The Raytheon 9 are a group of

anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...

activists from the Derry Anti-War Coalition who caused considerable damage to the

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

factory in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The nine are: Colm Bryce, Gary Donnelly, Kieran Gallagher, Michael Gallagher, Sean Heaton, Jimmy Kelly, Eamonn McCann, Paddy McDaid and Eamonn O'Donnell. Acting upon information that Raytheon missiles were being used in Israel's invasion of Lebanon, and moreover that these missiles were being created at the Raytheon factory in Derry, these nine activists forced entry into the Raytheon offices in Derry on 9 August 2006. They destroyed the computers, documents, and the server of the office, and proceeded to occupy it for eight hours prior to their arrest. Raytheon itself has not issued a press release on the actions of the Raytheon 9. When Raytheon staff returned to the offices they claimed that some of their desks had been urinated on and also had human excrement smeared on them.

Local criticism

The city's

SDLP The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs ...

Member of Parliament,

Mark Durkan Mark Durkan (born 26 June 1960) is a retired Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. Durkan was the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from November 2001 to October 2002, and the Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Pa ...

, said the protesters were jeopardizing future US

foreign direct investment A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an ownership stake in a company, made by a foreign investor, company, or government from another country. More specifically, it describes a controlling ownership an asset in one country by an entity based i ...

Trial

The activists were charged with criminal damage and

affray In many legal jurisdictions related to English common law, affray is a public order offence consisting of the fighting of one or more persons in a public place to the terror (in ) of ordinary people. Depending on their actions, and the laws ...

. The trial of six of the accused began 19 May 2008, in the Laganside Courts in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. McCann was found guilty of the theft of two computer discs and acquitted of all other charges, and the other five were acquitted of all charges."Raytheon 6 cleared"
''Derry Journal'', 11 June 2008. (accessed 2020-07-26)

References

2006 Lebanon War Irish anti-war activists Anti-war protests Quantified groups of defendants Raytheon Company People from County Londonderry {{NorthernIreland-bio-stub