Patrick O'Neill: A Birthday Behind Bars

The following column by Ted Vaden originally appeared in lastgaffe.com, an online blog for people in their retirement years.

I would like to tell you about my friend Patrick O’Neill.

Patrick and his wife Mary live in Garner, where they operate a Catholic relief shelter for women and children in crisis. The couple raised 8 children of their own there, and they now are proud grandparents.

Next Saturday, March 27, Patrick turns 65. He will observe his birthday living in a prison cellblock at the Oakton Federal Correction Institute in Lisbon, Ohio, where he is serving a 14-month sentence for breaking into a U.S. Navy base to protest nuclear weapons.

Patrick is a man of unimaginable faith and adherence to his convictions. A longtime pacifist, he is one of the so-called Kings Bay Plowshares 7, a group of peace activists who on April 4, 2018, cut through a security fence and slipped into the King’s Bay Naval Submarine Base in St. Mary’s, Ga. King’s Bay is the world’s largest nuclear sub facility, where six Trident submarines bearing nuclear-tipped missiles are berthed.

The group of activists chose the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to protest the nuclear weapons stored at King’s Bay. Patrick was apprehended banging on a monument to nuclear warfare with a hammer made of melted-down guns.

The seven protestors, all Catholic pacifists, were convicted in 2019 in federal court in Georgia, on charges of conspiracy, trespassing and damage to government property. They pleaded not guilty, saying they had entered the base not to commit a crime but to prevent one - “omnicide,” from nuclear warfare. They were sentenced last fall to terms ranging up to 33 months. Patrick was sentenced to 14 months and entered the Ohio prison on Jan. 14. With time served and good behavior, he could be released in 10 months.

Even though Patrick is in a low-security facility, his incarceration has been anything but easy. First, there is the threat of COVID-19 infection. Hundreds of inmates and staff in the Elkton facility have been infected, and nine inmates have died of COVID. A federal judge denied Patrick’s request to delay the start of his sentence until vaccines would be available for inmates.

Because of the infection, the prison is in lockdown, which means prisoners cannot receive visitors and are confined to their cellblock. “My block includes a range of 110-120 men living in a room with bodies always in constant motion as men move about looking to pass time in meaningful ways,” he wrote in a recent letter to supporters. “Many guys speak too loudly and there’s a public address system where guards make shrieking, sometimes shocking announcements throughout the day. The sensory overload is relentless, something akin to low-level torture.”

Patrick reports that many of the inmates are in prison for sex offenses – not for touching children or for manufacturing porn, but for viewing or sharing it on computers. They receive little or no rehabilitation and are treated by guards and other inmates as the lowest caste in prison society.

It is also a race-reversal society.
“Here, in an ironic reversal of fortune, whites are second-class citizens, so I have to learn and follow the rules, rules which are made by the inmates,” he writes. “I see it as my required affirmative action.”

Patrick is an indefatigable spirit. I first came to know him 28 years ago, when he was a reporter at The Chapel Hill News, where I was editor.  He covered UNC like a bloodhound, producing such scoops as the story that 50 coaches and Ram’s Club officials were receiving free loaner cars from 45 auto dealers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Among the beneficiaries were basketball coach Dean Smith (a Cadillac Sedan de Ville) and former star Phil Ford. The dealers were made members of the Rams Club and given free season’s tickets to football and basketball games.

Within a month after Patrick’s stories appeared, UNC cancelled the program.

Another Patrick story was about cars with Rams Club stickers being allowed to park in fire lanes outside Kenan Stadium on football Saturdays. Shortly after, then-Athletics Director John Swofford (now ACC Commissioner) encountered me on campus to ask why the newspaper was so negative about the athletics program. I told Swofford we were just covering the news and told Patrick to keep doing his job – which was not necessary to tell him.

Over the years, Patrick has continued as a freelance journalist, but he has devoted himself foremost to his Catholic activism protesting nuclear arms, the death penalty, racial injustice and mistreatment of immigrants. In his peace work, all in the form of nonviolent protest, he has served more than two years in jail and prison, even before this current term.

After Patrick was sentenced last October, he emerged from the courthouse with an upbeat attitude. The judge, moved by testimony from Patrick’s children and others, gave him a lesser sentence than the 26 months allowed by law.

He said then: “I’m pleased with the outcome. I’m sad that I’m going to be away from my family for quite a while, but I think that the purpose of the Kings Bay Plowshares was to be willing to face the possibility of redemptive suffering, and so it is. It’s not the most severe thing. It’s certainly something that I can tolerate.”

In prison, not surprisingly, he has been an advocate for his fellow inmates, seeking better treatment and more opportunity for pastoral care. He says he sees his sacrifice as a blessing:

“I pray in gratitude each morning for redemptive suffering and humility. The unpleasantness of solitary is also a gift, as I experience a small taste of the suffering that most human beings face every day all over the world. I hope to feel a little more empathy for my sisters and brothers who barely survive in the world.”

Only Patrick O’Neill would see forced isolation in a COVID-invested prison as a gift.

