Protester Will Defend Herself

Euler among six arrested outside LANL last month

One of six people arrested last month during a protest at Los Alamos National Laboratory says she intends to defend herself in court using provisions of the Los Alamos County code.

Catherine Euler, 49, of Tucson, Ariz., and five New Mexicans were arrested Aug. 6, the 67th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during a peaceful demonstration outside the entrance to LANL.

Research and development of the bomb was conducted at LANL in the 1940s, and the lab remains a hub for the U.S. nuclear weapons program.

Euler, who earned a doctorate in European history from the University of York in England, said she will represent herself at the trial, which will be held in Los Alamos Municipal Court before Judge Alan Kirk.

She said she plans to argue that the municipal code allows for citizens to temporarily block a road if they are protecting the public from a hazard.

“The hazards at Los Alamos are pretty clear to everyone except, perhaps, for the people who work there,” she said. “These hazards have been underestimated and downplayed by the nuclear industry for 50 years.”

Euler said that people living and working in the area are susceptible to ingestion of some plutonium and insoluble uranium isotopes in the air and dust. People in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and other locations downstream and who rely on the Rio Grande and nearby aquifers as a water source are also at risk, she maintains.

Her case was scheduled for trial Tuesday, but prosecutors postponed the hearing. No new date has been set.

Euler was one of about three dozens protesters who stood in the roadway at Diamond Drive and West Jemez Road impeding traffic during the morning commute. Los Alamos police gave warnings to protesters that they would be arrested if they did not step aside, and all but six complied.

All six have pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass, obstructing a right of way and disobeying an officer. Each offense carries a maximum penalty of $500 or three months in jail.

Euler said she plans to present scientific evidence to support her arguments in court. No trial date has been set for the five others arrested along with Euler, but a pretrial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 17, also in Los Alamos Municipal Court.