REPORT

On a bright autumn afternoon VFP UK headed to Tower 42, which contains the offices of General Atomics in London. We took our placards bearing the slogans “GROUND THE DRONES” and “GENERAL ATOMICS, DEATH FROM ABOVE”. We unfurled our VFP flag donated by Gerry Condon and set about handing out our flyers.

Within minutes we were joined by over 20 nuns from the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace. They had heard about our protest and wanted to join in. They were soon into full song and dealt with an inquiring policeman effectively. Folks from Occupy, Friends of Bradley Manning, London Catholic Worker and supporters of Julian Assange also turned up.

Ben Griffin of VFP UK addressed the crowd saying

“General Atomics manufacture the Reaper UAV, it is in service with the US and UK military. The Reaper has been used in hundreds of drone strikes in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia. People are targeted with these weapons without being identified and are killed from above without warning. Numerous innocent civilians including women and children have been killed as a result of these attacks. Mosques, schools, funerals and meetings of elders have all been attacked by Reaper drones. People responding to drone strikes by pulling the wounded out of buildings have also been attacked with these weapons. We must spread the word about these weapons, and the hidden wars they are used in.”

Passers-by were engaged in conversation and on the whole we got a good reception. We even got a few honks from passing vehicles. A local stall worker took some of our flyers to hand out to his customers and people leaving the building were surprised to know that they shared it with General Atomics. We met two veterans— one American and one French— who expressed interest in our protest and VFP.

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Full report, pictures and video from the San Diego protest here:
 http://veteransforpeace.org.uk/2012/report-ground-the-drones-vfp-in-london-san-diego/