Biography
Karl Zanzig was a Montana anti-nuclear activist associated with the Species Life community and Silence One Silo. He served six months at the federal prison camp in Boron, California for trespassing at the Trident submarine base in Bangor, Washington. On June 5, 1982, Zanzig and Mark Anderlik entered the Romeo-29 Minuteman missile silo near Conrad, Montana, scattered wheat seeds, and shared bread. After two days in pretrial custody, Zanzig served a later prison term at Lompoc Federal Prison Camp from September 13, 1982 to January 24, 1983.
Earlier Bangor arrest and separate 1983 silo custody episodes
Terry Messman's first-person account names Karl Zanzig and David Armour as his companions when Marines arrested them inside Bangor at sunset on October 28, 1979. He separately recalls later sentenced imprisonment with Zanzig and Jim Douglass at Boron. The earlier arrest is added to the existing Bangor case whose release falls in 1981; it is not treated as the beginning of six months of continuous prison custody. No prison-admission day is inferred. Participant account, Prophetic Call to Resistance.
The original August 23, 1983 Nuclear Resister prints a report credited to Zanzig and Mark Anderlik about their July 10 arrest near Romeo-29, with three visiting activists. Five were booked and held overnight at Cascade County Jail in Great Falls. The account describes subsequent pleas and the July 19 trial separately, and states that Zanzig and Anderlik entered jail August 10 after refusing the fine. Two records preserve the initial detention and later sentence service without filling the intervening interval with assumed custody. Original participant report, front page.
The September 30 issue explicitly reports that Zanzig and Anderlik were released September 6 after almost thirty days. That is the actual release, not the earlier September 9 forecast. August 10 to September 6 spans 27 elapsed calendar days; the reported thirty-day sentence is not entered as an exact thirty-day served total. Contemporary actual release report, printed page 6.
1984 White Train arrest and initial custody
The original August 2, 1984 Nuclear Resister names Zanzig with four other peace campers arrested and jailed on $500 bond at Conrad on Thursday, July 26. It reports their release on personal recognizance on Monday. In this dated report, that following Monday is July 30, 1984; the release is resolved from the reported weekday, not calculated from a sentence. These dates record the initial jail stay. Original arrest and release report, printed page 4.
The December issue reports that Zanzig, Amy Schmitz, Mark Anderlik and Sue Silverberg were convicted and received three months suspended, a $50 fine and 25 hours of community service. The February 27, 1985 update identifies Justice of the Peace Betty Rainville and states that she indicated she would probably take no further action over their refusal to pay. That is not evidence of another jail term or a new release date. The precise conviction and sentencing days remain unknown. Contemporary conviction and disposition, printed page 9; Follow-up disposition report, printed page 6.
