Biography
Brian Terrell is co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence and lives at the Strangers and Guests Catholic Worker farm in Maloy, Iowa. He has been one of the most consistently arrested U.S. anti-war activists of the past two decades, focusing especially on U.S. drone warfare. In 2012 he was sentenced to six months in federal prison for crossing the line at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri — the home of the U.S. Air Force's Predator and Reaper drone fleets — and served his sentence at FCI Yankton. He has since been arrested repeatedly at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada and at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in New York for similar drone-protest line-crossings.
Calculated release date for the stay beginning January 28, 2010: February 11, 2010, adding the recorded completed custody duration of 14 days with elapsed-calendar-day counting. This is a calculated date from the recorded admission and duration, not a separately documented physical-discharge date.
Calculated release date
Calculated release date for the stay beginning January 28, 2010: February 11, 2010, adding the recorded completed custody duration of 14 days with elapsed-calendar-day counting. This is a calculated date from the recorded admission and duration, not a separately documented physical-discharge date.
Kansas City: cited and released. NR206.
KCNSC release. NR203/204.
April 2024 Kansas City custody
The Nuclear Resister’s April 16, 2024 compilation individually identifies Brian Terrell among ten people arrested at the Kansas City National Security Campus on April 15. All ten were handcuffed, transported to a police office for processing and released that day without bond. The June 3 arraignment was still prospective; no completed court outcome or numeric custody duration is assigned. Contemporary participant accounts and reporting.
The Nuclear Resister’s June 3, 2021 compilation individually names Brian Terrell among five protesters handcuffed after crossing the National Security Campus property line on May 31, 2021. All five were processed, issued trespass tickets by Kansas City police and released on site. No jail admission or measured custody duration is reported.
The February 21, 2022 compilation records the four defendants’ February 18 trial before Judge Ardie A. Bland. They pleaded not guilty, were found guilty, and received 180-day sentences with execution suspended and one year of probation. No jail time was to be served under those suspended sentences. The imposed suspended term is not actual imprisonment.
The Nuclear Resister individually names Brian Terrell among eighteen people arrested on November 30, 2023 after blocking entrances to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York, demanding U.S. signature of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The report states that the eighteen were charged with disorderly conduct, processed within a couple of hours and released with a December 20 court date. The court date was prospective; no subsequent outcome, jail admission or complete day of imprisonment is inferred. The Nuclear Resister, December 1, 2023.
The Nuclear Resister individually names Brian Terrell among eleven people detained on August 14, 2023 after blocking the construction gate at Büchel air base in Germany, opposing U.S. nuclear bombs. Police took their identification, imposed a one-day ban and bar order, transported them in police vans and released them in Müllenbach. The one-day ban is not a prison sentence; no individual criminal charge, jail admission or completed confinement duration is established. Contemporary Nuclear Resister action report.
The Nuclear Resister individually names Brian Terrell among sixteen people arrested on August 9, 2023 while digging beneath the fence at Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands, where U.S. nuclear weapons are stockpiled. Police detained participants one by one and questioned them at a local police station before later release. The four U.S. participants were taken to Venlo for further investigation and later released, with twenty-eight days to leave. No individual statutory charge, jail admission or completed confinement duration is established. Contemporary Nuclear Resister action report.
In his November 2021 first-person account, Terrell describes being arrested at Volkel Air Base on October 20 after crawling through a tunnel under its perimeter fence. He was one of eight detainees and recounts approximately five hours being moved between the base and local police station before release, with criminal charges still pending. The account documents this separate episode; it does not establish a completed jail day or a later adjudication. The unnamed seven co-detainees are not assigned identities.
Brian Terrell, November 18, 2021, reproduced by The Nuclear Resister.
The Nuclear Resister individually names Brian Terrell among seven peace activists arrested at Volk Field in Wisconsin on November 12, 2019 during a protest mourning children killed by U.S. military drones. Juneau County officers handcuffed the seven and took them to the station in Mauston, where they were cited for trespassing and released. The report does not establish a jail admission or measured confinement duration; station processing is not treated as imprisonment.
The Nuclear Resister individually names Brian Terrell among three people arrested after crossing onto the Nevada National Security Site on October 16, 2022 during Nevada Desert Experience’s Justice For Our Desert action. Brian Terrell and John Amidon were cited for trespass. Terrell’s later first-person account identifies their April 10, 2023 pretrial hearing in Beatty Justice Court before Judge Gus Sullivan, with Deputy District Attorney John Friel. The judge denied consolidation and the requested jury trial; separate July 10 bench trials were still prospective. No completed trial outcome, imposed sentence, jail admission or measured confinement duration is established by these reports.
