Protesters stormed the range and occupied it for a year before federal marshals forcibly removed them. The exercises resumed, restricted to dummy bombs, but protesters continued to invade.
The cause drew celebrities including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., New York civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, U.S. Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Chicago and actor Edward James Olmos. All were jailed for trespassing on federal land, along with more 1,000 local protesters.
Sharpton, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, arrived in Puerto Rico Wednesday to join the festivities and said he felt vindicated after spending 90 days in prison in 2001.
Vieques Celebrates U.S. Navy's Departure Guardian Uk May 1, 2003
