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Benjamin Kopp

Released
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1910s
State:Michigan
Support
Anti-War Conscientious Objection
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Biography

Benjamin Kopp was a Jehovah's Witnesses conscientious objector from Michigan imprisoned during World War I. Court-martialed for refusing military service, he was held at Fort Leavenworth. Sentenced to 5 years in prison, reduced to 3 years & 9 months. (Documented in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection's World War I Conscientious Objectors database.) Archival note: registered for draft on June 5, 1917, as a C.O.; assigned to 3rd Company, 1st Battalion, 160th Depot Brigade, Headquarters, Camp Custer (Michigan), Aug. 14, 1918 (may not have been his first assignment); sent to Ft. Leavenworth between August 10 and September 9, 1918; interviewed by Bd. …

Case

United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth
Charges: Disobeying orders; refusal of military service (World War I court-martial of a conscientious objector)
Incarcerated: 1918
Released: 1919
Sentence: Sentenced to 5 years in prison, reduced to 3 years & 9 months. Held at Fort Leavenworth. Released 1919.
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: Kansas