Contemporary October arrest report; Terrell’s pretrial-hearing account.
The contemporary report names Brian Terrell among eleven people detained by military and civilian authorities after entering Büchel Air Base’s main gate on the morning of July 10, 2019 to deliver a treaty-enforcement order against U.S. B61 nuclear weapons. All eleven were released after identification. This initial detention does not establish a jail admission or measured imprisonment duration.
Nukewatch reports reproduced by The Nuclear Resister, July 16, 2019.
The September 2012 Nuclear Resister reports that Brian Terrell and Ron Faust pleaded not guilty in the prosecution arising from their April 15 Whiteman Air Force Base arrests. Its announced September 10 trial was still prospective. This records the initial plea, distinct from Terrell’s later conviction and imprisonment.
The report describes the April 10, 2023 pretrial hearing and states that Brian Terrell and his co-defendant pleaded not guilty in the cases arising from their October 16, 2022 arrests. This records their initial plea, not a later trial outcome.
In a February 2025 first-person account, Brian Terrell reported that Cochem issued a €900 penalty order in July 2020 for trespassing and unlawfully damaging property during the July 14, 2019 Büchel action. He received the papers in July 2021, appealed, and later withdrew that appeal. A December 12, 2024 letter required payment of the fine plus €77.50 costs or a fifteen-day sentence. This account preceded his imprisonment; it is not evidence of the completed custody duration.
Felice and Jack Cohen-Joppa’s retrospective recalls Jack’s pastoral visit with Brian Terrell and Robert Ellsberg while both were jailed in Golden, Colorado, shortly before Jack’s first Rocky Flats arrest in June 1978. This individually documents Terrell’s jail custody in 1978, without an exact admission, arrest or discharge date. Robert Ellsberg’s separately reported sixteen days are not assigned to Terrell.
The January 14, 2019 Nuclear Resister account names Brian Terrell among eleven people arrested while blocking the U.S. Mission to the United Nations on January 2 during the Fast for Yemen. It reports processing at One Police Plaza, disorderly-conduct charges and release at 5:30 that afternoon. The February 25 court appearance was prospective; the account supplies no later verdict or jail admission.
The April 17, 2014 report individually names Brian Terrell among nine people arrested at Creech Air Force Base on April 16 while attempting to deliver an anti-drone indictment. The indictment’s accusations against government officials are the activists’ advocacy, not criminal charges against these arrestees. No individual charge, jail admission, release day or later outcome is supplied. The Nuclear Resister, source report 575.
Brian Terrell’s first-person account says he was taken into custody at the Nevada National Security Site on October 8, 2018, identified himself with his driver’s license and was released with a warning. No jail admission or statutory charge is assigned. The Nuclear Resister, source report 270.
The December 2018 accounts individually identify Brian Terrell among five people arrested for trespass at the Kansas City National Security Campus on May 28, 2018 and released after about half an hour. The report describes their decision to plead not guilty in order to seek a trial; no formal plea entry is inferred. On December 7, Judge Martina Peterson dismissed their charges after the prosecution witness failed to appear; the subsequent speeches were an informal anti-nuclear symposium, not a trial verdict against the defendants. No jail admission or completed prison day is inferred.
Contemporary participant report and National Catholic Reporter coverage.
The April 2, 2016 report individually names Brian Terrell among eighteen people arrested during the April 1 Creech Air Force Base anti-drone blockades. It reports fifteen jaywalking citations and three federal-property trespass citations without identifying which person received which charge. The two arrest waves are also not allocated by name. The update explicitly reports that Terrell was released from jail on Monday evening, April 4. His initial jail admission day and completed custody duration are not independently supplied, so no measured day total is inferred. The Nuclear Resister, April 2, 2016.
The contemporary April 2019 compilation individually names Brian Terrell among the eight people taken to Pahrump Jail after the April 19 Nevada National Security Site action, rather than merely receiving a warning and release at the site. The report still placed him in jail on Easter Sunday and announced an April 22 appearance before Justice of the Peace Gus Sullivan; the announced hearing is not evidence of actual release, a verdict or an imposed sentence. The accompanying participant account identifies the six non-nuisance citations as attempted trespass not amounting to burglary. No later custody endpoint or completed served-day total is inferred.
In a separate July 2021 firsthand account, Terrell reported receiving a German court decision concerning his July 2019 Büchel action: a 900-euro fine or thirty days’ imprisonment, against which he filed an appeal in Cochem. This describes the decision and appeal reported in 2021, not thirty days proven served then; his later, already recorded imprisonment is preserved. July 2021 report and Terrell’s account.
