The General Electric action in King of Prussia became the inaugural event that launched the Plowshares movement. That action would never have grown into a full-fledged movement, however, if its tactics were considered an illegitimate means of resistance. Yet, as the draft board raid controversy illustrated, property destruction was not a tactic that automatically received approval from religious activists or the broader peace movement. On the contrary, there were many negative reactions, as Philip Berrigan indicated in his “Letter from a Baltimore Jail,” written shortly after the Catonsville raid. Berrigan wrote:

The parallel to the well-known “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was intentional since the purpose of Berrigan's correspondence was the same as Dr. King's – namely, justifying his method of resistance.