school of assassins.
By the nineteen nineties, public outrage reached a boiling point
when people learned about the torture manuals. It caused condemnation
around the world and fueled more calls to shut down

(10:52):
the institution entirely. Father Roy Burgess, a Catholic priest in
Vietnam War, was outspoken about his disapproval of the school.
In nineteen ninety, he founded soa Watch, an organization dedicated
to exposing the horrific outcomes of the school. What started

(11:15):
as a small protest grew into an annual demonstration. Thousands
would show up at the gates of Fort Benning demanding
it to be shut down. Despite the mounting pressure, the
school kept its stores open, even though its reputation was
in ruins. In two thousand and one, facing continued scrutiny,

(11:39):
the US government rebranded the institution as the Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation, also known as WINDSICK. They claimed
the new organization was committed to human rights and transparency,
but some saw the name change as nothing more than

(11:59):
a peace stunt. They believed they were only attempting to
bury the past while the same patterns of abuse continued. Yeah,
they changed the name, but could an institute so deeply
rooted and violence ever truly change. The Pentagon claimed it

(12:19):
wasn't just a new name, it was a brand new institution.
They promised to value human rights and stressed how important
that was to them, and that they would provide transparency
and democratic values A new advisory board was put together
to oversee the curriculum, and mandatory human rights training became

(12:42):
a core part of the program. On the surface, these
reforms seemed to address the concerns, but still many people
were not convinced at all. Father Roy Burgess an SOA
Watch would continue to push back, convinced that the changes
were just for show and intended to get people off

(13:04):
their backs. After all, many of the same teachers were
still there, the same training methods were happening, and the
same core mission was intact to them. The school's little
makeover was nothing more than the School of the Americas
in disguise. Congressional oversight ramped up, but efforts to close

(13:27):
the school failed over and over again. In two thousand
and seven, a bill to shut down Winsick lost by
just six votes. Supporters of the school kept insisting that
it was vital for strengthening military cooperation with Latin America.

(13:47):
Opponents saw it as a breeding ground for future human
rights violators. Today, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
still operate, but the ghost of its past still haunts it.
The school's supporters always liked to point to its human

(14:08):
rights courses as proof of progress, but for those who
have lost loved ones at the hands of its graduates.
The name change obviously did nothing to erase the school's
hllacious history. But let's rewind a bit. As mentioned in
nineteen ninety, the SOA Watch was founded, and it was

(14:31):
the grassroots movement determined to show the world what the
school was actually all about and shut it down for good.
Father Roy Burgess and a small group of activists gathered
outside Fort Benning, Georgia, where the SOA had moved to
back in nineteen eighty four. They read the names of

(14:52):
people who had been murdered by SOA trained soldiers. What
began as a quiet vigil soon turned into the annual
protest mentioned earlier. SOA Watch became one of the only
voices calling for the school to close its doors for good.

(15:12):
Year after year, demonstrators would gather at Fort Benning carrying
white crosses to symbolize the victims. Many were arrested for
trespassing as they crossed on to military property, which was
a symbolic act to honor those who had died, despite
how risky it was legally. The protests only grew stronger

(15:37):
by the early two thousands. The annual November vigil had
become one of the largest acts of non violent civil
disobedience in the United States to this day, SOA Watch
continues to demand accountability and justice for the victims of
military violence, refusing to let the past be forgotten. As

(16:00):
long as Winsack remains open, activists are never going to
let people forget its dark history, and they will continue
to demand justice. That place is more than just a
building to so many people. It represents how power can
shape destinies and destroy lives. Now that we know about

(16:24):
the School of the Americas and the rebranding effort, we
can get into sister Meghan Rice's life and how she
became one of America's most fearless peace activists. It all
started in an environment where questioning authority and advocating for
justice wasn't just encouraged, it was expected. Born on January

(16:50):
thirty first, nineteen thirty, in Manhattan, New York City, Meghan
was raised to be intellectually curious with a strong sense
of moral responsibility. Her mother and father were involved in
academic and social justice work. Her father was a professor
at Fordham University, while her mother, a graduate of Barnard

