Bloomington, MN – Protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) separating children from their families have recently begun targeting government contractors who profit from implementing ICE policies. One such contractor is General Dynamics, a defense industry giant mostly known for making tanks and airplane parts, but now profiting from the Trump administration’s policy of ripping children away from their parents. Today, eight protesters were arrested and ticketed with trespassing, for standing in a symbolic cage in front of General Dynamics’ office in Bloomington, MN.

See our live coverage below:

General Dynamics is currently advertising one job position seeking to hire people to help the corporation track children taken by ICE as they are moved through federal immigrant internment networks.

Protesters used the symbolism of a cage to represent the families being separated at the border with the new implementation of immigration policies by the Trump administration. The rally host asked the crowd of 50 or so people, “Is this what democracy looks like?” while pointing at the cage.

A cage with people inside is currently blocking the entrance to the offices of ICE contractor General Dynamics in Bloomington, Minnesota. We’re live on the scene: https://t.co/hPGNYDkMol pic.twitter.com/kBwgzfjOnO

— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) June 29, 2018

Several speakers at the action gave reasons as to why they are protesting General Dynamics and why they are against the new policies that are separating children from their parents.

Some of the organizers of the protest told us why they were going after General Dynamics in a press release:

We are here today because General Dynamics provides support services to the family separation and detention process. General Dynamics profits from the caging of children, and we demand that this despicable process ends now. We will not tolerate it. We stand here today because immigration is not a crime.”

The entrance to the office of ICE contractor General Dynamics is currently blocked by protesters calling to #AbolishICE

“General Dynamics: stop caging our children!”

A cage blocking the entrance represents the company’s role in ICE’s child prison campshttps://t.co/hPGNYDkMol pic.twitter.com/p97pFztNjG

— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) June 29, 2018

In 2008, General Dynamics paid $4 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the American government alleging that the company “committed civil fraud by billing the government for faulty or untested parts.”

Researchers have looked more closely at General Dynamics in recent weeks. The nonprofit research website LittleSis.org has lots of General Dynamics related power network data. As LittleSis researchers charted, the liberal think tank Center for American Progress’ senior leader, Rudy DeLeon, serves on the board of General Dynamics.

Unicorn Riot interviewed the arrestees after police gave dispersal orders and asked them why they participated in the action, see the video below.

All eight of those arrested have been booked, ticketed, and released.

[Spanish Video Attached] Earlier today, protesters erected a cage in front of General Dynamics in Minnesota, to symbolically protest @GDMS‘s complicity in supporting ICE separating families at the US/Mexico border: https://t.co/hPGNYDkMol pic.twitter.com/f8AWnMZfYa

— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) June 29, 2018

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