Webinar: Refuse to Fly Killer Drones

Modern warfare has come to rely more and more on killer drones, making war increasingly insulated from direct human contact. The technology, while flawed, has made it easier to engage in our forever wars without causing citizen outrage as was seen during the time of the war with Vietnam.

But there has been organized resistance to the use of these killing machines, primarily aimed at the pilots and support personnel who operate them. Protests have centered on the call to refuse to fly killer drones. The deeper goal of protestors goes beyond ending the use of these weapons, to demilitarizing our society from the ground up.

This webinar will focus on drone technology and current concerns about its use in Iran, Ukraine, and elsewhere. In addition, presenters, with many years of experience in protest, education and outreach to the U.S. military and the communities where they live, will share strategies and lessons learned, and the benefits of nonviolent direct action.

Presenters

Nick Mottern is co-coordinator, with Kathy Kelly, of BanKillerDrones.org, which has, since 2011, assisted with education and non-violent direct action at killer drone control centers inside the U.S., particularly at Creech AFB in Nevada, Hancock Air Guard base in Syracuse, NY, and Holloman AFB in Alamogordo, NM.

Toby Blomé has been organizing ongoing and weeklong protests at US drone bases since 2009, that have included Creech AFB in Nevada, Beale AFB in California, and, since 2023, Holloman AFB, in New Mexico, the largest drone training base in the US. She is co-founder and coordinator of ShutDownDroneWarfare.org., and is also a member of BanKillerDrones.org. In 2024, she co-founded the PeoplesArmsEmbargo.org, helping to organize protests at Travis AFB in Fairfield, CA, due to it’s complicity in aiding the genocidal campaign in Gaza.

Mary Anne Grady Flores is a longtime internationalist, a Catholic Worker, a grandmother, and justice and peace activist. Her organizing with Upstate Drone Action has focused on ending MQ-9 Reapers - killer drones -murdering Black and Brown people from the Global South specifically from Hancock Drone Airbase that shares its campus with Syracuse’s civilian international airport. She is keen on connecting issues of environmental destruction propelled by racist industrial-scale, never-ending wars, profiting only the weapons manufacturers. Mary Anne says, “The tension lies in how we hold ourselves to account and those in power. How much are we willing to sacrifice?”