(17:13):
College was active in the Catholic worker movement, a community
dedicated to promoting social justice and serving the less fortunate.
Growing up during the Great Depression and World War II,
Megan was no stranger to the harsh realities of inequality
and global conflict. The lessons she learned at home of

(17:36):
standing in solidarity with people who were oppressed would plant
the seeds for a lifetime of activism. But in nineteen fifty,
at twenty years old, it was her education under the
nuns of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus that
led her to her spiritual calling. Her parents' dedication to

(17:59):
being intellectually strong and taking social action inspired Megan, and
she knew she wanted to dedicate her life to a
higher purpose. She took her final vows in nineteen fifty five,
promising to spend the rest of her life committed to
the values of humility, simplicity, and service to others. During

(18:23):
her early years as a nun, her passion was teaching.
She earned advanced degrees in biology from Villanova University and
Boston College, eventually going away to Africa to work as
an educator in poverty stricken communities for over twenty years,

(18:44):
Sister Meghan lived and worked in Nigeria and Ghana, teaching
biology and working on community development projects. While she always
stayed devoted to her religious mission, the turbulence of the
outside world, especially the escalating Cold War and the constant

(19:04):
threat of nuclear annihilation, was everywhere you looked. In Africa,
she saw firsthand the devastating effects of Western militarism and exploitation.
These experiences forced her to face a very hard question.
If the church was called to be a group fighting

(19:27):
for peace, why wasn't it doing more to push back
against the systems of violence in war. By the late
nineteen seventies, Sister Megan had gone back to the US,
forever changed by her time abroad. It wasn't just her
spiritual beliefs that were driving her, It was also the

(19:49):
moral clarity she strongly felt. She refused to sit on
the sidelines while the US government stockpiled weapons capable of
ending life on Earth. For Sister Meghan, silence in the
face of injustice was never an option. She was introduced

(20:09):
to the Plowshar's movement and anti nuclear weapons and Christian
pacifist movement. The name was inspired by the biblical prophecy
to quote, beat swords into plowshares. The movement advocated for direct,
non violent action against the machinery of war. Their message

(20:32):
resonated deeply with her own beliefs. She began participating in
protests against nuclear weapons and joined a growing community of
faith based activists who were willing to risk everything to
demand disarmament. She believed going from a teacher to an

(20:54):
activist was her calling. Sister Meghan believed that as a
follower of Christ, she was obligated to speak truth to power,
no matter the consequences. As tensions between the United States
and the Soviet Union grew, so did her sense of urgency.

(21:14):
The weapons that governments justified as deterrence were to her
a huge moral failure and a threat not just to humanity,
but to the very fabric of creation. She was so
defiant towards the nuclear establishment that it did not go unnoticed.

(21:37):
In nineteen eighty three, Sister Meghan joined a group of
activists who trespassed on to a nuclear missile site to
pray for peace. It was the first time she had
ever been arrested, but it wouldn't be the last. Over
the next few years, she was arrested again and again

(21:57):
for acts of civil disobedience, from blocking the gates of
weapons factories to trespassing on to military units. Each arrest
was a statement these weapons, she believed were a crime
against humanity and a sin against God. In the tradition

(22:19):
of the Plowshar's movement, activists like Sister Meghan would go
into restricted areas poor blood on nuclear weapons and hammer
on missile casings, a literal attempt to turn swords into plowshares.
For Sister Meghan, what they were doing was more than

(22:40):
a political performance. What they were doing was a way
of making people see the truth in a world that
seemed to be trying its damnedest to ignore it. Her
activism also led her to one of the most problematic
institutions in the Western Hemisphere, the School of the Americas.

