Seven people were arrested last Thursday at a protest outside a weapons manufacturing facility in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Five protesters chained themselves to boats and boat trailers they’d moved to block the entrance of L3Harris Technologies from 5:30 a.m. to around 2 p.m. when police started making arrests.
The demonstration was organized by Demilitarize Western Mass, a group of anti-war activists taking action against L3’s involvement in global violence through their production of weapons and surveillance tools.
“People were coming [from] a variety of backgrounds and reasons for being there: anti-war activists, environmentalists, abolitionists, Northampton residents, etc,” protester and University of Massachusetts Amherst student Sonya Epstein said. “There was a really wide age range as well, I would say 18 to 80, not counting the baby who joined us with their mom.”
Epstein arrived at the scene around 9 a.m. where a group of people immediately welcomed them to join the cause.
“It was clear that they [L3Harris] were providing technology for and profiting off of war, state-sanctioned violence, US imperialism and white supremacy,” Epstein said. “We are at a point where each of us must do everything in our power to prevent more death at the hands of colonial and genocidal states, and joining this action was one of the ways I chose to do so.”
According to Epstein, demonstrators were shouting a variety of different chants including “hey, hey, ho, ho, the war machine has got to go,” and “fund healthcare, not warfare.”
“There was a really powerful feeling of hope, determination, solidarity, deep community care and love,” Epstein said.
Around five hours after Epstein arrived at the protest, police began cutting people from their chains and removing them from the street. They arrested Epstein and six others on counts of trespassing, disturbing the peace and resisting arrest. All seven arrested protestors were released from jail on Friday, one day after the protest took place.
Epstein encourages UMass students to get involved in the cause by connecting with the Demilitarize Western Mass organization on social media in order to stay updated with their campaign.
Epstein also said that students should try to “learn more about UMass’s investments and involvement in the military–industrial complex.”
According to Demilitarize Western Mass, UMass has made its involvement with L3 known by hosting the company at multiple career fair events in 2020. UMass also has L3Harris Technologies listed as a potential employment opportunity on the careers page for the Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences.
Although L3Harris Technologies’ media team has been contacted, they have yet to make a comment about the situation.
