Train Crew Won’t Face Punishment in Protest Injury
WASHINGTON — The Navy has decided against punishing three crewmen of a munitions train that ran over a protester, severing his legs, in a demonstration at the Concord Naval Weapons Station in California two years ago.
Adm. Robert Ailes of the Naval Sea Systems Command overruled the suspensions proposed earlier by a Navy hearing officer, officials said Monday. The admiral said the “mitigating factor” was protester Brian Willson’s failure to get out of the way of the train.
Opposed Arms Shipments
Demonstrators had been at the site for several months protesting U.S. arms shipments to Central America and frequently tried to impede the train, but got out of the way before being hit.
Willson, a Vietnam veteran, has sued the train operators and other Navy officials. The three crewmen have countersued.
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