A caravan of protesters traveled across the Triple Cities on Tuesday calling for demilitarization and divestment from Israel. Protests were held in three locations: a Lockheed Martin facility in Owego, BAE Systems’ Endicott campus, and Binghamton University, where protesters delivered letters addressed to University President Harvey Stenger and Atul Kelkar, the dean of the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Organized by the activist group Binghamton Solidarity for Palestine, the demonstration was held on Tax Day, the last day for Americans to file federal income tax returns. A representative from the organization said the protest date was selected to highlight how defense companies and weapons manufacturers are “receiving billions of taxpayer dollars in weapons contracts each year.”

“The goal of this event is to raise awareness for the ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide occurring in Palestine, and to highlight the complicity of these institutions, including Binghamton University,” the representative wrote. “We are urging President Stenger to take a stand for what is right, and oppose the university’s practices that have monetarily and morally supported the colonial Zionist state.”

The event began in Owego outside the Lockheed Martin facility, which develops military communication sensors and operates a machining center. Banners reading “Lockheed Martin Bombs Children” and “SUNY Binghamton: Stop Funding Lockheed Martin” were hung from cars parked across the street from the facility.

Protesters intended to deliver a letter addressed to both the CEO of Lockheed Martin and the Owego plant manager, calling for the company to demilitarize. The letter said that the U.S. government and American citizens were obligated to prevent the facilitation of war crimes under two international agreements: the 1948 Genocide Convention and the Geneva Convention, adopted one year later by the United Nations.

A member of Veterans for Peace, an anti-war group, told protesters to remember how Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged nonviolent protest and that the letter was also mailed to the company beforehand. As protesters moved toward the plant’s entrance, a police officer told protesters that he was “asked to be here by Lockheed Martin.” He offered to give the letter to the facility manager.

Before leaving, one protester spoke to the crowd and condemned the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. They said that the facility’s workers “go to sleep and wake up and make more missiles and bombs, like they don’t know where those missiles and bombs are going.”

“We respect the right to peaceful protest and remain focused on supporting the U.S. government and its allies to deliver strategic deterrence and security solutions,” Lockheed Martin said in a statement to WBNG.

The caravan then traveled to the BAE Systems facility in Endicott, where protesters lined the street corner with Palestinian flags. Several demonstrators held a banner reading “Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems Terrorize the World.” They walked to the building’s main entrance to deliver another letter but were unable to pass it under the transaction window, which was taped shut, instead leaving it in a stand at the front desk.

“It’s a letter of incrimination, which calls upon them to reorient their services toward economically useful products which don’t kill people, which exalt life, which save lives,” a protester said when asked by another reporter.

BAE Systems did not return Pipe Dream’s request for comment.

The caravan then continued to BU, stopping in front of the University Union. Followed by a heavy police presence, protesters marched past the Engineering Building and through the Peace Quad to the Couper Administration Building, and drivers continued around campus. One speaker denounced the University for its connections to the defense industry, asking the crowd if they would “betray a sibling, a father, a mother, a child” for monetary gain. They urged the crowd not to accept “fantasies” and “lies” from defense companies.

“This university invites recruiters of the military and the arms companies and treats them with respect as if they were the same as any other line of work,” they said. “Know this: It is not the same.”

After speeches, protesters attempted to enter the Administration Building to deliver a letter to Stenger. It listed several demands, including banning military manufacturing and intelligence recruiters, ending disciplinary action against students who participated in past protests and complete divestment from Israel.

Protesters were locked out of the building, and campus police stood at the doors. They argued about their entry, and a police officer said that only people with “official business” could enter, which the protesters said delivering the letter was. JoAnn Navarro, the vice president for operations, said she would bring the letter to the Stenger’s office, and she confirmed to Pipe Dream that she had delivered it.

“The University recognizes the right of individuals to express their views, including those critical of the institution,” a University spokesperson said in a statement to Pipe Dream. “We remain committed to upholding the principles of free speech, academic freedom, and peaceful protest. These rights are central to our mission and as a public institution. However, these freedoms come with responsibilities.”

“Protests must be conducted in a manner that does not threaten the safety, operations, or well-being of our campus community,” they continued. “We will not tolerate disruptions that interfere with teaching, research, or university business functions. Nor will we allow any form of harassment, intimidation, property damage, or the incitement of violence under the guise of protest.”

The protesters then marched to the Engineering Building, walked to the Watson Career and Alumni Connections office and delivered another letter. The Innovative Technologies Complex, where the dean of Watson College’s office is located, was closed that day, and some classes were canceled.

“They receive billions of tax dollars every year to produce technologies and weapons that are used to murder innocent people, and destroy our planet,” the Binghamton Solidarity for Palestine representative said of Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. “These corporations are accepted on campus in open arms by university administration, especially in the engineering department, Watson College.”