Protest as Terrorism? Worth a Read.

Protest as Terrorism?
The Potential for Violent Anti-Nuclear Activism
ROBERT FUTRELL
BARBARA G. BRENTS
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

This article examines the potential threat of terrorism toward the Nevada Nuclear Test Site
and the proposed Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository by domestic protest groups,
particularly anti-nuclear activists. The analysis is based on the history of direct action antinuclear
campaigns against the facilities, particularly the Nevada Test Site, and suggests that
violence as a form of protest, particularly the type of violence that is aimed at jeopardizing
human safety (as opposed to violent destruction of property), is very unlikely. It is argued that
the normalized relations between authorities and protesters that occurred at the peak of
direct actions is critical to maintaining the nonviolence that has characterized activism at
the facilities. But, the current climate of heightened government scrutiny and repression
toward various types of perceived terrorist threats may affect future forms of protest and
engender violent responses on both sides.

Keywords: terrorist; anti-nuclear; social movements; Yucca Mountain; Nevada Test Site;
normalized protest