Happy Birthday, Patrick. Happy Easter.

Garner's Station Podcast #14: Jeff Triezenberg, Garner Planning Director

Rick Mercier sits down with Garner's planning director, Jeff Triezenberg, to talk about what a planning department does and how Garner continues to plan for future growth. Topics include reexamination of Garner's UDO (unified development ordinance), traffic impact, public transit and much more in this latest episode of Garner's Station Podcast.

CALLING ALL ARTISTS FOR ART AROUND TOWN

CALL FOR ARTISTS

The Downtown Garner Association (DGA) and the Town of Garner are looking for local and regional visual artists to participate in an outdoor Art Around Garner art installation beginning August – October 2021.

Art Around Town  is a community art project for the residents of Garner and artists from surrounding areas to participate in a temporary art exhibit that will illustrate community and natural beauty and bring joy, healing, and civic engagement.

• Artists will be required to submit their “Art Around Garner” idea, concept, or theme of painting at the time of application.

• DGA will hold an artists interest meeting on May 13 at 6:30pm via Zoom.

• Twenty local and regional artists will be selected to participate.*

• $50-100 material stipends are available upon request.

• Artists will be notified if their artwork is accepted and where it will be located.

• Painting must be completed by July 1.

• *This is not a juried exhibit; however, artwork not consistent with the theme will not be accepted.

SPECS & INSTALLATION

Artists will be provided with a 3′ x 4′ board to paint.  Acrylic paint is recommended and pieces will be varnished by the exhibit coordinators to be weather safe.

The art will be on display August through October 2021 at the following proposed pedestrian-friendly locations including Town Hall, Garner Senior Center, Garner Rec Center (GRC), Garner Performing Arts Center, and other locations around downtown and town parks.

AUCTION

Upon completion of the exhibit, the art will be auctioned with 75% of the proceeds going to  the respective artists and 25% to DGA to benefit future art projects throughout the Town of Garner.
The exact time, location and date of auction is yet to be determined but anticipated for November 2021.

INQUIRIES

Questions from artists should be directed to Lorie Clark at lclark@garnernc.gov.

Garner Announced as Location for New VA Clinic

Garner, NC—The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced that it recently accepted an offer to lease 244,860 square feet of space for a new outpatient multi-specialty clinic in the Town of Garner.

The site for the new construction is approximately 17 acres located on the west side of N.C. 50 between Rand Road and Arbor Greene Drive. The real property investment amount for the project is estimated to be about $100 million.

“This facility will be a great addition to our community. We are proud that the Town of Garner will be known throughout the region as a hub for veterans' health-care services,” Mayor Ken Marshburn said. “Our veterans deserve the finest of care, and I’m confident that this new facility will provide outstanding care to the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces. I’m sure the VA staff and veterans who come to Garner for services will find us to be a welcoming and compassionate community that deeply appreciates what our veterans have done to ensure our freedoms.”

VA officials said they were enthusiastic about bringing a facility of this scale to Garner and Wake County.

“The Durham VA Health Care System values our local community partners’ efforts in helping us to keep the nation’s promise to our veterans,” said DVAHCS Executive Director Paul Crews. “The new outpatient facility will employ nearly 400 VA employees, ranging from administrative support to health-care providers. It will offer primary care and mental-health services to nearly 25,000 veterans annually from Wake County and surrounding areas.”

Limited specialty services may include cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, pathology, audiology and speech, rehabilitation medicine, and imaging services including CT and MRI. A pharmacy and eye clinic could also be a part of the facility. VA officials say that specialty services could change based on demand and need at the facility.

“We are excited about the development and construction of a modern, state-of-the-art facility that will allow the Durham VA Health Care System to ensure that veterans who choose VA receive the highest-quality care. This facility will allow us to provide veterans with the right care, in the right place, at the right time,” said Fred Roche, administrator of the new VA facility.

A joint venture, Atriax/PPGG JV, based in Hickory, N.C., will serve as the developer and lessor for the center. The majority of the lessor’s design, construction and operations team is based in North Carolina. The Atriax/PPGG JV is a service-disabled, veteran-owned business with years of experience in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs projects.

“As a veteran-owned company, we couldn’t be more proud to serve the veterans of North Carolina through this important project and the critical health-care services to be delivered by the professionals in the VA,” Atriax principal George Auten said.

Brenda H. Compton with locally based Hartwell Realty represents the property owners in the sale for the project.

“It was truly an honor for me and the Hartwell Realty team to be involved in a project that will have such a meaningful economic impact on Garner while providing a much-needed service for our veterans,” Compton said. “This multifaceted transaction could not have been successful without the hard work and collaboration of the Atriax Group, property owners and local municipalities. It’s a huge win for Garner and our regional economy.”

For more information on the Durham VA Health Care System, please contact Shahron James at 919.928.3997 or by email at shahron.james@va.gov For more information on economic development matters in Garner, please contact Joe Stallings at 919.773.4431 or at jstallings@garnernc.gov.