Boulder Antiwar Activists Return to BAE Systems to Protest War Profiteering

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MEDIA CONTACT

Lisa Kunkel, Boulder Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Anti-Imperialism Committee

Email: [email protected]

For Immediate Release

May 28, 2026

Boulder Antiwar Activists Return to BAE Systems to Protest War Profiteering

On May 29th, Boulder DSA is calling on community members to protest BAE Systems at 1600 Commerce Street in Boulder to draw attention to its role in the War in Iran and Lebanon

This Friday, May 29, activists return to BAE Systems Boulder, CO, offices from 12 pm to 2 pm to call attention to BAE Systems profiting from the illegal US-Israeli War on Iran and Lebanon.

On May 1, 2026, Reuters reported that the Trump Administration approved an additional 8.6 billion dollars in new arms deals, bypassing congressional approval, as part of the U.S.-Israeli War on Iran and Lebanon. BAE Systems is the single largest recipient of these dollars (“The principal contractor in the APKWS sales to Qatar, Israel and the UAE was BAE Systems (BAES.L), the State Department said”), destined to prop up Israeli military and occupation forces, and the Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). BAE Systems is the UK’s largest weapons manufacturer and the 6th largest globally. Its footprint is also local, with offices in Boulder, Broomfield, Westminster, and throughout Colorado.

On April 6, 2026, a coalition of local groups gathered for a vigil outside of BAE Systems’ Boulder Location to honor the victims of the U.S. strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran.4 BAE Systems acquired Ball Aerospace & Engineering in 2023. A label from wreckage at the school linked the antenna system on the Tomahawk Missile that struck the school to Ball’s Boulder location. Despite the Trump Administration’s initial denials and obfuscation, the U.S. strike killed 153 people, 120 of them children. This was among the deadliest single strikes in a war that has killed at least 3,468 people in Iran, 3,213 in Lebanon, 53 in Israel, 13 in the United Arab Emirates, and 3 in Saudi Arabia. 15 U.S. Military personnel have also died.

BAE Systems continues to provide weapons, despite its main customers committing grave violations in international humanitarian law. The U.S. attacks in Iran are widely viewed as illegal under international law and include war crimes, such as the strike against the school. British activists have also targeted BAE for their role in supplying parts for F-35 Fighter Jets to the Israeli Air Force, utilized extensively in Gaza and now Lebanon.8 After the U.S. and the U.K., Saudi Arabia has long been BAE Systems’ third-largest customer, despite its role in war crimes, including famine as a weapon of war in Yemen. Since 2014, Saudi-backed forces in Yemen have battled Houthis with indiscriminate attacks and the gutting of civilian infrastructure, which has led to a death toll in the hundreds of thousands. BAE Systems also partners with the U.S. in supplying weapons systems and material support for the United Arab Emirates, despite calls to boycott the UAE for its role in arming the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan and their atrocities in what is widely considered the worst humanitarian crisis on earth.

Though Boulder BAE Systems may argue that its Boulder offices are not directly involved in arms manufacturing at this time, the company profits from billions of dollars in contracts with the U.S. Department of War and from U.S. backing of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

Clifford Hill, Chair of Boulder DSA’s Anti-Imperialism Committee, says: “Colorado is rife with ‘defense’ and ‘security’ industries, recruiting our best and brightest minds into their economy of mass death. Companies like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and BAE all develop technology used to surveil our neighbors, murder children abroad, and facilitate the ongoing genocides in Gaza, Yemen, and Sudan. And they all have a presence here in Colorado.”

Lisa Kunkel, Co-Chair of Boulder DSA’s Anti-Imperialism Committee, says, “Our message is we want BAE Systems exposed for their complicity in war crimes, and we want them out of Boulder. They are the main recipient of the Trump Administration’s most recent 8.6 billion dollars in funds that bypassed Congress to send more arms to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. BAE profits from U.S. tax dollars siphoned off for illegal aggression against Iran, when those resources could fund housing, healthcare, and education.”

All members of the public who wish to participate are welcome to attend.

EVENT DETAILS

What: BAE Systems Out of Boulder

When: Friday, May 29, 2026 | 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Where: BAE Systems, 1600 Commerce Street, Boulder, CO 80301

Who: Open to all members of the public

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