Louisville: Raytheon 5 Convicted, Firsthand Account of the Trial

Anthony Campbell

Following two days of testimony, the “Raytheon 5” were found guilty of criminal trespassing on key infrastructure assets on June 24. The Commonwealth of Kentucky defended the private interests of Raytheon Missile Systems (RTX) and BAE Systems with the prosecution of the five Palestine solidarity protesters who—according to the state—are among demonstrators who refused police orders to move off the street at the entrance to a Raytheon and BAE Systems facility February last year.

Prior to the trial, District Court Judge Jessica Moore moved to prohibit the five defendants from referring to the purpose of their protest, curtailing their freedom of speech by banning discussion of RTX’s role in supplying the criminal Zionist state with weapons. RTX has a history of supplying missiles, bombs, warplanes, and warships to Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Judge Moore’s refusal to allow the five defendants refer to the profits RTX receives for selling weapons for the imperialist wars of aggression shows the monopoly capitalists are afraid even of the simple statement of facts about their business.

Furthermore, the Sixth Amendment’s right to a public trial, which extends to jury selection, was barred before proceedings began. Additional protesters who stood in solidarity with the five defendants were refused entry to the jury selection process.

Following the opening statements, the arresting officer was the first witness called to give testimony. The prosecutors gave the arresting officer ample time to walk the jury step by step through his arrival to the scene of the protests in February to each arrest.

When the defense attorneys were able to cross-examine the policeman, they demanded to know why their clients were charged with criminal trespassing instead of being captured and released. The officer said he assumed the protesters would return to the site. While under questioning, he confirmed he had no grounds for this assumption but his own prejudice against the protesters, who he believed only cared about getting arrested and drawing attention to themselves.

On the second day of the trial, the RTX property manager was brought to the stand, and asked by the defense attorneys to review a property map. This was brought in as evidence to prove the protesters were on public land—not private property—and not directly on “a facility used for research, development, design, production, delivery, or maintenance of military weapons systems, subsystems, and components or parts to meet military requirements of the United States”, which defines “key infrastructure assets”. Through cross-examination, the property manager agreed with the defense attorneys that the defendants were not in or on an RTX facility. They were present on a public roadway for their protest.

During the closing remarks, the defense attorneys repeated how their clients were not aware that they were on anything considered real property of RTX. They believed they were on a public roadway and within their First Amendment right to peaceful assembly. The prosecutors ended their arguments with the view it did not matter to the Commonwealth if the defendants were protesting peacefully on a public roadway, as they were preventing drivers from exiting the RTX facilities, thereby halting the realization of surplus-value the weapons monopolies make, they were committing a crime against capital.

Once the jury deliberated, they found the five defendants guilty. They gave them no jail time but required each defendant to pay a $125 fine.

Image: The “Raytheon 5” at a press conference June 28, Riot Heart Media

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