Biography
Anti-nuclear activist who, on June 2, 1987, single-handedly destroyed a NAVSTAR satellite ground-control computer at Vandenberg Air Force Base in a White Rose Plowshares-style action. Convicted of destruction of government property and sentenced to five years in federal prison; she later became a movement defense attorney. Documented in PFOC Breakthrough magazine.
Action day distinguished from arrest and sentence
Komisaruk's Vandenberg action occurred June 2, 1987, but she left the base undetected. Her arrest followed the June 3 press conference in San Francisco, as the appellate opinion's opening facts explicitly state. The June 2 arrest field is corrected to June 3; no prison-admission date is inferred. The court text was available in the indexed public excerpt; direct OpenJurist retrieval returned a cache miss. United States v. Komisaruk, opening factual account.
The Plowshares movement chronology separately places sentencing on January 11, 1988 before Judge Rea, with five years' imprisonment and $500,000 restitution. It corroborates the existing February 9, 1990 prison release and distinguishes subsequent supervision from custody. The original sentence-admission date and intervening custody or bail episodes are still unknown; the displayed arrest-to-release interval must not be read as verified uninterrupted imprisonment. Existing portrait and institution are retained. Movement chronology, White Rose Disarmament Action.
Earlier Vandenberg MX occupation: separate 1983 case
The July 7, 1983 Nuclear Resister names Katya Susan Alexis Kamisaruk among the participants arrested during the June 10–18 Vandenberg MX occupation. It reports that at her June 23 arraignment she would not promise to return for sentencing and was being held with other women. Arrest and initial custody are therefore recorded at June 1983 month precision; the individual days are unknown. The first day of the month is a storage placeholder, not a claim of June 1 arrest. Original occupation and detention report.
The August 23 issue reports that marshals refused to transport her from Los Angeles for sentencing and she was released. On August 18 she received an additional thirty days after refusing community service, having already served 32 days. This was an additional jail sentence, not thirty days of community service. August 26 was an anticipated start and is not entered as a verified admission day. The September 30 issue explicitly reports actual release September 16 after a total of 60 days served. That contemporary served-days total covers separate stays; the initial June custody, intervening release and later sentence must not be represented as continuous June-to-September imprisonment. The earlier release day and actual later admission remain unknown. August sentencing and intervening release report, printed page 6; Actual final release and total served, printed page 5.
Two separate 1985 detentions
The May 29 Nuclear Resister names Komisaruk and Leo Schiff among those arrested at the May 25 USS Alabama commissioning protest. Both were held on $10,000 bond until the following Tuesday, explicitly identified as May 28, when supporters posted the lowered $200 cash bond. The July 10 follow-up reports that both pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and were sentenced to time served. May 25–28 records the initial detention only; no exact sentencing day is given. Original arrest, bond and release report, printed page 5; Time-served disposition, printed page 6.
On October 18, 1985, she was one of the supporters taken into custody after turning their backs during the Trident II Plowshares sentencing. Judge John Bourcier found her and four others in contempt and imposed ten days each. The October 24 report places the women at the ACI Women's Division in Cranston and only anticipates release soon after publication. October 18 is the actual courtroom custody and sentencing date; the actual discharge remains unknown and is not derived from the sentence length. This is distinct from the underlying Plowshares property-damage prosecution, in which she was a supporter rather than one of the defendants. Original courtroom contempt and custody report, printed page 3.
1984 and early 1985 records recovered under name variants
The August 2, 1984 Nuclear Resister explicitly identifies Susan Alexis as Katya Kamasaruk in its Walnut Creek NRC report. She, Brook Stevens and Mary Klein were convicted of trespass for the April 23 action and sentenced to 24 days. The report places them at the Richmond Work Furlough facility and forecasts release by August 10. That forecast is not entered as actual discharge, and no admission is back-calculated. Only the sentencing year is verified; the January 1 storage value has year precision. Original NRC case report, printed page 7.
A participant report from Jonah House names Komisaruk among the December 28, 1984 Pentagon arrests and states that everyone was released after citation. The February 27 follow-up explicitly dates her sentencing to February 1, 1985: thirty days, twenty-nine suspended. The citation-release endpoints are distinct from the later unsuspended sentence, whose actual custody endpoints remain unknown. Participant arrest and citation-release account, printed page 5; Sentencing follow-up, printed page 7.
The April 16, 1985 issue names her among six people arrested for trespass on February 14 at G.S. Precision in Wilmington, Vermont, and reports that those charges were later dropped. It does not establish her jail admission, release day or dismissal date. The later return action involved other named participants; it is not assigned to Komisaruk. Original Vermont arrest and dismissal report, printed page 5.
