By Lily Chen, Aren Framil and Faith Zantua, Design Editor, Co-News Editor and Co-Copy Editor

On Friday, Montco for Liberation, a local advocacy organization with a mission of promoting peace and equality, hosted a memorial protest in front of Lockheed Martin’s King of Prussia office. Lockheed Martin is an arms and defense corporation that works with the U.S. Department of Defense.

Demonstrators congregated at Goddard Boulevard and Conrad Drive at 3 p.m. with signs and Palestinian flags to honor late U.S. Air Force Veteran Aaron Bushnell who self-immolated on Feb. 25 in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. in protest of Israeli attacks in the Palestinian territory of Gaza and the U.S. response to the conflict. 

A protester in traditional Native American regalia set up a memorial cloth with flowers for Bushnell, which she symbolically burned.

Police were present at and previously aware of the gathering, situated near the protest and on the road leading to Lockheed Martin’s property.

Protester Eric, who requested to go by his first name only for personal safety reasons, believes that the weapons manufactured by Lockheed Martin are a significant contributor to the Israeli attacks on Gaza and the West Bank.

“I’m here today because I’m outraged and horrified of what’s happening in Gaza. We’re out here today protesting the war profiteer, Lockheed Martin, whose weapons not only in Israel but all around the world are killing people,” Eric said. “We’re here to speak out. We don’t want Lockheed Martin and destructive industries like this.”

A counter-protester also attended, holding an Israeli flag and standing away from the group of pro-Palestinian protesters. He requested to remain anonymous for safety reasons and believes that the Palestinian militant group Hamas is more to blame for Palestinian civilian deaths than Israel.

“It’s a complicated matter. It’s a tragedy. I don’t blame Israel. I blame Hamas for using (Palestinians) as human shields,” the counter-protester said. “I’m a Christian, I’m not Jewish, but I stand by Israel.”

The counter-protester had attended other pro-Palestinian demonstrations before for similar reasons.

“I think most of these people aren’t bad people,” the counter-protestor said. “I just think these people believe in a different solution.”

Pro-Palestinian demonstrator Syed Gilleni has also attended similar protests and believes that U.S. elected officials have not done enough to stop the Israeli attacks. 

“If you kill one human, you kill all humanity. If you save one human, you save all humanity,” Gilleni said. “We are standing here not just for one human, we are standing here for 1.9 million people in Gaza.”

At the gathering, protesters chanted and waved signs with Bushnell’s last words: “Free Palestine.”

Lily Chen can be reached at [email protected].

Aren Framil can be reached at [email protected].

Faith Zantua can be reached at [email protected].