The October 12, 2012 report dates Brian Terrell’s federal sentencing in Jefferson City, Missouri, to October 11. It reports six months in prison and a future November 30 surrender after the April 15 Whiteman Air Force Base arrest. Terrell’s first-person sentencing statement addresses Judge Whitworth; the six-month term is the imposed sentence, not a completed duration. The report describes Ron Faust’s separate five-year probation sentence and Mark Kenney’s projected November 16 completion, without establishing their actual discharge from this advance account.
The April 28, 2015 Beale Air Force Base report individually names Brian Terrell among sixteen anti-drone demonstrators arrested at the main gate. It reports that all were released and faced misdemeanor trespassing charges. The dated contemporary report supports same-day release, but supplies no actual jail admission, imposed sentence or complete served duration. Contemporary report, The Nuclear Resister.
Brian Terrell’s firsthand January 2018 account individually names Brian Terrell among five Witness Against Torture participants arrested by uniformed Secret Service police on January 11 after crossing a police line at the White House. All were taken to a D.C. Metro Police station for custody and processing and charged with crossing a police line. Unlike the other four, Terrell was transferred to Central Cellblock and held until late Friday afternoon, January 12, when the U.S. Attorney declined prosecution and he was released without appearing before a judge. He attributes the extra detention to an apparent outstanding Las Vegas case. His account describes that warrant dispute, not an actual extradition or a new Nevada conviction. No additional served-day total is calculated.
The February 25, 2016 Voices for Creative Nonviolence report individually identifies Brian Terrell as arrested at Volk Field on February 23 while attempting to deliver bread and a letter to drone operators. Kelly and Terrell were held overnight in Juneau County Jail, appeared by video before Judge Curran on February 24 and were released on personal-recognizance bonds. Documents charged trespass at a dwelling. Their wishes to plead no contest were not accepted pleas. At a February 25 informal conference, District Attorney Michael Solovey anticipated a lesser forfeiture allegation, but an additional disorderly-conduct charge requested by the Air Force had not been confirmed. The report establishes an overnight stay, not a separately specified completed-day total. Contemporary participant report, The Nuclear Resister.
Brian Terrell’s firsthand December 2017 account describes his participation among fifteen people arrested at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations on December 11. Police transported the group to cells at the NYPD Seventh Precinct after the doorway blockade. He identifies the allegation as disorderly conduct through obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic. The compilation’s fourteen-versus-fifteen aggregate discrepancy is not used to invent another person or another case; his individual custody is explicitly reported. No physical release day, complete served duration or adjudicated outcome is established.
The Nye County Sheriff’s Office account reproduced in February 2018 individually names Brian Terrell among five people arrested at the Nevada National Security Site on January 27, 2018. It identifies the allegation as trespassing under NRS 207.200 and states that all five were issued citations, released and immediately left the site. This documents same-day arrest and release, without jail admission or a full day of imprisonment. A separate advance news release’s named speakers are not automatically added to the arrest roster.
In his May 10, 2016 first-person account, Brian Terrell reports arriving at the Clark County jail early on Friday following his April 1 Creech arrest and remaining there until after 10:30 p.m. on Monday, April 4. He describes more than eight hours in shackles, crowded holding cells, sleeping on concrete and delayed physical release after the morning court appearance. He says the court credited four days against $348 in traffic fines and fees connected with the previous year’s protest ticket. That court credit is recorded as his account, rather than substituted for elapsed custody time. This supplies the missing admission date in the existing April 1–4 case; it adds no new case or additional custody total. Brian Terrell, My visit to a Las Vegas jail.
The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance account individually names Brian Terrell among thirteen people arrested on the lower U.S. Capitol steps on January 12, 2016, before the State of the Union address, while seeking to deliver a petition and list of alleged U.S. war crimes to the Vice-President’s office. They were charged with incommoding and obstructing. The announced February 3 arraignment was prospective; this account supplies no individual jail admission, physical release, verdict, sentence or completed custody duration. Contemporary report, The Nuclear Resister.
Joy First’s June 2017 account reports that deputies arrested Brian Terrell at a planning meeting near Volk Field on June 27, before the planned gate action. His warrant arose from refusal to pay a fine after a trespass conviction for the February 2016 Volk Field protest. He was held at Juneau County Jail; the article’s expected Friday-or-Saturday release is not a confirmed physical discharge. This records a later warrant-custody episode in the earlier prosecution, not an inferred new substantive charge or new sentence. Contemporary report, The Nuclear Resister.