(23:03):
For years she stood beside thousands at the yearly soa
watch protests calling for the school's closure. Survivors of violence
in Latin America shared their testimonies. While activists risked being
arrested to bring more attention to the school. Sister Meghan

(23:23):
believed it was just a part of the bigger vision
of winning the fight against militarism and state sponsored violence.
But despite the arrests, the surveillance, and the legal threats,
she was not moved by any of it. She once
said in an interview, my faith teaches me that we

(23:46):
are called to be peacemakers, no matter the cost. If
that means breaking unjust laws, so be it. In nineteen
ninety seven, during one of the largest SOA Watch protests
to date, she and a small group of activists trespassed
onto the military base and a bold act of civil disobedience.

(24:10):
Walking onto that base wasn't just a protest, it was
a moral obligation. In her eyes, she believed that as
long as the SOA existed, the church could not remain silent.
The consequences were swift. Sister Meaghan was arrested, charged with

(24:31):
trespassing on federal property and sentenced to six months in prison,
But if the government thought incarceration would stop her, they
were so wrong. When she was released, she went back
to the gates of Fort Benning year after year, continuing
to risk arrest, knowing the stakes were too high to

(24:53):
just walk away. In a twenty nineteen interview, Sister Meghan
reflected on why she felt so compelled to act, saying, quote,
when I hear the stories of mothers whose children were
taken or killed, I can't stay quiet. We must take
responsibility for what is done in our name. If we don't,

(25:17):
who will. In two thousand, when the school was rebranded,
Sister Meghan and her fellow protesters would not accept that
a simple name change was enough. The mission remained the same,
and the violence continued. The risks she took during these
protests were not just about the immediate goal of closing

(25:41):
the school. They were about holding people in power accountable.
She believed that governments left unchecked would always put violence
and domination above everything else. Faith based, nonviolent resistance was
her way of fighting that. By the early two thousands,

(26:03):
Sister Meghan's reputation as a fierce and fearless advocate was
well established. She had faced prison surveillance and public scrutiny,
but nothing could shake her conviction. And while many people
might have considered retiring at her age, Sister Meghan had

(26:23):
no desire to slow down anytime soon. In fact, she
was about to do the most daring and dangerous act
she ever had. It was a warm summer night on
July twenty eighth twenty twelve, when sister Meghan Rice, at
eighty two years old, set out on a mission that

(26:45):
would shock the US government and capture the world's attention.
Alongside fellow activist Greg Borciobed, a house painter and Army veteran,
and Michael Wally, a fellow Plowid's protester, Sister Megan planned
to breach one of the most secure nuclear facilities in

(27:07):
the US, the Y twelve National Security Complex and Oakridge, Tennessee.
Y twelve wasn't just any government building. It was known
as the Fort Knox of Uranium, and it stored more
than four hundred metric tons of highly enriched uranium, a

(27:28):
material used to build nuclear warheads. It was supposed to
be impossible to get in there. Multi million dollar security systems,
armed guards, and a large area of fences spread out
stood between the world and the deadly power inside. For months,

(27:49):
the three carefully planned what they were going to do.
Operating under the Plowshares movement, they named their protests the
Transform Now Plowshares. Their goal was to show the world
the immorality of nuclear weapons and confront what they viewed
as the US government's involvement and prepping for global annihilation.

(28:15):
In the dead of night, Dressed in dark clothes and
carrying only a few tools, these three activists cut through
multiple layers of security fencing with volt cutters. Alarms should
have been sounding, guards should have been intercepting them, but
nothing happened. As the minutes stretched into hours, the trio

(28:40):
walked around the place completely unnoticed. When they reached the
highly enriched uranium materials facility, they knew they made it.
This was the place where the most dangerous nuclear materials
were stored, but instead of destruction, they came symbols of peace.

