Nortorious Bechtel Corporation Shut Down

The Agape Affinity Group joined more than a hundred other activists in the successful effort to shut down the San Francisco offices of the notorious Bechtel Corporation. From 6:30am to 1:00 pm, the company was unable to conduct "business as usual." Bechtel is one of the most dominant members of the US military industrial complex. Throughout the 1980's, Bechtel supplied Iraq with materials for making weapons of mass destruction. Bechtel is presently designing and developing earth penetrating nuclear weapons specifically designed for use in Iraq to destroy the very weapons Bechtel had supplied to the country. Under management of Bechtel, the Nevada Test Site has continued to conduct "sub-critical" nuclear tests on confiscated Native American land. Bechtel is in line for multi-million dollar contracts from the Bush administration to rebuild the country they have been paid to destroy.

While religious leaders conducted a somber ceremony where the names of Iraqi civilians killed in the Persian Gulf War were read to remind the world that the current military campaign will likely kill or injure hundreds of thousands of civilians, activists blocked all entrances to the corporate headquarters leaving hundreds of Bechtel employees stranded on the street. Fliers informing the employees of the reasons why the protesters had targeted Bechtel were distributed. As the last of the early morning demonstrators were removed, a second wave of protestors lined up in front of the building, keeping Bechtel shut down. Police eventually abandoned the site in attempt to staunch other protests around the city. Activists held the site until mid-afternoon, when the second group was then arrested. Protesters were charged with trespass and many have vowed to take their cases to the courts with evidence of Bechtel's violations of international law.