“It’s clear that we live in dangerous times,” Donnelly’s op/ed begins, citing concerns against “enemies such as ISIS, the Taliban, Al Qaeda and others.”

Donnelly, the $12.2 million-a-year president and CEO of Textron, continues:

“Many American companies, including Textron, provide defense products that are often the only barrier between a peaceful population and an invading force. Recently, one Textron-manufactured system has inspired anti-military activists to protest at the company’s headquarters in Providence — chaining themselves to our front doors and carrying banners that accuse us of “killing and maiming civilians.” Such tactics get news coverage — even in the absence of facts. While we respect the protesters’ rights to free speech, we also feel the need to set the record straight.

Donnelly says anti-cluster bomb peace activists in Rhode Island who are holding weekly protests in front of Textron are wrong to confuse the modern Sensor Fuzed Weapon-style cluster bomb Textron manufactures with the older, less computerized, models.

“They claim the SFW indiscriminately scatters small bombs into a battle area, leaving unexploded bombs on the ground to later detonate like land mines,” he writes. “This is incorrect.”

Peace activist Pia Ward brought an exploded landmine from Beirut in the 1980s to a recent protest in front of Textron to illustrate the indiscriminate damage such weapons can cause. She explains the prop in this video.

This is a common Textron response to information about civilian damage caused by their cluster bombs. Textron spokesman David Sylvestre told me roughly the same thing the first time I asked him about alleged civilian casualties in Yemen caused by cluster bombs. On Feb. 24, I wrote:

Sylvestre made a point to differentiate the CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons from what he called “Vietnam-era cluster bombs.” The modern version are “intelligent” and only target tanks, he said. “They are not intended to target human beings at all,” he said. “They are made to target armored-vehicles.”

Donnelly did not address in his op/ed recent reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that documented dozens of civilian casualties in Yemen caused by cluster bombs.

Textron is the last North American manufacturer of cluster bombs, which have been banned by 119 nations and the United Nations but not by the United States. The US sells Textron-made cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has led a protracted military campaign in Yemen over the past year. Evidence of modern-made Textron cluster bombs has been found in civilian areas of Yemen. Humanitarian groups say Textron’s cluster bombs violate US trade law by malfunctioning more than 1 percent of the time and by being used too close to civilians.

Donnelly’s op/ed, featured prominently with a photo at the top of the op/ed section jump page, does not address these allegations which have recently been covered by media organizations like the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the BBC but not by the Providence Journal.

Prior to the CEO writing an op/ed, the Journal’s only coverage of Textron’s controversial cluster bombs came when three activists were arrested for chaining themselves to Textron’s front doors. In the print edition the same day, it covered Textron’s first quarter profits but did not mention that Textron makes cluster bombs. “The company also makes unmanned aircraft systems, weapons and sensors,” was the only mention to defense sector profits in the piece that carried the bi-line Journal Staff Reports.

Donnelly did not offer his op/ed to RI Future despite RI Future formally requesting an interview with him on Friday.

While RI Future has referred to Textron protesters as “peace activists” Donnelly referred to the same protesters as “anti-military activists.”

Donnelly’s op/ed comes on the heels of a report in Foreign Policy magazine’s website alleging the US is slated to halt cluster bomb sales to Saudi Arabia. If true, it’s unclear how that would affect Textron’s cluster bomb business. It sells cluster bombs to some other foreign countries, such as the United Arab Emerites. It has been several years since the US military has bought cluster bombs for its own use.

“My dad said ‘don’t pick up anything that’s live,'” she said, showing off what she described as an expired Israeli landmine found in Beirut during the 1980s.

“But you know you’re a child and you see something and you want this for your collection,” Ward said. “Many times I picked up something like this, not knowing if it was live, not knowing if it was exploded. I could have blown off my arms. This is what is happening to children.”

This is what happened to her childhood friend Kahlil, she said, who rode over a landmine on his bicycle – an accident that took both his legs.

This is why Ward, a member of the FANG Collective, organizes weekly actions in front of Textron’s world headquarters at 40 Westminster St. in downtown Providence.

Textron is the last North American manufacturer of cluster bombs, which are outlawed by 119 nations and the United Nations but not by the United States or Saudi Arabia. The US State Department buys cluster bombs from Textron and sells them to Saudi Arabia. Textron’s cluster bombs, by way of a Saudi-led military campaign, have been found in Yemen, where dozens of civilian deaths have been attributed to cluster bombs over the past year.

Global humanitarian groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have recently called on Textron to stop making cluster bombs. Both have presented evidence that Textron’s cluster bombs malfunction more often than allowed by US trade law.

Peace activists in Providence have promised weekly actions in front of Textron’s downtown headquarters until the Rhode Island-based global conglomerate stops making cluster bombs. About 10 people attended the second weekly action on Wednesday afternoon, scheduled to coincide with Textron and other employees leaving work. Four Providence police officers stood watch as activists held signs and conversed with people walking by.

