The nuclear freeze movement advocates an agreement between the United States and the USSR to halt (freeze) the production and deployment of nuclear weapons and delivery systems. First formulated in 1980 by Randall Forsberg, director of the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies in Brookline, Mass., the freeze proposal attracted growing support in the United States during the next two years, when the administration of President Reagan was increasing military spending and preparing to deploy more nuclear missiles in Europe. A series of antinuclear protests culminated in a vast demonstration by nearly half a million people from the United States and other countries in New York City on June 12, 1982