(29:02):
Sister Meghan and her companions rolled out banners that read
transform now plowshares and swords into plowshares, spear into pruning hooks.
They spray painted messages of love and peace all over
the walls, including woe to an Empire of Blood, a

(29:24):
direct condemnation of the nuclear arms industry. Supporters would actually
donate their blood, which Sister Meghan, Rice and the other
activists would then use to splatter all over the walls,
representing the countless lives that would be lost because of
a nuclear conflict. As the sun started to peek, over

(29:49):
the horizon, the three got ready for the inevitable. Finally,
after over two hours inside the facility, security guards arrived
with their guns drawn. They surrendered peacefully, even offering bread
to the officers as a gesture of friendship. When asked

(30:10):
later why she risked her freedom, her answer was simple quote.
We are all called to love one another, and nuclear
weapons are the antithesis of that love. We had to
speak the truth no matter what. The government, however, was
far less sympathetic. In the days that followed, the breach

(30:34):
sparked outrage at the highest levels. How could three unarmed
senior citizens get inside one of the most secure nuclear
sites in the world. The Department of Energy launched an
internal investigation, which found systemic failures in y twelve security protocols.

(30:56):
Several top officials were fired or resigned. In described because
the government was so embarrassed they really wanted to make
an example out of sister Meghan, greg and Michael. When
she stood before a federal judge in May of twenty thirteen,
she was not afraid at all. At eighty three years old,

(31:20):
she had already spent decades fighting against the most powerful
institutions in the world. One more courtroom was not going
to break her. If anything, she saw the trial as
another opportunity not to defend herself, but to put nuclear
weapons and the government's commitment to them on trial. The

(31:43):
charges against her, Greg and Michael were pretty severe. At first,
they were arrested on misdemeanor trespassing charges, but the US
government escalated the case. They were indicted on two felony counts,
depredation of government property and sabotage under the Sabotage Act.

(32:07):
This law was typically for acts that threatened national security.
If convicted, they were facing up to thirty years in prison,
But Sister Meghan still wasn't scared. The way she saw it,
the real crime wasn't the spray paint or the broken fences.

(32:27):
It was the existence of nuclear weapons. She believed the
US government, by maintaining a massive nuclear arsenal, was violating
both international law and moral law, and she wasn't afraid
to say it. In the packed federal courtroom in Knoxville, Tennessee,

(32:49):
Sister Meghan and her co defendants were anything but apologetic
throughout a three day trial. They used their testimony to
talk about the devastating consequences of nuclear warfare. When asked
by prosecutors why she had broken into the Y twelve
National Security complex, Sister Meghan's voice was calm but firm.

(33:15):
I did it because I had to. I believe the
continued existence of nuclear weapons is the greatest threat to
life on Earth. We are all responsible for stopping it.
She quoted international treaties, including the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty,
which commits nations like the US to work toward disarmament,

(33:40):
a commitment that she argued why twelve's very existence violated.
Her words were not the defense of a criminal. They
were the testimony of a woman driven by faith, conscience,
and belief in human dignity. However, the execution had a

(34:01):
different narrative to push to them. Sister Meghan, Greg and
Michael were no profits of peace. They were just criminals
who had put national security in danger. US attorney Jeffrey
Theodore argued that the breach had quote jeopardized the safety

(34:21):
of the nation, claiming their actions could have encouraged foreign
adversaries to exploit the same vulnerabilities. The government also downplayed
the symbolism of their protests, focusing instead on the damage
caused spray paint hammer marks and the bloodstains on a

(34:42):
high security uranium facility. Prosecutors called their actions quote, a
deliberate and reckless assault on the integrity of national defense.
Despite the trio's compelling testimony, the jury deliberated for two
hours before returning their verdict guilty on all counts. Sister

(35:07):
Meghan did not feel the verdict was a defeat at all.
In her mind, the trial had already achieved its purpose
exposing the truth, and she had no regrets. As the
verdict was read, she smiled. When reporters later asked if
she was afraid of prison, she shrugged, quote, were all

(35:29):
prisoners as long as nuclear weapons exist. On February eighteenth,
twenty fourteen, Sister Meghan returned to court to hear her fate.
The prosecution was seeking very harsh penalties, arguing that the
activist had quote no remorse and needed to be punished

(35:50):
as a warning to others, but she stayed strong. In
her sentencing statement, she turned the tables, calling out the
governments upopacricy quote, please have no leniency with me. To
remain in prison for the rest of my life would
be the greatest honor. It would allow me to continue

(36:11):
the work of speaking out against the greatest violence in
the world, nuclear weapons. The judge was not impressed by
her moral arguments. While he acknowledged her life of service,
he said that the law required consequences. She was sentenced
to thirty five months, almost three years in federal prison.