Read RI Future’s full coverage of Textron’s cluster bombs here:

• Human Rights Watch condemns use of Textron-made cluster bomb (Feb. 24)
• Textron still makes cluster bombs despite downward global, US trends (Feb. 29)
• Textron sold cluster bombs to seven foreign governments (March 4)
• What US company made the bomb that killed 97 civilians in Yemen (April 8)
• Quaker group to protests Textron for selling cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia (April 11)
• Textron plays leading role in Middle East violence (April 11)
• CODEPINK, peace groups join campaign against cluster bombs (April 15)
• Peace activists call attention to Textron cluster bombs (April 19)
• Anti-cluster bomb activists arrested for chaining themselves to Textron headquarters
  •  (April 21)
• Human Rights Watch finds evidence of Textron cluster bomb in Yemen (May 6)
• Anti-Textron actions to happen weekly in Providence, RI (May 16)
• Quakers, radicals, others protest Textron cluster bombs (May 19)
• Amnesty International targets Textron, locals target Textron investors (May 24)

Anti cluster bomb @Textron protesters have moved across the street. I have no idea if this is as close as they get.

A photo posted by Bob Plain (@bobplainpics) on May 25, 2016 at 2:06pm PDT

The real measure of cluster bomb @Textron protests is not how many people show up but how many ppl are reached. A photo posted by Bob Plain (@bobplainpics) on May 25, 2016 at 2:00pm PDT

#PVD lawyer John Barton stopped by the anti @textron protest. And so did my brother (in background)!!

A photo posted by Bob Plain (@bobplainpics) on May 25, 2016 at 1:33pm PDT

4 cops, 2 @textron protesters so far. Cop to me: “must not be a good cause.” Me:”Or they had to work today.”

A photo posted by Bob Plain (@bobplainpics) on May 25, 2016 at 1:30pm PDT

Sally Mendzela’s anti-Textron sign shows pictures of where cluster bomb profit comes from.

A photo posted by Bob Plain (@bobplainpics) on May 25, 2016 at 1:15pm PDT

This is a real Israeli anti-personnel mine from Beirut from the 1980s. Pia Ward brought it to @textron protest.

A photo posted by Bob Plain (@bobplainpics) on May 25, 2016 at 1:08pm PDT

Some 13 people held signs and informed passersby as they stood across the street from Textron’s world headquarters in downtown Providence. Organizers said this was the first of actions against Textron that will happen weekly.

“We are going to be here every week until they stop making cluster bombs,” said Pia Ward, an organizer with the Fang Collective. Ward said she has personal reasons for protesting collateral damage in Middle Eastern wars.

The Fang Collective is co-organizing the weekly protests against Textron with the Americans Friends Service Committee Southeastern New England, a Quaker group. Fang formed to fight the Burrillville power plant proposal and has since branched out to other issues, such as opposing Textron. AFSC-SENE has long been organizing against Textron for it’s role in the military industrial complex.

This is the third action at Textron since RI Future began reporting on the local company’s role in producing cluster bombs for Saudi Arabia. Three activists, including Ward, were arrested for chaining their necks to Textron’s front doors at the second action.

Ward wouldn’t tell me what future Textron actions will consist of, but she said, “I think more and more people will want to participate.”

Textron has become a target of not only local peace activists but also of the global human rights community. Human Rights Watch focused squarely on Textron in its latest report on cluster bomb casualties in Yemen. And the International Campaign to Ban Land Mine and Cluster Munitions plans a global day of action on June 16 to call attention to the damage cluster bombs cause.

Cluster bombs are banned by 119 nations, but not by the United States or Saudi Arabia. Textron is the only North American manufacturer of cluster bombs and one of the last private sector manufacturers of them on the planet. Textron has long supplied Saudi Arabia and other countries with cluster bombs, through the US government.

Saudi Arabia has been using Textron-made cluster bombs near civilian-populated areas of Yemen, according to Human Rights Watch.

Read RI Future’s full coverage of Textron’s cluster bombs here:

• Human Rights Watch condemns use of Textron-made cluster bomb (Feb. 24)
• Textron still makes cluster bombs despite downward global, US trends (Feb. 29)
• Textron sold cluster bombs to seven foreign governments (March 4)
• What US company made the bomb that killed 97 civilians in Yemen (April 8)
• Quaker group to protests Textron for selling cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia (April 11)
• Textron plays leading role in Middle East violence (April 11)
• CODEPINK, peace groups join campaign against cluster bombs (April 15)
• Peace activists call attention to Textron cluster bombs (April 19)
• Anti-cluster bomb activists arrested for chaining themselves to Textron headquarters
  •  (April 21)
• Human Rights Watch finds evidence of Textron cluster bomb in Yemen (May 6)
• Anti-Textron actions to happen weekly in Providence, RI (May 16)

There were two public protests – one that led to three arrests – last month at 40 Westminster Street in downtown Providence, corporate headquarters for Textron. The Rhode Island-based conglomerate was identified as Saudi Arabia’s source for cluster bombs and Saudi-led forces were accused of using the highly controversial and indiscriminate weapon, that 119 nations have outlawed but not the United States or Saudi Arabia, in its bloody conflict in Yemen.

