5 Arrested During Protest At Raytheon Building In Cambridge
CAMBRIDGE (CBS) -- Five people are facing charges after being arrested Monday during a protest at the Raytheon building in Cambridge. The demonstration lasted several hours.
A small group made their way to the roof to set off smoke devices and lock themselves together.
On the ground, between 20 and 30 people held signs and chanted.
Raytheon, based in Waltham, is the second-largest weapons contractor in the world.
The activists said they were from the group Resist and Abolish The Military-Industrial Complex. They said wanted to bring attention to the company's weapon sales to Saudi Arabia and Israel, and what they call Raytheon's record of human rights violations.
"Raytheon's CEO Greg Hayes was recently bragging to investors about the profit opportunity of the Ukraine invasion. So we're here to call that out, we're here to also set an example for people. Again there is kind of a reignitment [sic] in anti-war movements and people are so concerned about what's happening globally and we want to show people that these war-profiteers are here locally and the first thing you can do to start resisting all wars and all empires is taking action locally," one protester said.
Police said the demonstrators refused to cooperate and come down from the roof. Nearly four hours after the protest started, officers took them into custody.
The remaining protesters left shortly after the arrests.
WBZ-TV reached out to Raytheon for comment but has not heard back yet.