Watch video and view photos from the Good Friday vigil and subsequent arrests at Lockheed Martin, organized by Red Letter Christians
VermontBiz On Friday, April 3, Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, was arrested alongside other activists during a nonviolent direct action outside Lockheed Martin’s development facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
The action followed a large interfaith prayer vigil organized by a Philadelphia-area antiwar coalition. Participants gathered to commemorate Good Friday and to protest U.S. militarism and the role of weapons manufacturers in global conflicts. After the vigil, demonstrators carried the names of children killed in Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon and peacefully blocked the entrance to the facility, resulting in multiple arrests.
Cohen, who spoke prior to the action, joined demonstrators in the civil disobedience.
“An arms race is a race to the bottom. It’s never-ending, and it sucks more and more resources from what we really need to make our lives better, as they use our money to kill and destroy the homes of people who never harmed us. That's not a recipe for peace. It’s a recipe for eternal war. And weapons manufacturers like Lockheed are all for it.”
Shane Claiborne, coalition spokesperson and founder of Red Letter Christians, said: “We believe every human being is made in the image of God – no exceptions. Every child in Iran and Lebanon and Palestine is just as precious as every child in Philadelphia or NY or Jerusalem. As we carry the names of the children killed by Israel and the US with weapons made by companies like Lockheed Martin, we stand with all the victims of violence – in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. It was Christ who blessed the peacemakers, not the warmakers. It was Christ who commanded us to love our enemies and died with mercy on his lips, forgiving those who killed him. And it was Christ who said, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.”
Lockheed Martin is the world’s largest weapons manufacturer. It has made billions of dollars in profits from decades of weapons contracts with Israel in particular. Lockheed Martin supplies the Israeli Defense Forces with the Hellfire missiles, Apache helicopters, M-270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, and F-16 and F-35 fighter jets that have been used to decimate Gaza, and have been used more recently in the war on Iran and Lebanon. Many of these weapons of war have been bought with US tax dollars. And Lockheed’s profits have skyrocketed while at least 80,000 people in Gaza have been killed, including more than 19,000 children - as well as hundreds in Iran.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has called on Lockheed Martin and other weapons manufacturers, to “cease the sale, transfer, and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel” or risk being held legally accountable for “serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian laws.”
Yet Lockheed Martin is currently strengthening its partnership with the Netanyahu government and the Israeli Defense Forces. Further, the Trump administration has regularly bypassed congressional review and approved arms sales to Israel, from which Lockheed Martin stands to profit immensely.
Compelled by our conscience to stand against this ongoing US-funded war on the people of Gaza, the war in Iran, and U.S. militarism, in general, our diverse Philadelphia-area coalition brings together people of all faiths as well as people who are not religious. Our coalition has chosen to take prayerful direct action on April 3 which is both Passover and Good Friday.
Both holidays are rooted in a deep, sincere conviction that God cares for the vulnerable and stands against the powers of death and domination that threaten to destroy innocent lives. “We are standing arm-in-arm for the sake of global peace and in opposition to militarism and our complicity in it,” says Jonny Rashid of Mennonite Action. “But additionally, we believe that the manufacturing and sales of arms dehumanizes employees of Lockheed Martin too. Our liberation is bound up together, we aren’t free, until we’re all free, whether we are making weapons, deploying those weapons, or victims of those weapons.”
More than 200 people participated in the day’s events, continuing a growing annual tradition of protest at the site. The coalition includes a broad range of faith-based and peace organizations committed to nonviolent resistance and ending U.S. support for global militarization.
Organizations participating in the action include: Red Letter Christians, Freedom Road, Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), Rainbow PUSH Coalition, The Telos Group, Red Candle, Waging Peace Project, Fridays @ Fetterman's, Veterans for Peace, Friends of Sabeel North America, Prayers for Peace Alliance, Philadelphia Palestinian Americans, BanKillerDrones.org, Weaponized Drone Ban Treaty Campaign, CAIR, Mennonite Action Philly, UpInAms.life.
Following the arrests, supporters gathered at a local police station to welcome those detained upon release, reinforcing the message that “death does not get the last word” and pointing toward a vision of a more peaceful future.
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