A man on his way to work pulled out a knife to defend himself from a group of rowdy pro-Palestinian protesters who blocked his access to a Lockheed Martin facility in California.
The chaotic incident outside the military contractor’s Sunnyvale facility can be seen in a dramatic 56-second video that shows a man driving towards the blockade, then getting out of his car and confronting protesters. did it.
The video, which appears to have been shot by a pro-Palestinian protester, begins with a group aggressively running toward an unauthorized white vehicle.
When the man reached a human barricade outside a defense engineering facility, he was seen holding a knife as dozens of protesters swarmed his car.
“Do you want to go to jail?” one demonstrator yelled at a man standing next to a car.
“Get out of the way or someone’s going to die,” he yelled angrily as protesters began to crowd the car and one tried to get into his car.
The man is seen carrying a knife and appears angry as he continues to plead with protesters to “get out of my way”.
“Think about what you’re doing if you want to go to jail,” a protester yelled off camera.
“Get out, I have to go to work,” he says, looking exasperated by the situation unfolding before him, before putting away the knife. It has not been confirmed whether the man works for Lockheed.
“I have to do my job,” he said as dozens of demonstrators continued to crowd around him, then repeated “get out of the way.”
When the man returned to his car, he could be heard shouting “stop” at the protesters who were trying to get into the car with him.
“Are you going to hurt people?” a protester can be heard repeatedly yelling off camera.
“We’re watching you.” “We’re watching you,” a protester yelled, as a crowd stood in front of the vehicle and began pulling it away from the human blockade.
It’s unclear what started the heated exchange, and the clip cut out before it could be resolved.
Protesters were blocking the entrance to the Lockheed Martin research facility in Sunnyvale Thursday morning, alleging the defense contractor’s role in the bloody and vicious Israel-Hamas war.
In a protest organized by the Bay Area Palestine Solidarity Coalition, more than 135 residents said they blocked the entrance to the facility starting around 6 a.m.
They were protesting Lockheed’s alleged supply of fighter jets, missiles, other weapons and surveillance technology.
A Lockheed Martin spokesperson said: CBS News They said they “respect the right to peacefully protest” but did not comment on Thursday’s heated controversy.
“Lockheed Martin’s core values are doing the right thing, respecting others and delivering exceptional performance,” the companies said in a statement.
“These values provide clear, unambiguous and uncompromising standards for how we treat each other with understanding and compassion.
“We respect the right to peaceful protest and are honored to partner with the U.S. military and international partners to provide strategic deterrence and security solutions.”
The newspaper has reached out to Lockheed Martin for comment.
