Naval base trespasser sentenced

BRUNSWICK, GA: The first of seven defendants in the April 2018 illegal entry and vandalism of Submarine Base Kings Bay was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court.

Elizabeth McAlister, 80, of New London, Conn., was sentenced to time served – 17 months since her April 2018 arrest – on charges of Conspiracy, Destruction of Property on a Naval Installation, Depredation of Government Property, and Trespass by U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. She also was ordered to pay $33,500 in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release.

McAlister and the other six defendants were found guilty on all charges after a four-day jury trial in October 2019.

“In recent weeks there have been dozens of peaceful protests held throughout the Southern District of Georgia as citizens exercised their constitutional right to peacefully assemble,” said U.S. Attorney Christine. “In contrast, the protesters at Kings Bay broke into a nuclear submarine base where they damaged and vandalized government property. Such violent, illegal behavior will not be tolerated.”

As admitted by the defendants during the trial, with their own videos of the activities shown to jurors, the seven entered an outer security fence at the naval installation after cutting a padlock from a gate during the late hours of April 4, 2018. Once inside, the group damaged and vandalized property inside the facility before being taken into custody by naval security personnel.

The case was prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karl Knoche, E. Greg Gilluly Jr. and Channell Singh, with assistance from Litigation Technologist Dean Athanasopoulos. Special Agents Thomas Kenney and Barry Clinedinst led the investigation for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.