William J. Bichsel, S.J. (nicknamed "Bix") is Jesuit Priest in Tacoma, Washington, United States. He is notable for his actions as a non-violent protester, spending time in federal prison for demonstrating on issues such as Nuclear Weapons, and the School of the Americas.[1]
Bill Bichsel was born in 1929, and ordained as a priest in 1959. He was assigned to St. Leo's Parish in Tacoma, Wash. After completing his assignment there, Bichsel hitchhiked around the nation for 6 months, and then worked as a community organizer in Seattle. In 1979, he returned to Tacoma to work in the Guadelupe House shelter, a Catholic Worker house.[2]
Bichsel is a non-violent activist, and has served prison time for his protesting. He was arrested for protesting at the Naval Base Kitsap in Bangor, Washington while serving at St. Leo's in the 70's. He served various sentences in King County and Lompac, CA.[3] In 1996, Bichsel served one year in federal prison for protesting at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga.[4] Recently, he was sentenced, along with four other protesters, to two months in federal prison for breaking through two levels of security at the Naval Base Kitsap to protest. The protesters broke through undetected to a bunker where nuclear weapons were stored, to spill blood, pray, and hang posters in opposition to the weapons.[5] In 2011, he was arrested again for trespassing on the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, TN.[6]