Biography
Hattie Nestel, born Hattie Axelrod in Philadelphia, is a Jewish anti-nuclear and environmental activist. Her first arrest came on September 17, 1983, when she joined the Atlantic Life Community in blocking the launch of a Trident submarine in Connecticut on Yom Kippur. She later served a 45-day probation-violation sentence connected with Trident resistance and refused conditions offered for early release. Nestel continued organizing against nuclear weapons and nuclear power with the Citizens Weapons Inspection Team and the Shut It Down Affinity Group.
Separate December 2003 BAE arrest and March 2004 disposition
The March 2004 Merrimack Valley People for Peace newsletter individually names this participant among the eleven Chain Reaction Affinity Group protesters taken into police custody at BAE Systems in Nashua on December 22, 2003. Police separated their linked chains with bolt cutters and charged criminal trespass, with disorderly conduct applying to some participants. At the March 4, 2004 court proceeding the group entered no-contest pleas and received community service, between twenty and forty hours. The report does not individualize every charge or community-service total, nor give a jail-admission day, release day, or multi-day confinement. The December arrest and March court appearance must not be treated as continuous incarceration; community-service hours are not jail time. The newsletter also publishes Hattie Nestel’s own February 17, 2004 statement criticizing depleted-uranium weapons and government handling of environmental-health information on pages 2–4. These are her attributed views, not independently verified medical findings, and do not supply missing dates in the earlier Trident cases.
Merrimack Valley People for Peace, March 2004, original pages 2–4 and February 24 minutes on page 6.
The Nuclear Resister’s November 14, 2013 report names Hattie Nestel among eight Shut It Down affinity-group members arrested at the Vermont Yankee gate on November 12. They held signs challenging flood-seal failures. Vernon Police Chief Mary Beth Hebert booked and released the women; the report explicitly says no charges were assigned. It gives no individual jail admission, exact physical release date or confinement duration. Contemporary report, November 14, 2013.
The Nuclear Resister’s March 23, 2014 account names Hattie Nestel among ten Shut It Down participants arrested for trespass after blocking the Vermont Yankee gate on March 19. The report says the women were booked and released, without giving an exact individual physical release day or a jail interval. Contemporary report.
The May 9, 2014 report names this participant among the women arrested for unlawful trespass while blocking the Vermont Yankee gate in Vernon that day. Officer Albrey Crowley transported the arrestees in small groups to Vernon Police Station. The report states that no court date had been set; it gives no physical release date, individual jail admission, completed custody duration or later disposition. The Nuclear Resister, May 9, 2014.
The July 15, 2013 Shut It Down report names this participant among eight women arrested after blocking the Vermont Yankee gate that day. Following a legal demonstration, the women crossed the road; a guard warned them and Officer Albry Crowley arrested them. They were transported to Vernon Police Station, booked and released. The report explicitly says no charges had yet been assigned. It supplies no jail admission, completed custody duration or later outcome. The Nuclear Resister, July 15, 2013.
The September 19, 2013 Shut It Down report individually names this person among nine women arrested at Vermont Yankee on September 18 after chaining themselves to the gate and refusing to leave when warned. The group was booked and released; no court date had been set. The warning that they were trespassing is not converted into a separately verified formal charge. The report’s collective age range and thirty-first campaign action do not establish an individual birth date, number of previous arrests or custody duration. No jail admission or complete day of imprisonment is inferred. The Nuclear Resister, September 19, 2013.
The October 17, 2012 Vermont Yankee report individually identifies Hattie Nestel among twelve women arrested for trespass after chaining themselves across the nuclear power plant driveway in Vernon. Police arranged transportation to the nearby department. The report establishes no separate jail admission, release day or completed custody duration.
The September 2012 Shut It Down account individually names Hattie Nestel among eleven women arrested after entering the Vermont Yankee Governor Hunt House conference center in Vernon on September 12. Vernon police charged the participants with trespass. The account supplies no individual jail admission, release endpoint or completed duration.
The June 11, 2012 Shut It Down report individually identifies Hattie Nestel among eight women arrested at Entergy headquarters in Brattleboro, Vermont. After the group refused to leave, Brattleboro police booked the participants for unlawful trespass. A July 17 arraignment was scheduled, but the report establishes no individual jail admission, release date or later court outcome.
The April 24, 2013 account individually names this participant among the women arrested by Vernon Police Sergeant Bruce Gauld at Vermont Yankee on Monday, April 22. The gate-blocking protest marked Earth Day and concluded a weeklong series commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. The source describes this as her fifth arrest in the series, without giving separate exact dates for the four earlier arrests. Contemporary source.
The June 11, 2012 report describes this participant’s Shut It Down protest at Entergy headquarters in Brattleboro. Dressed as medical professionals, the women read radiation-health information in the vestibule and called attention to what they described as a health emergency. The eight named arrestees were booked for unlawful trespass; their July 17 arraignment was still prospective. The named supporters were a separate group, not additional arrestees. Contemporary source.
The April 30, 2012 report individually names Hattie Nestel among eight Shut It Down affinity-group members arrested during the April 24 Vermont Yankee gate action in Vernon. The women were transported to Vernon police headquarters, booked and released; no court date was set. The account does not establish a jail-admission interval or completed prison-day duration. Its separate pretrial-hearing paragraph concerns another action and does not supply a judge or disposition for this April 24 event.
The July 1, 2011 report individually names Hattie Nestel among fifteen women arrested for trespass during the June 30 Vermont Yankee demonstration advocating replacement of nuclear power with solar energy. The women were taken to the Vernon police station, booked and released pending a July 19 court appearance. The court appearance was still prospective, and the report does not document jail admission, a completed whole-day detention period or an eventual court outcome.
The August 2013 compilation individually names this Shut It Down participant among eight women arrested at the Vermont Yankee gate in Vernon on August 6, 2013. The women were released without charges pending further review. This was separate from the July 15 and September 18 actions. The Nuclear Resister, contemporary source report 632.
The February 14, 2012 Shut It Down account names this participant among nine women arrested for unlawful trespass during the previous day’s Valentine protest at Entergy headquarters in Brattleboro. Police transported and booked them; after release they distributed Valentines in the business district. Their March 27 court appearance was still prospective. The Nuclear Resister, contemporary source report 802.
The January 2012 Shut It Down report individually names this participant among fourteen women arrested at Vermont Yankee on January 18, 2012 and transported to Vernon police station for booking. Police initially announced unlawful trespass, but no written citations or arraignment dates remained in effect when booking ended; Hattie Nestel’s initially issued February 14 citation was withdrawn pending mailed notices. The Nuclear Resister, contemporary source report 806.
