Portland, OR – On Monday, August 26, the organization Portland for Palestine (P4P) held a protest at the Leupold and Stevens manufacturing facility in Beaverton, Oregon. About a dozen protesters showed up to expose Leupold’s involvement in supplying the Israeli occupation with rifle scopes and other telescopic technology.

The protesters were met with hostility. Beaverton police department vehicles were spotted making the rounds. Leupold stationed armed private security guards at both driveways leading to their main facility.

Leupold and Stevens Inc. has been supplying the Israeli occupation army since around 2017. A $2.72 million contract with the Israeli occupation forces bought 800 of the company's Mark-6 telescopes. P4P member Omar Gil stated, “It is very likely that these scopes were used in the killing of children, men and women during The Great March of Return demonstrations that took place in Gaza between 2018 and 2019. There are numerous filmed instances of snipers maiming or murdering Palestinians. How despicable that such proof exists and the merchants of death at Leupold continue to supply the Zionists!”

Protesters marched on the street in front of Leupold and held signs calling them war profiteers and demanding divestment. They echoed chants such as “Leupold, Leupold, we know you! Genocider through and through!” and the more targeted chant, “Christopher Maerki you can’t hide! You’re committing genocide!” Christopher Maerki is the international and OEM sales manager for Leupold and Stevens. He is responsible for the sale and distribution of equipment to military and law enforcement agencies across the globe.

Mog Clark, a member of People Organizing for Philippine Solidarity (POPS) and the Resist US-Led War Movement, gave a speech in solidarity, stating, “We condemn all war profiteers and their disgusting acts of violence against the masses. Leupold and Stevens, we see you for the imperialist pawns that you are! We will not rest until you, and all other war profiteers, are brought to your knees before the mighty Palestinian and Filipino movements for national liberation. From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!”

Many Leupold employees ended their workday by driving past the protest. A few of them were spotted peeking through the blinds, catching a glimpse of the demonstration.

P4P member Finn Cunningham gave some closing remarks, stating, “We came here to disrupt Leupold and we accomplished that. We have created a conversation among the workers about our presence and their company’s involvement in the ongoing genocide. So long as companies in our backyard continue to profit from the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, we will be there, protesting at their doorstep.”

As we are nearing a year into the Gaza genocide, and without an end of U.S. aid to Israel in sight, Portland for Palestine vows to continue spotlighting war profiteers such as Leupold, and demand that they divest from the Israeli occupation.

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