(36:35):
Her co defendants, both younger and with longer activist records,
received sixty two month sentences a little over five years.
As the courtroom emptied out, Sister Meghan did not seem
worried about the sentence. To her prison wasn't punishment, it

(36:55):
was just another mission to take on. She was held
at fmc d Carswell, a federal medical facility in Texas,
and was just as active as ever. In letters to supporters,
she described her new living situation as quote another community
in need of love and justice. Far from silencing, her

(37:19):
prison became a platform to continue her ministry. Even from
behind bars, she was bucking the system. She voiced her
opinions on the harsh conditions faced by inmates, especially elderly
and sick prisoners, and called for prison reform. In an
interview with MPR, while still incarcerated, she said, quote, there

(37:44):
is life everywhere, even here. If our society spent as
much time caring for people as it does on weapons,
this world would be a very different place. Support for
sister Megain poured in from all around the world. Human
rights organizations, faith communities, and peace activists rallied to her cause,

(38:09):
saying that punishing an eighty three year old none for
a peaceful protest was both cruel and unjust. In May
of twenty fifteen, the case reached the Sixth Circuit Court
of Appeals, and the judges did not hold back their skepticism.
During oral arguments, Judge Raymond Kethlige questioned whether a group

(38:33):
of peaceful protesters, even one who embarrassed the government, could
reasonably be seen as saboteurs. In his words, quote, I
don't understand how these people intended to interfere with the
nation's defense. They took a symbolic act. How is that sabotage?

(38:54):
The government argued that the breach had undermined public confidence
in national security, but the judges were not convinced if
the law could be stretched to convict peaceful activists under
the Sabotage Act, where did it end? Could anyone who
protested a military installation face decades in prison. The Sixth

(39:18):
Circuit delivered a stunning ruling on May eighth, twenty fifteen.
The sabotage convictions were overturned. The court's decision was a
sharp rebuke to the government's overreach. In their opinion, the
judges ruled that while the activists had damaged government property,

(39:39):
there was no evidence that they had any intention to
harm US defense capabilities. The court's language was clear quote
the defendant's actions were deeply symbolic and entirely peaceful. They
sought to protest, not to injure the United States. The

(40:01):
ruling meant that sister Meaghan's most serious conviction and most
of her thirty five month sentence, was vacated. The only
conviction left was for depredation of government property, and it
was upheld, but with the sabotaged charge dismissed, the legal
justifications for keeping an eighty five year old nun behind

(40:24):
bars failed. Less than two weeks later, on May sixteenth,
twenty fifteen, Sister Meaghan Rice walked free after two years
in prison. Her release was met with celebration by supporters
around the world, but true to form, sister Meaghan had

(40:45):
no interest in personal glory to her the legal victory
was just one little step in the larger battle for
nuclear disarmament. As she left the prison, gates pressed her
for a statement. Her response was as calm and direct
as ever quote. I may be free, but our world

(41:09):
is still imprisoned by the threat of nuclear weapons. Until
that changes, my work isn't finished. The transform now. Plowshar's
ruling wasn't just a personal victory. It set an important
legal precedent. By overturning the sabotage convictions, the court placed

(41:30):
limits on how the government could wield national security laws
against peaceful protesters. Civil liberty's advocates praised the decision as
a win for free speech. Had the conviction stood, they argued,
it could have opened the door for the government to
criminalize dissent under the vague umbrella of quote unquote sabotage.