The contemporary January 29, 2011 report individually names this participant among eight people immediately arrested by Nye County sheriffs after stepping onto the Nevada Test Site during the sixtieth-anniversary protest. The Western Shoshone National Council had issued entry permits. The report does not identify an individual charge, physical jail admission, release date or completed detention duration for this episode. Contemporary source.
The January 27, 2011 account and reproduced Las Vegas Sun report individually identify this participant among the Creech 14 arrested on April 9, 2009. Judge William Jansen found all fourteen guilty of trespass and imposed time served on January 27, 2011. The statements below the article carry an inconsistent July 27, 2010 heading; the dated report and reproduced contemporary news account establish the January 2011 disposition. Time served is the imposed disposition, without a measured number of days or a claim of continuous custody from arrest to sentencing. Contemporary source.
The same account names Mark Kenney, Brian Terrell and Ron Faust as the three people arrested at Whiteman Air Force Base on April 15, 2012. They were led to a gym for processing and rejoined the supporters within seventy-five minutes with federal statements charging trespass. This initial processing was separate from the later court proceedings. Contemporary source.
The sheriff’s roster reproduced with the April 22, 2011 Hancock Field protest report individually named Brian Terrell among the people arrested outside the base in the anti-drone demonstration. The article reports trespassing and obstruction-of-justice charges. It describes handcuffs, a wait, and boarding a bus intended for Justice Center processing; it does not establish an individual jail-admission or release time.
Sources: The Nuclear Resister, report 893.
In a reflection offered on July 29, 2018, Brian Terrell recalled spending more than twenty-four hours in Washington’s Metropolitan Police central cellblock and Superior Court cells after a January 2018 White House protest, while authorities considered extradition on a Nevada warrant. The account describes those conditions without establishing an additional measured custody interval. Contemporary report, The Nuclear Resister.
A January 2017 Occupy Beale report names Brian Terrell and Flora Rogers as briefly detained and released with federal trespass citations. Its combination of the weekday Tuesday and the date January 25 is internally inconsistent for 2017, so it does not establish an uncontested exact arrest day. Contemporary report, The Nuclear Resister.
In his first-person August 2016 account, Brian Terrell described his and Kathy Kelly’s February 23 Volk Field arrest and overnight Juneau County detention on $350 bonds. The original criminal allegations were dropped and replaced by a noncriminal trespass-to-land forfeiture. He reported a finding against him and a $223 fine at the August 19 proceeding before Judge Paul Curran, with Mike Solovey prosecuting; the civil forfeiture should be distinguished from a conviction on the original criminal charges. Contemporary report, The Nuclear Resister.
The April 2017 Shut Down Creech account names Brian Terrell and Michael Kerr among people arrested at the base on April 26 and transported to Clark County Jail. The report’s roster contains eight names while the narrative says seven; it does not establish either man’s individual physical-release day. Contemporary report, The Nuclear Resister.
The September 26, 2016 Pentagon account names this activist among twenty-one people arrested for violating a lawful order while demanding accountability for war crimes. All were reported released with a future November 3 court date. That scheduled hearing does not establish a later verdict or an additional custody interval. Contemporary report, The Nuclear Resister.
The October 2016 Catholic Worker account includes this activist among the Creech arrestees taken to Clark County Jail on October 9 for unlawful assembly. The report explicitly lists twelve people released five to seven hours later, distinguishing them from Marcus Page-Collonge’s separate overnight detention. Contemporary report, The Nuclear Resister.
The report individually names Brian Terrell among fifteen people arrested at the White House on September 22, 2015. Joy First’s participant account describes arrest at about 2:15 p.m. and release at 9 p.m. that day. Her account distinguishes a blocking-passage charge form from others described as disorderly conduct, and says no actual citation was supplied. The intended future not-guilty response is not a recorded accepted plea; the several-hour detention is not counted as a whole prison day.
Sources: Contemporary report.
The March 6, 2015 Creech Air Force Base report individually includes Brian Terrell in its named arrest roster. The compilation reports trespass and roadway-related allegations and describes citation-and-release processing, but one person held on an outstanding warrant is unnamed. Neither that warrant detention nor an overnight stay is allocated to this person. The differing reported aggregate totals are retained without inventing an additional identity or completed custody duration.
Sources: Contemporary report.
Kansas City trespass trial in 2010
The October 8, 2010 compilation describes Brian Terrell representing himself at the October 7 trial arising from the August 16 nuclear-weapons-plant protest. It identifies the afternoon judge as LaBella and the prosecuting attorney as Lowell Gard. The account reports a guilty finding and fine or probation options, without establishing a completed jail term from that trial. Contemporary courtroom accounts.
