Protests Armed Sales to Israel, US Citizens Block Raytheon Entrance

Portsmouth, Rhode Island, MINA – Protesters from the United States (US) blocked the entrance to the Raytheon company in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA on Thursday, in protest at the sale of weapons to Israel.

Members of the FANG Collective, the Pawtucket-based group that organized the protests, together with Resist and Abolish the Military Industrial Complex (RAM INC) said they were protesting against Raytheon’s arms sales to Israel.

FANG Collective describes itself as an action group that organizes people to build a decolonized world free of prisons and police, Wafa reported.

The Pawtucket-based group is moving to lift and restore the system of repression by the authorities, while taking action to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

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During the protest some people chained themselves to cars to block the front gate, while other demonstrators held banners and shouted slogans.

FANG said in a press statement it was closing all vehicle entrances to the Raytheon company when two people attached themselves to the vehicle blocking the main entrance to the facility.

One person was tied under the car while another was tied in the trunk of a car parked at the entrance portal.

Police said they called the Portsmouth Fire Department to release the two men after they themselves refused to do so. The two men were eventually arrested.

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FANG added that it pointed to a statement in a 2018 CNN report that revealed that Raytheon, the world’s largest missile producer and second largest military contractor, had sold billions of dollars of weapons to Israel, among other things used to kill civilians in Palestine.

“Raytheon also has close ties to the Israeli military and supplies them with missiles, bombs and other equipment, including the ‘Iron Dome’ system,” the group said.

“These weapons have been linked to dozens of attacks that have killed and injured (Palestinian) civilians,” the Fang group said.

Raytheon company did not respond much to the protests.

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“We respect the right to lawful and peaceful protest,” a Raytheon spokesman said in response to the protests. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)

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