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.

#PortlandOR #Portland #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #P4P #POPS

Minneapolis, MN – Over 600 people rallied and marched here, July 23, at the “Portland to Minneapolis: Protest Trump’s Goons Attacking Our Movement,” called by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J.)

On July 20, Trump announced plans to send the Department of Homeland Security to cities across the U.S. Agents in military fatigues were deployed in Portland, grabbing demonstrators off the street, detaining them in unmarked cars and attacking protesters. Homeland Security agents were also sent to Washington, DC and Seattle. 150 federal agents are headed to Chicago, and there are reports that 2000 more are on standby for deployments to other cities. In response, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar called for a solidarity rally at the downtown Minneapolis federal court building along with the rest of the Twin Cities movement.

Trump’s moves are an attempt to quell a historic country-wide Black-led, multinational working-class wave of rebellions and mass protests. The upsurge is in response to the recent murder of George Floyd and lynchings across the country, which represent the national oppression of Black folks. Protests have taken place in Portland every night since George Floyd was killed, as they have in Minneapolis and cities across the country. Curfews, the National Guard, and now these unmarked federal agents are all intimidation tactics aimed at bringing the protests to an end. Just like the people of Minneapolis violating curfews night after night, and rallying day after day despite National Guard presence, people in Portland are fearlessly taking the streets in ever greater numbers.

The Minneapolis protest and march included speeches and spoken word from 19 organizations from across the Twin Cities. David Gilbert-Pederson, a member of Minnesota Workers United, gave a rousing speech to the protesters. In speaking about the Filipino homeland Gilbert-Pederson stated, “Back home it was never the politicians or the NGOs or the ruling class or the philanthropists that helped – it was working people.”

Toshira Garraway Allen of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence also spoke, calling for the crowd to leverage their collective power to create change, stating, “When they took our loved ones they left us with no choice but to fight for what [we] believe in,” she said in a powerful address.

After most of the speeches and as the crowd began moving into the streets, a medical emergency occurred. Danielle Burns, the sister of Jamar Clark, and Toshira Garraway assisted as other medics from the movement joined to ensure safety of the protester.

Later, when crowds returned and speeches and the protest ended, organizers were approached by someone looking for bail assistance. The young brother asked for bail support for his partner who was taken to the county jail in an unrelated incident after attending the protest. The movement gathered the funds in minutes and then proceeded to go down the block and pay the bail. It was a demonstration of the movement’s demand and program to “Free ‘em all!”

TCC4J announced that there would be an emergency response if further action was needed to protect the people’s movement against violent military occupation. The July 23 protest cohosts included: Communities United Against Police Brutality, Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, Minnesota Youth For Justice, Council on American Islamic Relations – Minnesota, Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Anti-War Committee, Women's March Minnesota, Racial Justice Network, National Lawyers Guild Minnesota, Movement Support Network, Cop Watch Minneapolis, Students for a Democratic Society at UMN, Native Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter Twin Cities Metro, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, Minnesota Workers United, Freedom Road Socialist Organization-Twin Cities, and Blue LIES Matter.

#MinneapolisMN #TCC4J #Portland

The action was called by the Workers World Party and included speakers from New York Community Action Project, Code Pink, Peoples Power Assemblies, Veterans for Peace, A Call to Action on Puerto Rico, and The Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum.

The speeches addressed various aspects of the events in Portland, including how military forces are using violence against people both here and around the world, as well as police crimes and accountability, the ICE and Border Patrol’s disappearing of undocumented people, and the economic conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the speeches, the crowd joined together in various chants before concluding for the evening.

#NewYorkNY #Portland