I was disappointed by the June 6 letter “City needs leaders that work together” calling on city leaders to be “declaring outrage” over peaceful protests at L3Harris in Northampton. Demilitarize Western Mass and other activists with consciences call out the local weapons maker, which profits off illegal wars that are killing civilians, including thousands of women and children.
In this time of high inflation that finds many of us struggling to pay our bills, yours and my tax dollars are spent — the defense budget is projected to exceed $1 trillion annually — building weapons to wipe out humans and enrich billionaires. L3 Harris does nothing to keep us safe; in fact, supplying parts for arms for two aggressive countries likely puts us at greater risk. War-making is purely a campaign of corporate greed.
But, perhaps more disturbing than defending the war criminal in our backyard is the writer’s call for city leaders’ outrage at us, implying protestors should be stopped. Free speech, in our case exercised in conjunction with our freedom to assemble, is the fundamental tenet of a true democracy. We watch as protests across the U.S. are crushed and protestors are jailed and we see our precious free speech disintegrating before our eyes. When it’s gone so too will be the U.S. as we know it.
If the writer would like to come peacefully protest us as we peacefully protest L3, we would welcome them.
Anne-Marie Smith
Granby