On 24 September 1968, they entered Milwaukee's Brumder Building, site of nine Wisconsin draft boards, gathered up about 10,000 files, carried them to an open public space, and set them on fire with homemade napalm.
The fourteen then remained at the site, singing and reading from the gospels of John and Luke as Milwaukee firemen and police officers arrived.
[3][4] As a response to the violence of the war in Vietnam and its links to the injustices of conscription and poverty in the United States, the Milwaukee action was preceded by several similar protests.
"[23] Jim Forest and Daniel Berrigan traveled to Milwaukee where they met with Michael Cullen and others at Casa Maria, a Catholic Worker house of hospitality.
According to Forest, "On our second night at Casa Maria, Dan and I found ourselves drinking beer in a crowded kitchen in which several of those present, Michael among them, made clear they were eager to follow the Catonsville example.
"[24] In August 1968 a retreat was held at St. Paul's Abbey near Newton, New Jersey to consider who of those present might participate in another draft board action—and when it would take place.
In addition there were sessions at which we got to know each other, discuss our motives and backgrounds, and to make decisions about who would take part in the action, who would form a support team, and which of several cities being considered should be chosen.
[29]Shortly before 6:00 on Tuesday evening, 24 September 1968, the group entered the second floor offices where the draft boards were located in Milwaukee's Brumder Building.
Through the Milwaukee Organizing Committee, an anti-war and anti-draft group,[33] they had contacted the local media and, safeguarding the details of the action, led them by an indirect route to the site.
[34] The deed done, the Fourteen gathered together in a supportive embrace and waited to be arrested, singing the Lord's Prayer and reading scripture as fire trucks wailed in the distance.
An older man, hearing the prayers and seeing the clerical collars of the priests as they gathered around the burning draft records, muttered, "I bet they never read any scripture."
[35] In a statement released to the press, the Fourteen explained their reason for targeting the draft boards.Our action concentrates on the Selective Service System because its relation to murder is immediate.
[40]Support was found on local college campuses and among those who had recently worked for civil rights and fair housing practices in Milwaukee.
[41] On 5 May 1969 Judge Charles Larson, at the request of the Milwaukee District Attorneys, decided to postpone the trial until 23 June, but a few hours later he re-set the starting date for 12 May.
[43] As Francine du Plessix Gray, who was present for the trial, observed, "Another purpose of the draft board raids is to turn American courtrooms into political forums on the illegality and the immorality of the Vietnam war.
[50] On 9 June 1969 the twelve found themselves in a Federal District courtroom, facing charges of "destroying government property and interfering with the working of the Selective Service System"[51] Journalist Gray was present to report: "After a tedious voirdire of two and a half days in which he cross-examined 141 prospective jurors—mostly hostile to the defendants—Federal District Judge Myron Gordon dismissed the government charges against the twelve on grounds that 'prejudicial pre-trial publicity' caused by modern press media had made a fair trial impossible."
Gray notes that this was not particularly good news for the defendants since, if a re-trial were to be held and a conviction obtained, many months of punishment could have been added to their state sentences.