(41:56):
Sister Meghan's case reaffirmed that non violence protest, even when
it embarrasses the government, is not a crime against the
nation's security. In the years that followed, this precedent would
protect other activists challenging state power. For Sister Meghan, the

(42:17):
ruling confirmed what she had believed all along. The truth
cannot be contained, not by fences, not by prisons, and
certainly not by unjust laws. Most people, after spending years
behind bars would consider slowing down a bit, but not

(42:39):
Sister Meghan Rice. Even in her mid eighties, she remained
as defiant and committed as ever. After her release, she
traveled the country, speaking at universities, churches, and peace conferences.
She shared her experience behind bars, not to dwell on

(43:01):
her suffering, but to bring awareness to the injustice within
the prison system. She described the overcrowding, the lack of
medical care, and the inhumane treatment of aging prisoners. As always,
her activism expanded to meet the human needs she saw

(43:22):
in front of her. Her message was simple but urgent quote,
our government invests billions in weapons of death, but almost
nothing to care for the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned.
This is not just a political failure, it is a
moral failure. She also continued to work with Plowshar's activists,

(43:48):
urging younger generations to carry the torch of nonviolent resistance.
In her eyes, the cause was never about her, It
was about building a future where life, not destruction, was
the ultimate priority. In her final years, Sister Meghan remained

(44:08):
a fierce advocate for nuclear disarmament, She was a familiar
sight at protests, whether outside nuclear facilities or on the
steps of Capitol Hill. To her dying day, she believed
the world could be transformed not by violence, but by
courageous acts of love. When asked what sustained her through

(44:33):
decades of struggle, she always pointed back to her faith, quote,
the Gospel cause us to be peacemakers. If we truly
believe that, how can we stay silent while the world
is preparing for war. On October tenth, twenty twenty one,
Sister Meghan Rice passed away peacefully at the age of

(44:56):
ninety one. Her death marked the end end of an
extraordinary life, but not the end of her legacy. Her
story continues to inspire activists, faith leaders, and ordinary people
to speak truth to power, no matter the cost. In

(45:17):
every prison cell she occupied, in every courtroom she stood in,
and at every protest line she crossed, Sister Meghan's message
was the same quote. Love is stronger than fear, and
no system, no matter how powerful, can silence the truth.

(45:38):
Sister Meghan Rice may have left this world in twenty
twenty one, but her voice full of moral conviction lives
on in movements today. For those who knew her, the
story and legacy she left behind wasn't just about the
high profile protest or her time behind ball. It was

(46:01):
about a true commitment to justice and the belief that
regular people just like me and you, could go up
against the world's most powerful institutions, from classrooms in West
Africa to the prison cells of the United States justice system.
Sister Meghan's work was rooted in the belief that nonviolent

(46:25):
resistance is not only a moral obligation, it's a divine calling.
And though her physical presence is gone, her influence continues
to fuel movements that fight against violence, militarism, and state
sponsored in justice. One of the aspects of her legacy

(46:46):
is how she inspired younger generations, how she boldly took
on systems of power and made people realize that activism
isn't just for the young or the restless. She was
proof that age is nothing but a number when it
comes to moral courage. Many who heard her speak or

(47:09):
joined her protests describe her as gentle and fierce young
people who grew up in a post Cold War world
where nuclear threats often seem distant. Are learning from her
example that the struggle for disarmament is far from over.

(47:29):
As one young protester at an Oakridge vigil put it, quote,
If an eighty two year old nun can risk prison
to speak the truth, what excuse do the rest of
us have? After her death, Pope Francis spoke highly of
her work, and Catholic publications like America Magazine described her

(47:53):
as a quote living embodiment of the gospel. For many churchgoers,
her life served as a reminder that the Christian faith
calls for prophetic action, even when that action is inconvenient
or even dangerous. Her influence was also present in inner

(48:14):
faith movements, where Jewish, Muslim, and Protestant leaders honored her
as a symbol of moral resistance. She worked across religious boundaries,
believing that the struggle for justice goes far and beyond
any single creed. In one of her final interviews, Sister

(48:36):
Meghan said as she looked back on how her faith
and activism were connected, quote, faith without action is meaningless.
If we believe in a God of love, how can
we stand by while the world prepares for death? In
twenty twenty three, on the tenth anniversary of the transformed

(48:59):
now Plowsharp Action activists met up at Oakridge to honor
Sister Meghan's memory. They carried the same banners she once
held that displayed messages of peace, hope, and defiance for
those in attendance. Her spirit was so deeply felt her

(49:21):
fellow activist Michael Wally, who served time with her, describes
Sister Meghan this way quote. Megan taught us that true
power lies not in bombs or governments, but in the
courage to say no to injustice. That lesson will never die.

