NORTHAMPTON — Four activists arrested in March for occupying the lobby of defense contractor L3Harris appeared in a packed courtroom in Northampton District Court on Thursday for a civil hearing, where they had the opportunity to defend their actions they see as necessary to prevent further violence both at home and abroad.
The four activists — Nick Mottern, Pakie Wieland, Patricia Gallagher and Priscilla Lynch — had entered the lobby of the defense contractor’s Northampton office on the morning of March 19, saying they were there to deliver a warrant for a citizen’s arrest of L3Harris CEO Chris Kubasik. The activists are all affiliated with the group Demilitarize Western Mass, and wore shirts that said “L3 Kills” while throwing fake $100 bills that had been painted to appear bloodstained before they were escorted out the building and arrested.
Though the charges against the activists amount to civil infractions, meaning that there is no possibility of jail time, the matter was brought to a civil hearing to dispute the charges, and what the activists hope is legal acknowledgment of criticisms of L3Harris, a $1 billion defense contractor that works with both the Israeli military and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) among other clients. Unlike a regular trial, a civil hearing has no jury, with the verdict made instead by the sitting judge.
In court Thursday, defense attorney Jamie Rogers argued to Judge Mary Beth Ogulewicz that his clients’ actions were necessary to prevent L3Harris from being an arbiter of violence both at home and abroad.
“The goals were to influence corporate policy in L3Harris. The goals were to increase public awareness of the fact that we have this corporation in our community that is involved in arming Israel,” Rogers said. He also argued that the activists’ actions were aimed to “increase public sentiment so that other individuals in our community and around the state, across the country or the world can approach their elected officials and undertake other democratic measures to effect change.”
Rogers also provided several affidavits from prominent individuals to bolster his defense of the actions taken against L3Harris. Among those who submitted affidivats were Josh Paul, a former U.S. Department of State official who resigned in 2023 as a result of arms transfers to Israel, and Noam Perry, a former intelligence analyst with the Israeli military who now works with the social justice organization American Friends Service Committee.
“Arms from the United States are being provided to units credibly alleged to have committed gross violations of Palestinians’ human rights, to include extrajudicial killings of civilians and torture,” Paul wrote. “Specific products manufactured by L3Harris … have been used against Palestinian civilians in Gaza in violation of international humanitarian law.”
The activists also got a chance during the civil hearing to testify about their beliefs and why they felt their actions were necessary.
Mottern described his prior experiences serving in the U.S. Navy as part of Operation Dominic, a series of nuclear test explosions in the Pacific Ocean in 1962. He recalled his horror when witnessing a nuclear explosion one morning while on duty.
“I felt like this is definitely something that we do not and should not ever be involved with,” Mottern said. “The older I get, the more I realized what I was seeing.”
Later, Mottern said he served in Vietnam for a brief period before working for an English-language newspaper in the country, saying he witnessed further violence as a result of the Vietnam war. In the 1980s, he also witnessed the effects of famine and war in Ethiopia when he went there with a missionary group. He said it’s those experiences that led him to protest against the war in Gaza.
“It was just very hard for me to see people suffering like this,” Mottern said. “There are hundreds of thousands of people in this country living with their conscience in the midst of something that’s profoundly unacceptable.”
Wieland, who has a long career in activism and social work, talked about visiting areas in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Gaza and how that shaped her view of U.S. foreign policy and the role defense contractors like L3Harris play in it.
“Witnessing by itself is useless unless you do something about it. So it’s not just to observe what’s happened, but to take a stand,” Wieland said. “Once you know, then you have to take an action if you have conscience.”
Attorney Alexandria Plante, representing the commonwealth in the case, argued against the notion that the activists’ actions were necessary to prevent further violence
“They don’t know whether this effected any change. We don’t know if this effected any change to corporate or government policy,” Plante said. “Where does this escalate to if the previous attempts didn’t work and now they’re entering this lobby and throwing fake money on the floor, causing a disturbance for the employees of this business? Where does this escalate to next if this hasn’t effected any change?”
Ogulewicz said she would review the submitted affidavits and various other human righs reports submitted by the defense before coming to a final decision on the matter. The parties are expected back in court on Dec. 31.