June 26 saw anti-Palantir protests in New York City and at two locations in Silicon Valley. In New York protesters blocked the entrance of the Palantir Technologies offices on the Avenue of the Americas and reported that Palantir employees pushed and shoved the protesters in order to get by them. At one point the protesters entered the building holding signs and chanting, “Say it once, say it twice, Palantir works with ICE.” At least six protesters were arrested by the NYPD without giving them a chance to disperse.
New York protester Caroline Chouinard stated, “We’re disrupting Palantir’s business as usual because producing AI that makes fascism stronger and more efficient does not belong in NYC. Palantir is in the business of tracking and surveilling all of us and it’s our responsibility to track them back: they’re in bed with the Trump administration, ICE, IDF, and others. From NYC to LA to Gaza, Palantir is one company making unspeakable horrors happen.”
In Palo Alto, California about 200 protesters blockaded the offices of Palantir demanding that it stop building surveillance systems for ICE and working with the Israeli military. Protesters marched to the previous company headquarters and to a Palantir recruiting event on High Street, where they disrupted business by chanting and pounding on windows. The recruiting event abruptly ended. Palantir was accused of being a “force for evil,” equating the company to “Big Brother” and “the surveillance state.” Outside the Palantir recruiting event speakers on the megaphone said: “You’re doing the worst possible thing with your talents. Don’t stain your hands with blood while you fill your pockets with money, it’s not worth it.” Signs included phrases like “Palantir Powers ICE & Automates Cruelty,” and “Predatory Tech.”
These protests were organized by various groups, including environmentalists, such as Planet Over Profit, and others, such as Raging Grannies. Several leaders said that their goal was to activate “regular citizens.”
