Making a Case for His Beliefs : Santa Monica City Attorney Breaks the Law to Show His Opposition to Nuclear Testing

Santa Monica City Atty. Robert M. Myers, already well known as the chief architect of the city’s controversial rent control law, is making a new name for himself as a leader of the Westside’s anti-nuclear movement.

The city attorney racked up his ninth trespassing arrest at the Nevada Test Site near Mercury last weekend, something of a badge of honor for those who oppose nuclear testing. He was apprehended after spending seven hours hiking through mountain passes and desert flats in an effort to illegally enter the facility.

Myers, 38, came so close to the site this time that police checked him for radiation before placing him in a holding pen. But the city attorney said he will continue to join those who stage protests outside the nuclear facility.

“Tests are going on there to develop more weapons to destroy the human race,” Myers said. “From a personal and religious perspective, I think it’s very important to . . . confront the evil that exists there in the desert.”

Accolades and Criticism

Myers’ willful and chronic lawbreaking, a rarity for a public official, has earned him both accolades and criticisms within City Hall. Christine E. Reed, one of the more moderate City Council members, has called his actions inappropriate.

But Mayor Dennis Zane, who has joined Myers at past protests, said the city attorney has every right to express his personal opposition to the testing.

“People may agree or disagree with his choices,” Zane said. “ . . . But I happen to respect his choices. I respect nonviolent civil disobedience.”

Those close to Myers say his commitment to the anti-nuclear cause is part of a pattern of social consciousness. A devout Catholic, he spends Saturdays with an organization that feeds the homeless. He participated in a fast to protest pesticides used in California grape vineyards and has also refused to prosecute nonviolent transients, to the dismay of some city officials.

Myers’ anti-nuclear activities started two years ago, when he first joined people who were intentionally trespassing at the government site as a form of protest. In subsequent months, Myers returned each time anti-nuclear groups, such as Westside SANE/Freeze, sponsored trips to the facility, a barren spot 60 miles northwest of Las Vegas where testing has been conducted since 1951.

Activists say the anti-nuclear movement has been gaining strength since 1986, when the government resumed underground testing at the Nevada site.

Focus Attention

Because of the sheer volume of cases, which is well into the thousands, those arrested at the site are not prosecuted. But Myers contends that the acts of civil disobedience focus much-needed attention on the anti-nuclear cause.

“I think progress is being made as more people are getting involved,” said Myers, noting that last week’s rally drew thousands of people. “But we realize this is a major commitment. Not everyone can go to the desert.”

Maggie Murphy, a spokeswoman for Westside SANE/Freeze, a leading protest group, said few public figures share Myers’ commitment to the effort.

Murphy called the city attorney a “roll-up-his-sleeves kind of guy” who attends steering committee meetings and other routine organizing events.

“A lot of the celebrities just come to the demonstrations,” Murphy said. “But Bob Myers is there all the time. Such is the level of his commitment.”

Myers, an enigmatic man known for his legal skills, has even taken his two children to the site to watch as their father was arrested. But his experience last weekend surpassed all others.

Myers’ arrest came at the end of a 10-day protest called Reclaim the Test Site II, which drew about 5,000 people to the desert. About 1,500 people were held on misdemeanor trespassing grounds during the event.

But Myers and two others, John Murphy and Andrew Tonkovich, took the protest a step further by hiking about 10 miles beyond the main security gate. The group, which started its trek at midnight, spent seven hours working its way toward the site without flashlights to avoid detection. Security guards finally spotted them about 7 a.m, when they were within 200 yards of Mercury.

“They handcuffed us, searched us and drove to . . . a huge holding facility surrounded by barbed wire,” Myers said. “Then they tested us for radiation. We were told they do that for people who get as far as Mercury.”

Myers remained handcuffed until late afternoon, when he received a citation for trespassing. When the city attorney arrived at work on Monday he had several cuts on his wrists from the sharp edges of the plastic handcuffs.