The Raytheon 9 are a group of anti-war

Anti-war

An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...

 activists from the Derry Anti-War Coalition who caused considerable damage to the Raytheon

Raytheon

Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...

 factory in Derry

Derry

Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. The nine are: Colm Bryce, Gary Donnelly, Kieran Gallagher, Michael Gallagher, Sean Heaton, Jimmy Kelly, Eamonn McCann

Eamonn McCann

Eamonn McCann is an Irish journalist, author and political activist.-Life:McCann was born and has lived most of his life in Derry. He was educated at St. Columb's College in the city. He is prominently featured in the documentary film The Boys of St...

, Paddy McDaid and Eamonn O'Donnell.

Acting upon information that Raytheon missiles were actively assisting Israel's invasion of Lebanon, and moreover that these missiles were being created at the Raytheon factory in Derry, these nine activists forced entry into the Raytheon offices in Derry on 9 August 2006. They destroyed the computers, documents, and mainframe of the office, and proceeded to occupy it for eight hours prior to their arrest.
Raytheon itself has not issued a press release on the actions of the Raytheon 9.

Local criticism

About Raytheon Ltd, The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...

said;
The city's nationalist

Irish nationalism

Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...

 member of the British Parliament, Mark Durkan

Mark Durkan

Mark Durkan is an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland who was leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party from 2001 to 2010.-Early life:...

, said the protesters were jeopardizing future US corporate investment.

Trial

The activists were charged with criminal damage and affray

Affray

In many legal jurisdictions related to English common law, affray is a public order offence consisting of the fighting of two or more persons in a public place to the terror of ordinary people...

. The trial of six of the accused began May 19, 2008, in the Laganside Courts in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

. All but McCann were acquitted of all charges on 11 June, with McCann found guilty of the theft of two computer discs.