(49:42):
Sister Meaghan's legacy isn't only about the nuclear debate. Her
life of service has inspired activism on prison reform, immigration rights,
and climate justice. She believed that any violence, whether against
people or the planet, was connected, and that confronting one

(50:04):
form of injustice meant confronting each and every one of them.
Sister Meghan Rice didn't do all these things to be remembered,
but how she used her faith as power refuses to
be forgotten. Her life will always be a reminder that

(50:24):
one voice, grounded in faith and conscience can make a
difference and can make history. So what injustices do we
accept as inevitable? What would it mean to speak out,
even when it's scary and risky to do it. And

(50:45):
what kind of world might we build if we were
as brave as Sister Meghan and dared to act in
every courtroom where activists face trial, in every prison where
political freethinkers are held, and in every gathering where ordinary
people dare to resist violence. Sister Meghan's spirit lives on

(51:10):
because in the end, her message was simple quote Love
is stronger than fear, and no power on earth can
silence the truth. Her commitment to peace and justice never changed.
She didn't just speak out against injustice, she confronted it

(51:31):
again and again. At the end of the day, Sister
Meghan believed that no system of violence is too great
to challenge, and no voice is too small to make
a difference. She didn't just speak out against injustice, she
faced it head on again and again, no matter the

(51:54):
consequences she might have to face. Her boldness in breaking
into the WY twelve National Security Complex was not an
act of recklessness. It was a moral declaration that weapons
of mass destruction must never be accepted as normal. And

(52:15):
when the US government tried to silence her, she turned
their courtroom into a pulpit, delivering a message that still
resonates today. Quote the truth will set us free, and
the truth is that nuclear weapons are an affront to
life itself. She didn't just believe in a better world,

(52:37):
She lived as if it were possible, and through her actions,
she invites us all to do the same. Her story
isn't just historical, it's a call to action today. Over
twelve thousand, five hundred nuclear weapons still exist in the world,

(52:57):
held by governments that claim they may go safer. But
Sister Meghan saw through that lie. She believed that real
security comes not from violence but from compassion, not from weapons,
but from community. Her life raises a question that we
cannot ignore. If an eighty two year old nun can

(53:21):
breach a nuclear fortress to speak truth to power, what
are we willing to do for the world we believe in.
You don't need to break into a nuclear facility to
make a difference, but you do have the power to
speak up, to challenge systems of violence, and to stand
in solidarity with those who fight for peace. So let

(53:46):
Sister Meghan's story be a reminder. No act of conscience
is too small, no injustice is too entrenched, and no voice,
especially yours, is too insignificant to matter. The world does
not change by accident. It changes because people like Sister

(54:08):
Megan Rice refuse to accept the status quo. And now
it's our turn, because, as she taught us quote, if
we don't act, who will.

Speaker 1 (54:22):
Thank you for listening to this episode? As we close out,
let us not forget. Awareness is our greatest defense in
a world that can be dark and grim. Vigilance is
our beacon of hope when it comes to the cases
we have explored together that have remained unsolved. If you
happen to hold a piece of the puzzle, there to
step forward. As author Lois McMaster bouge Hold once said,

(54:47):
the dead cannot cry out for justice. It is a
duty of the living to do so for them until
we reconvene, My friends, stay vigilant and stay informed.

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172. Sister Megan Rice: The School of the Americas and the Nun Who Broke into a Nuclear Facility

Stuff You Should Know