Portsmouth Police: Raytheon protest ‘delayed resources’ for accident response

PORTSMOUTH — Protesters who blocked the entrance to missile defense manufacturer Raytheon Co. Thursday morning, Aug. 12, “delayed resources” for police and rescue workers who were responding to a serious head-on collision further north on West Main Road, Police Chief Brian Peters said.

Protesters from two different groups, the FANG Collective and RAM INC (Resist and Abolish the Military Industrial Complex), showed up in front of Raytheon shortly after 6 a.m. Many of them held banners and shouted slogans, while others recorded or live-streamed the protest on their phones.

“They positioned two vehicles in front of the entrance and the exit, as well as a group of people who were in front of both vehicles,” Chief Peters said, adding that a man at each vehicle had “affixed” himself to the cars “using cement and other means.”

On the right side, where the entrance is located, a “Rubbermaid-type bin” filled with cement had been positioned inside the hollowed-out trunk of one car. A tube projected out of the bin with cement, and the man’s left arm was inserted inside as he sat on top of the block, Chief Peters said.

“We extricated the rear panel that was left of the trunk and we were able to pull him peacefully from the situation. He’s been transported back to the police station. We’ve given him water and he’s in the shade,” the chief said.

Protesters used a different method for the car at left, which was blocking the exit. 

“This individual had his hand inside the trunk from underneath,” Chief Peters said. “It actually went into the trunk area, where there was a tired filled with cement. He had his hand inside the opening of the tire and had used some type of spray foam to secure his hand into that location.” 

Although firefighters were able to extricate the tire from the car, the man’s arm was still attached to it more than three hours later. “He has been stabilized at this time by the Portsmouth Fire Department and by the use of a crane to avoid any injury to him,” Chief Peters said.

The R.I. Bomb Squad was called to X-ray both devices to ensure there were no explosives, he said. Officers from the Newport Police Department, who’ve been specially trained to deal with these situations, were also called to the scene. Middletown Police also responded with mutual aid.

Arrested were Frank Fortino, 26, of 24 Tuxedo Ave., Providence; and Nicholas Katkevich, 36, of 45 Division St., Bristol. They will be arraigned on charges of trespassing, conspiracy, disorderly conduct, and obstruction of a police officer, according to police.

A different entrance to the Raytheon complex was opened during the protest, so workers were allowed to report, the chief said, adding that some were allowed to work from home.

Accident happened during protest

“I do want to add what was outrageous about this situation,” Chief Peters said. “We had a head-on collision that occurred on West Main at Melville (School). When you saw rescue and several police officers leave here, that delay in resources was critical to the situation. My thoughts and prayers go to the people who were involved in that accident, which was a serious head-on collision involving toddlers and small children, and (the protest) delayed the resources because we were down here dealing with this situation.”

According to Major Michael Arnold of the police department, there was one person in a van and two adults and three children in the other vehicle. 

“There are serious injuries, but I don’t know the extent of those injuries. We have accident reconstruction out there now,” added Chief Peters, who said rescue vehicles from five different communities responded to the scene.

More details of the accident will be released soon by police, he said.

“We’re very thankful that this ended peacefully, but we were very disappointed that when we confronted (the protesters) and told them that people were involved in a head-on collision, that they didn’t give us any means to help us release them from the vehicles easier.”

When first-responders asked the man attached to the tire to help them free him, his response was, “The fire department can leave if they want to,” according to the police chief.

That’s about all police got out of the two protesters.

“They’ve not made any comment; they haven’t spoken. They didn’t demand anything, they did not ask for anything. They just remained silent. Their goal was just to obstruct the access to this facility,” Chief Peters said.

Protesters respond

On Monday night, Aug. 16, the FANG Collective and RAM INC. issued a joint statement in response to Chief Peters’s comments.

“This is extremely disrespectful to the people in the accident, who are being turned into political pawns without their consent,” the groups stated. “It is inappropriate for the police to send a barrage of officers to our protest, and then act as if anything else that happens is out of their control. That's not the fault of a protest, it's bad emergency management. If they can't handle two things happening at once, maybe the police aren't the answer that we need.”
According to the two groups, multiple rescue vehicles left the protest site to go to the accident scene, and protesters urged the “large and unnecessary police force at the peaceful protest” to leave the scene and respond to the accident.

In an e-mail on Tuesday, Aug. 17, Chief Peters said he would not respond to the protesters’ statement.

Protester comments

A woman who identified herself only as Raven said protesters were there Thursday in an attempt to prevent workers from arriving at Raytheon.

“We know that missiles that have been manufactured at Raytheon facilities have been linked to airstrikes where many civilians were killed, mainly in Yemen and in Palestine,” she said. “We’re also specifically taking action here in Rhode Island to highlight some of the political ties to Raytheon. We have (U.S.) Sen. Jack Reed, who’s the head of the Senate Armed Forces Committee and who takes lots of political donations from Raytheon and other weapons manufacturers. We also have (U.S.) Sen. (James) Langevin, who’s also taking lots of donations. We are also here to hold them accountable, and to start putting the pressure on Raytheon.”

The group will continue to protest, she said.

“It’s a call to action for people to join us,” she said. “We’re in a global pandemic. We need money for health care, we need money for mental health, we need money for education, and instead we continue to see the Department of Defense giving billions of dollars to corporations like Raytheon and other weapons manufacturers.”

Protesters sang "We Shall Not be Moved" and shouted out phrases such as “Brick by brick, wall by wall, Raytheon has got to fall," and “No more missiles, no more Raytheon, no more war, we ain’t gonna take it any more.”

Raytheon issued a statement, saying the company “respect(s) the right to lawful and peaceful protest.”