FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 16, 2025
Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected]
CODEPINK Reno to Hold Protest at Sierra Nevada Corporation HQ Targets Straight Flight Leasing’s Role in Israeli Surveillance
SPARKS, NV — On Friday, August 22, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM (PDT), CODEPINK Reno will hold a "No Spy Planes for Genocide" rally and deliver a petition to Straight Flight Nevada Commercial Leasing (a subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation.) The action demands an immediate halt to the leasing of surveillance aircraft used by the UK to provide intelligence for Israel’s military operations in Gaza. Simultaneously, CODEPINK London will protest outside Sierra Nevada Corporation’s UK headquarters, amplifying the global call to end corporate complicity in genocide.
WHEN: Friday, August 22, 2025 | 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM (PDT)
WHERE: Straight Flight Leasing, 444 Salomon Circle, Sparks, NV 89434
Straight Flight Leasing, a subsidiary of US weapons contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), provides spy planes leased by Britain’s Ministry of Defence. These aircraft—operating from RAF Akrotiri, a UK military base in Cyprus—conduct near-daily surveillance flights over Gaza, supplying real-time intelligence to Israeli forces.
On July 28, 2025, activists exposed the flight path of one such spy plane. The very next day, Israel bombed the same area surveilled by the aircraft—directly linking British intelligence operations to deadly Israeli strikes.
"These planes are not ‘neutral’ tools—they are weapons in a genocide," said CODEPINK Reno organizers. "By leasing these spy planes, Straight Flight and Sierra Nevada Corporation are profiting from the slaughter of Palestinians. We’re here to say: Not in our name."
CODEPINK Reno’s petition calls on Straight Flight and SNC to:
- Terminate all spy plane leases to the UK for use in Gaza.
- Disclose all contracts related to surveillance operations supporting Israel.
- Cease all complicity in human rights violations.
For more information, please contact CODEPINK Reno at [email protected]
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