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Police arrest protester at Lockheed Martin in Palo Alto, California
Photo courtesy of Bruce Druzin
from Palo Alto Online
Man spray paints sign, contacts media, waits for police
by Linda Taaffe / Palo Alto Weekly
Palo Alto police arrested a 34-year-old man after he notified local media that he had just spray painted the word "Yemen" in bright red letters across the sign at Lockheed Martin's Palo Alto headquarters on Saturday afternoon in protest of the aerospace company's sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia.
In an email to the Palo Alto Weekly sent at 3:04 p.m., he wrote: "My name's Bryce Druzin and I just vandalized Lockheed Martin's office at 325 Hanover St., Palo Alto. I did it to protest Lockheed's sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia for their war in Yemen and President Trump's recent veto of bipartisan congressional legislation that would have ended U.S. involvement and weapons sales."
Police arrived at Stanford Research Park before 4 p.m. to arrest Druzin, who was calmly waiting for them.
"You know, it just kind of built up over time. I'm glad I finally did it. I grew up in Palo Alto, and it's embarrassing to have this company in my hometown," Druzin told the Weekly as police were taking him into custody.
He said a particular motivating factor in his decision to protest the company was the August 9, 2018 bombing of a school bus in Yemen, when a Saudi plane dropped a bomb produced by Lockheed and killed 40 children.
"This is my hometown where I grew up, and these are our neighbors that live in the community and they're helping murder people," Druzin continued. "If you had a neighbor who was murdering people, you wouldn't want that person here anymore. I don't want Lockheed here anymore. It's a real simple thing for me."
Police are still investigating the case and were unable to comment.
Editor's note: Druzin wrote for the Palo Alto Weekly while an intern there in 2012.