As a symbolic gesture, antiwar protestors posed as weapons inspectors and marched along Lockheed Martin Way demanding to search Lockheed Martin's space and strategic missiles facility. Others laid down on the pavement, locked together with metal and plastic pipes and blocking three entrances to Lockheed's main facility.

The event was carefully coordinated by all concerned. In advance of the event, the protestors gave Lockheed their statement about the company's policies and also told the company exactly what would occur on the morning of the demonstration. Then Lockheed Martin collaborated with Sunnyvale's public safety officers to prepare for the event. The public safety department collaborated with the protestors, telling them about the laws for protesting. The officers also gave the protestors a chance to explain their goals for the day. With all this coordination, there was only one minor incident.

And so the protest started at 6 a.m. with more than 300 protestors from organizations in the Bay Area, including the South Bay members of Direct Action to Stop the War and students from Stanford, UC-Berkeley and Santa Clara University, who worked together to demonstrate in a peaceful way.

These peace activists wanted to make the point that the war is not over.

Photogaph by Sean Penello A Sunnyvale fireman cuts through PVC pipe to unlock the arms of peace protestors who are blocking Lockheed Martin's First Street entrance on April 22. An earlier protestor received a hand injury when authorities cut through the pipe.

They said that 80 percent of Lockheed Martin's business is with the U.S. Department of Defense and that the corporation manufactures weapons that have directly contributed to the deaths of innocent Iraqi civilians.

Out in full force were officers from the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety as well as several other South Bay law enforcement agencies. Many dressed in riot gear, and some rode horses. The officers arrested at least 49 people for obstructing traffic or failing to disperse.

But Lockheed Martin's spokesman, Steve Tatum, said the impact to business was negligible. "We notified our employees ahead of time and encouraged them to stagger their arrivals," Tatum said.

Approximately 6,000 employees work at Lockheed's Sunnyvale facility. Tatum said, "The emphasis here is to build space systems for telecommunication satellites' commercial use as well as government navigation systems." Employees also produce some defensive and strategic missile programs "designed to deter a military attack on the United States."

With a focus on space technology, Tatum said, Lockeed Martin's Sunnyvale employees were able to build the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched in 1990 and orbits 360 miles above the earth.

Lockheed Martin's history in Sunnyvale goes back to the 1950s. Lockheed recently merged with Martin Marietta Corporation to form the company that stands today.

Lockheed Martin released a statement during the protest that said, "The actions will in no way shift our focus from meeting our commitments to the men and women who voluntarily place themselves in harm's way to defend the United States."

Valarie Kaur Brar, a Stanford student, said she wanted the public to know about Lockheed Martin's ties to the military industrial complex. "Every time a bomb is dropped, a gun fired, a person killed, Lockheed Martin—this facility—profits," Kaur Brar said.

There have been antiwar protests against Lockheed Martin in the past few years, with the most recent one occurring in early April.

Capt. Greg Kevin of the public safety department estimates that this protest cost the city more than $100,000.

Public safety officers met with several organizers beforehand to discuss the protest. "It gave them a chance to explain their intent. It created a dialogue between officers and protestors that helped us to avoid issues," Kevin said.

Sunnyvale officers also contacted the San Francisco fire and police departments to receive training and observe tactics used by those officers.

Photogaph by Sean Penello Sunnyvale's public safety officers, dressed in riot gear, separate protestors on the sidewalk from the protestors in the street who are blocking an entrance to Lockheed Martin.

But Thedinger was pleased with the outcome of the protest. "Our goal was to expose Lockheed Martin as an integral part of the U.S. war plan, and we helped do that," he said.