Biography
Brian Hynes is a Bronx peace activist associated with Upstate Drone Action. On October 25, 2012, he joined a nonviolent blockade at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base near Syracuse, New York, where activists tried to deliver a citizens’ indictment protesting U.S. drone warfare. A DeWitt Town Court judge found Hynes guilty of disorderly conduct, acquitted him of trespass, and on February 7, 2014 imposed a 15-day jail sentence, a fine, and a two-year order barring him from Hancock Field.
Initial Hancock custody, October 25, 2012
The Upstate Coalition statement dated October 25, 2012 named Brian Hynes among thirteen people still held in jail late that afternoon after a blockade of Hancock Field near Syracuse. The statement reported trespass and disorderly-conduct charges and bail between $250 and $1,000. Four other named participants had already been released on their own recognizance. It does not establish the physical release day for the thirteen still held. This initial October 2012 custody must not be extended through later 2014 sentencing or conflated with other protest cases. No new release date or measured days imprisoned are inferred from this report.
Art Laffin’s participant report individually names Brian Hynes among fourteen people arrested during the May 17, 2013 White House sidewalk vigil calling for Guantanamo’s closure. Park Police took the group to the Anacostia Park Police station and charged them with disobeying a lawful order. The report does not give an actual release day or establish jail admission or completed custody duration. The group’s return instructions for an arraignment date are not a completed court outcome. The Nuclear Resister, May 19, 2013.
The October 25, 2012 participant report individually names Brian Hynes among thirteen Hancock air-base protesters still held in jail late that afternoon after DeWitt Town Court hearings. All seventeen arrestees had been charged with trespass and disorderly conduct and served with protection orders concerning Earl A. Evans; the report says four other people were released on recognizance. It gives no final release date or completed duration for Brian Hynes. This is the initial pretrial custody reported that afternoon.
The January 26, 2018 report individually names Brian Hynes among four Catholic Workers arrested at the Des Moines Iowa National Guard Drone Command Center on December 28, 2017. All four spent the night in Polk County Jail and were released on December 29, charged with misdemeanor trespass. It states that Hynes, Bloomer and Boertje-Obed pleaded not guilty; Burney’s separate guilty plea and fine are not attributed to them. An anticipated jury trial is not a verdict or imposed sentence. No additional whole-day custody total is inferred.
The contemporary Jerry Berrigan Memorial Drone Blockade report individually names Brian Hynes among twelve people arrested at Hancock Field on January 28, 2016. It reports one misdemeanor and two violations for each participant without naming those offenses. An individual jail admission, physical release, imposed sentence and completed custody duration are not established by this account. Contemporary report, The Nuclear Resister.
Art Laffin’s account individually names this participant among eleven people arrested on the Pentagon sidewalk during the 2012 Good Friday witness after three warnings to leave. It reports a failure-to-comply-with-a-lawful-order charge and a then-future May 18 court date. The Holy Thursday Israeli Embassy witness and the later White House witness are described separately. Contemporary source.
The March 2017 report states that a New York jury acquitted James Ricks, Daniel Burns, Brian Hynes and Ed Kinane of all charges arising from their March 19, 2015 protest at Hancock. The article does not state the exact calendar day of the verdict. Contemporary report, The Nuclear Resister.
The March 19, 2015 Hancock report names Brian Hynes among seven people arrested after blocking the base gate with oversized books representing anti-war and human-rights texts. It does not establish this person’s individual statutory charge, release date, admission date or detention duration. The activists’ citizens’ indictment is distinguished from an indictment issued by a court.
Sources: Contemporary report.
