Bloomington, MN – On March 16, protesters held a march to the Bloomington facility of weapons manufacturer General Dynamics, to demand that the Minnesota State Board of Investment divests public funds from General Dynamics for its weapons trade with apartheid Israel. Israel has relied heavily on General Dynamics’ weapons for decades, including during its ongoing genocide against Gaza over the last five months.

The protest of 400 people started near the Penn-Lake Library with a rally followed by a march to General Dynamics building in Bloomington. General Dynamics is the world’s fifth largest weapons manufacturer, with an annual revenue of $38.5 billion. General Dynamics manufactures and sells military weapons and equipment – including armored fighting and robotic combat vehicles, tanks, artillery systems, aircraft guns and cybersecurity systems – and is currently the only company that produces the 155mm artillery shells that have been used by Israel in Gaza. These weapons have repeatedly been fired against Palestinian civilians, resulting in numerous casualties as well as mass destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and water and electric systems.

Students for Palestine Normandale, Bloomington Students for Palestine, and the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition organized the protest.

Michael Runyon, the founder of Students for Palestine Normandale, explained the reasoning behind the protest to the crowd, “This location is called a ‘Mission Systems’ location. They develop the technology behind the killing machines. They brag that they are the ‘brains behind the brawn.’ What that means is they are the brains behind the genocide.”

Audrey, a ninth-grader at Kennedy High School in Bloomington and a member of Bloomington Students for Palestine spoke to the crowd before marching, “More children have been killed in Gaza in the past four months than have been killed worldwide in the past four years of wars. How can Biden ask us to vote for him when he’s responsible for this mass murder? How can General Dynamics sit here pretending to be just a tech company when they're responsible for the deaths of so many children? Walz was at the Democratic fundraiser last night. How can he ask for money and have a fancy dinner when he doesn't divest from this genocide?”

She continued, “It’s important that students speak out about this because this is a youth issue. If you were born in Palestine in 2006, you’ve already lived through five Israeli assaults. Kids in Gaza aren’t thinking about going to college, they’re thinking about surviving the next week. Hoping to not starve to death. Hoping to not be bombed. Hoping that their families will survive.”

According to its most recent asset listings, the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) has invested over $31 million of the public pension funds it manages in General Dynamics. The MN Anti-War Committee is leading a campaign to get the SBI to divest its over $3 billion worth of investments from Israeli companies and weapons manufacturers.

Liz McLister, a member of the AWC, also spoke to the crowd, “What brings us to this particular site today? The SBI has funneled almost $37 million of Minnesotan taxpayer money into General Dynamics shares and securities.”

McLister continued, “Long before Israel's current gloves-off campaign, General Dynamics' weapons and equipment were terrorizing, maiming and killing Gazans. Shame! This company has spent years seeding death and destruction in occupied Palestine; along the U.S.-Mexico border; and elsewhere around the globe.”

The march went to General Dynamics’ “Mission Systems” facility on Queen Avenue to draw attention to their role in the rising death toll in Gaza.

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