CodePink and Raging Grannies Put the Heat on BlackRock Inc. in Palo Alto

Anti-war protesters gathered in Palo Alto on May 23 to turn up the heat on the world’s most powerful asset manager, BlackRock, Inc. Members of CodePink, the Raging Grannies and the SF Peninsula chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom said their main focus was on holding the massive investment company accountable for investing in the manufacturing of weapons of war.

CodePink’s Divest from the War Machine campaign reports that weapons that BlackRock helps to proliferate “are being used in places like Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. Those weapons are also in our streets, going into the hands of the police forces. We see the impact of these investments around the world and at home. We are calling on BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm, to divest from war. They need to rip themselves from these profits.”

A contingent of demonstrators went to the 2nd floor of 530 Lytton Ave in downtown Palo Alto and confronted reception staff who insisted that no one from BlackRock was able to see them. The Raging Grannies led a song after CodePink member Nancy Mancias made the case for BlackRock divestment from the weapons industry. Irritated staff called police, but the group of protesters had begun their march to Lytton Plaza for a public demonstration by the time the officers arrived.