Now that Human Rights Watch has evidence Textron-made cluster bombs were used in civilian-populated areas of Yemen, which would violate US trade law on cluster bombs, local peace activists say the protests will increase.

“We will be taking action targeting Textron once a week until they stop making cluster bombs,” according to a Facebook event promoting a protest this Thursday. “This week we’ll be demonstrating across the street with signs, banners, flyers.”

The protests are being organized by Pia Ward, who was arrested for chaining her neck to a front door at Textron at an action on April 21, the second public protest at Textron last month. She is a co-founder of FANG, Fighting Against Natural Gas, the group organizing protests against the proposed Burrillville power plant.

“This is just the first of many protests that will be occurring,” she wrote on Facebook. “I plan on having events that will not neccesitate anyone’s physical presence in Providence but will enable people across the US to participate.”

Ward lived in Lebanon as a teenager and her experience there inspired her to organize against Textron making weapons known to maim innocent civilians.

“In 1982, when I was 16 years old and living in Beirut, Lebanon, I had a friend who lost both legs when he accidentally rode his bicycle over an Israeli mine He was 12 years old,” she wrote. “His family was unable to afford to get him a wheelchair much less prosthetic legs. As a result, there wasn’t much he was able to do. In the morning he was carried down to the corner store where he spent his day playing pinball and in the evening carried back home again. This happened every day, 7 days a week. When I left Lebanon 5 years later, this was still the case. Still no wheelchair, still no prosthetic legs. His life had been reduced to pinball.”

The demonstration this week is scheduled for Thursday, 11am to 1pm. A spokesman for Textron declined to comment.

Read RI Future’s full coverage of Textron’s cluster bombs here:

• Human Rights Watch condemns use of Textron-made cluster bomb (Feb. 24)
• Textron still makes cluster bombs despite downward global, US trends (Feb. 29)
• Textron sold cluster bombs to seven foreign governments (March 4)
• What US company made the bomb that killed 97 civilians in Yemen (April 8)
• Quaker group to protests Textron for selling cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia (April 11)
• Textron plays leading role in Middle East violence (April 11)
• CODEPINK, peace groups join campaign against cluster bombs (April 15)
• Peace activists call attention to Textron cluster bombs (April 19)
• Anti-cluster bomb activists arrested for chaining themselves to Textron headquarters
  •  (April 21)
• Human Rights Watch finds evidence of Textron cluster bomb in Yemen (May 6)

Police arrested three activists who chained themselves to Textron’s front doors. Pia Ward, Mark Baumer and Lee Stewart used bike locks to chain themselves to Textron’s front entrances. They were handcuffed and placed in a van. An officer said they were being taken to the station to be processed.

“The climate change crisis demands that we end militarism and put those resources towards creating a better world for all, human and nonhuman alike,” said Ward in a prepared statement. “As a resident of Providence I don’t think we should accept a company like Textron who makes cluster bombs, kills civilians and profits off of death and conflict.”  said Mark Baumer. “Fighting for my humanity in a country that produces and sells cluster bombs that kill innocent people means rejecting personal complicity by taking action,” Stewart said.

Providence fire fighters unscrewed door handles to remove the activists. They had construction-grade grinders on hand in case that didn’t work. At least two police cruisers and four fire vehicles responded. The activists disrupted traffic at the intersection of Westminster and Weybossett streets for at least 30 minutes. The entrance to Textron was blocked for at least 15 minutes before police arrived.

Textron has come under what the activists called “intense scrutiny” for its role in supplying cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. Human Rights Watch exposed in February that Saudi Arabia is using cluster bombs in areas populated by civilians in Yemen. Cluster bombs, which pose a danger to civilians, are banned by 119 countries but not by the United States. The US buys cluster bombs from Textron and sells them to Saudi Arabia.

RI Future was the first to report that Rhode Island-based Textron is involved in the growing international resistance to the US role in supplying Saudi Arabia with cluster bombs.

Senators Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, and Rand Paul, of Kentucky, recently proposed new legislation that would halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia. A spokesman for Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said he is evaluating the bill.

According to Providence Police Commissioner Steve Pare the activists are charged with vandalism and malicious mischief. They will be released today. The activists asked that donations to support them be made here.

This post will be updated.

Steve Ahlquist contributed to this report.

Read RI Future’s full coverage of Textron’s cluster bombs here:

• Human Rights Watch condemns use of Textron-made cluster bomb
• Textron still makes cluster bombs despite downward global, US trends
• Textron sold cluster bombs to seven foreign governments
• Quaker group to protests Textron for selling cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia
• What US company made the bomb that killed 97 civilians in Yemen
• Textron plays leading role in Middle East violence
• CODEPINK, peace groups join campaign against cluster bombs
• Peace activists call attention to Textron cluster bombs