Protesters at a Lockheed Martin research facility in Sunnyvale have disbanded after blocking all employee entrances for about five hours. No arrests were made, according to organizers.
The group Bay Area Palestine Solidarity was calling for an end to contributions to Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza. About 250 people participated Thursday morning, including 50 who were locked in a human chain. Others blocked the three gated entrances with traffic cones and were lying down on the roadway that serves as a driveway into the facility.
“We have gathered here to disrupt Lockheed Martin’s operations and demand that the U.S. stop all arms sales to Israel,” protester Maramiya Yensoon said in a statement.
The group released video showing a confrontation with a Lockheed Martin employee who attempted to speed past protesters blocking the multi-lane entrance. The man stopped when protesters blocked his vehicle. He got out, brandished a large knife from his waistband, and yelled “Someone’s going to die!”
He returned to his vehicle and was told by protesters that there were people lying in the roadway and he could not drive in but could park and walk in to retrieve a laptop he said he needed to work from home.
A subsequent video shows the man leaving on foot with his laptop and again yelling at protesters, who banged drums and chanted, “Lockheed Martin what do you say, how many kids did you kill today?”
A Lockheed Martin spokesperson said in a statement regarding the protest: “Lockheed Martin’s core values are to do what’s right, respect others and perform with excellence. These values provide clear, unambiguous and uncompromising standards for how we treat each other with understanding and compassion. We respect the right to peaceful protest and we are honored to partner with the U.S. military and our international partners to deliver strategic deterrence and security solutions.”
Over 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in the bombing campaign. More than two-thirds of those killed, or about 22,000 people, were women and children, according to the United Nations.
The Israeli military operation was launched after an attack on Israel on Oct. 7 by Hamas, the faction that controls Gaza. Militants killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostage, about half of whom remain in captivity.
Lockheed Martin’s stock was trading at $400 on Oct. 6. It jumped by nearly 10 percent in the two days after the Hamas attack and was trading at about $454 on Thursday.
“I think we accomplished what we set out to do,” said protester Chris Lee. “We interrupted work for the day, and that was our goal.”