Salt Lake City, UT – On Tuesday, August 25, members of the Utah Anti-War Committee met with Salt Lake District 1 Councilor Jiro Johnson. Johnson’s county council district covers a Raytheon facility, which the UAWC has been campaigning against since May. The anti-war activists demanded that Johnson publicly condemn the Raytheon facility in his district.
The meeting was secured after activists packed Salt Lake County Council earlier in August, calling on Johnson to introduce legislation against the facility. At the meeting, Johnson at first did not commit to issuing a written and public condemnation of Raytheon, citing concerns around Republican backlash to his policy agenda.
Activists continued to push for a firm anti-Raytheon, anti-war stance at the meeting. They gave the deadline of September 16, marking 200 days since the start of Trump’s war against Iran, in which a Raytheon Tomahawk missile killed over 100 schoolchildren at an Iranian girls’ school.
After the meeting, UAWC took to social media to urge the community to call on Johnson to take a side against Raytheon. In comment sections and Instagram stories, more community members began to call on Johnson to condemn the war-profiteering facility in his district.
Soon, Johnson relented, posting on August 28 the public, written condemnation of war and Raytheon, which activists had demanded, on his official social media page.
“It’s despicable that corporations like Raytheon and other members of the military-industrial complex are getting rich off this violence,” Johnson’s statement read.
In their own statement, the UAWC said, “This condemnation was demanded by activists and did not come from nowhere, and it was not easy to win. It was the result of deliberate and sustained anti-Raytheon activism by the community since May of this year.”
“A statement from the councilor where Raytheon operates is a good step. We count it as a win. But clearly, much more is needed to stop the U.S. war machine,” continued UAWC.
Those wanting to join the anti-war movement and build on this victory should attend the next Utah Anti-War Committee meeting on Saturday, September 5, 3 p.m. at the Salt Lake City Main Library Level 3 Conference Room.
#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #UAWC #BDS #Raytheon
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