A man traveling to work pulled out a knife to defend himself against a group of rowdy pro-Palestinian protesters blocking him from entering a Lockheed Martin facility in California.
The chaotic incident outside the military contractor’s Sunnyvale facility could be seen in a dramatic 56-second video that shows the man driving toward the blockade before getting out of his vehicle to confront the protesters.
The video, which appears to be filmed by a pro-Palestinian protester, begins with a group aggressively running towards the white vehicle unprompted.
As the man reaches the human barricade outside the defense tech facility he can be seen holding a knife as dozens of protesters swarm his car.
“You want to go to prison,” one protester bellows at the man as he stands beside his vehicle.
“Get out of the way or somebody is going to die,” he exclaims in a fit of rage as protesters begin to swarm the vehicle and one person tries to enter his car.
The man can be seen carrying a knife and appears exasperated as he continues to plead with the protesters to “get out of my way.”
“You want to go to prison, think about what you’re doing,” a protester yells off camera.
“Get out of my way, I have to get to my job,” he says seemingly exasperated by the situation unfolding before him, before putting away the knife. It has not been confirmed if the man works at Lockheed.
“I’ve got to get to my job,” he says before repeating “Get out of the f–king way,” as the dozens of protesters continue to swarm around him.
As the man gets back into his car, he can be heard yelling “Don’t you dare” at the protesters who attempt to enter the vehicle with him.
“Are you going to hurt people,” a protester can be heard repeatedly screeching off camera.
“We have eyes on you sir; we have eyes on you” the protester bellows before the swarm begins to stand in front of the vehicle and hold it back from the human blockade.
It was unclear what started the heated exchange and the clip cuts off before a resolution.
The protesters had been blocking the entrance of the Lockheed Martin research facility in Sunnyvale on Thursday morning over what they claim is the defense contractor’s role in the bloody and vicious Israel-Hamas war.
The protest planned by the Bay Area Palestine Solidarity coalition said more than 135 residents blocked the entrance to the facility from about 6 a.m.
They were there protesting Lockeed’s alleged supply of fighter jets, missiles and other weapon and surveillance technology.
A Lockheed Martin spokesperson told CBS News they “respect the right to peaceful protest” but did not comment on Thursday’s heated dispute.
“Lockheed Martin’s core values are to do what’s right, respect others and perform with excellence,” they said in the statement.
“These values provide clear, unambiguous and uncompromising standards for how we treat each other with understanding and compassion.
“We respect the right to peaceful protest and we are honored to partner with the U.S. military and our international partners to deliver strategic deterrence and security solutions.”
The Post has contacted Lockheed Martin for comment.
