On May 23rd, BlackRock will hold its annual shareholder meeting in New York City. Meanwhile, CODEPINK and allies will take action at BlackRock offices across the U.S. to highlight the firm’s investments in weapons, civilian and military alike. Download a sign and join the local Bay Area protests on May 23rd:
San Francisco: BlackRock, 400 Howard Street at 12:00 pm.
Palo Alto: BlackRock Labs, 530 Lytton Ave at 11:30 am.
BlackRock has billions of dollars invested in weapons companies such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Elbit, and General Dynamics. They also invest in civilian gun manufacturers. They position themselves as a company that is socially responsible, yet they continue to invest in weapons. They are making a killing on killing.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently made a statement about his plans to hold the companies they invest in accountable for being responsible corporate citizens. We are calling on Larry Fink and BlackRock to hold themselves accountable, and demonstrate their own commitment to social responsibility by divesting from weapons makers.
The misconduct by weapons companies ranges from groundwater contamination to labor violations and includes overinflated pricing and overbilling the federal government. These companies are flagrantly engaging in bad business practices while misusing limited federal resources. By investing in weapons manufacturers, BlackRock is propping up wars, brutal conflicts, and human rights violations on a global scale. In addition to contributing to the atrocities of war, all five of these companies have dozens of documented cases of misconduct and the collective misuse of billions of federal dollars. BlackRock even has an iShares fund that exclusively profits off of weapons of war.
For a world without weapons,
CODEPINK Bay Area
