Arms Embargo Now! GKN Out of Garden Grove!

GKN Out of Orange County! War Profiteers Out of Our Communities!

We, residents of Garden Grove and Orange County, stand united in demanding that the Garden Grove City Council and Mayor shut down the GKN Aerospace facility, stop the expansion of GKN in Garden Grove, and impose a moratorium on all future development or expansions of military manufacturing facilities in the city.

GKN AEROSPACE, THE WAR MANUFACTURING COMPANY BEHIND THE CHEMICAL DISASTER

On Thursday, May 21, a 34,000-gallon storage tank carrying a highly toxic and flammable chemical, methyl methacrylate, overheated at the GKN Aerospace Facility in the middle of a predominantly working-class Garden Grove neighborhood. The overheating tank released toxic chemicals into the air, creating a serious risk of explosion and forcing over 50,000 residents to evacuate.

GKN Aerospace’s chemical crisis has resulted in evacuations in Garden Grove, Stanton, Westminster, Cypress, and Buena Park, forced dozens of school closures, and disrupted hundreds of businesses. It is clear that the unknown amounts of toxic exposure could have devastating health impacts on generations to come.

GKN AEROSPACE’S RECORD OF ENVIRONMENTAL HARM & SAFETY VIOLATIONS

According to the OC Register, in 2021, GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove paid “nearly $1 million to settle numerous environmental violations… including failing to keep emission records and operating equipment without a permit.” GKN has used materials containing carcinogens, faced multiple permitting issues, and failed to conduct significant inspections.

It is clear that the negligence of both GKN Aerospace and the government officials who have allowed the company to continue expanding is complicit in this chemical disaster. Despite GKN’s record of safety violations, it has still been allowed to expand its operations in Garden Grove. In 2024, GKN Aerospace announced a $150 million expansion plan to “double manufacturing capacity of critical F-35 canopies... to meet continued F-35 Lightning II demand over the next decade.”

FROM GARDEN GROVE TO GAZA

GKN Aerospace manufactures canopies (the transparent cockpit covering where the pilot sits) and other aerospace components for military aircraft, including the F-35 fighter jet program. In particular, GKN produces major components that contribute to making the F-35 one of the deadliest fighter jets in the world.

Since October 2023, Israel has waged a genocidal campaign against the people of Gaza—massacring tens of thousands, maiming countless others, and deliberately starving an already besieged population. The F35 fighter jet is a highly advanced combat aircraft that has been used to carry out Israel’s aerial bombardment campaign against Palestinians in Gaza. The F-35 can carry up to 18,000 pounds of munitions–including 2,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs– and uses advanced sensor systems to identify targets, guide bombs, and conduct precision attacks.

These atrocities are enabled and sustained by continuous U.S. funding and unconditional support. We demand an immediate end to the use of our tax dollars, public land, and public infrastructure to manufacture, store, or transport the weapons that make this genocide possible.

The same company that produces military cargo used to commit a genocide in Gaza has poisoned our community here in Orange County.

Weapons of war are moving through our communities. Companies like GKN - are manufacturing arms components being directly used in the genocide. Their facility has endangered workers and residents while turning public infrastructure into a pipeline for war.

Elected officials are complicit. Local, state, and federal representatives are enabling war crimes by continuing to fund and permit the manufacturing and export of military cargo to Israel.

Our Demands:

1. Stop GKN’s Expansion

   1. The City of Garden Grove must leverage all municipal avenues to block the ongoing expansion of GKN Aerospace’s Garden Grove facility, including pending permits.

2. Ban Hazardous Military Manufacturing Near Residential Areas

   1. The chemical tank malfunction is the latest in a decade of failures at GKN Aerospace, including repeated environmental violations and complicity in Israel’s genocide. The City must amend its land-use and zoning regulations to prohibit hazardous military manufacturing, including GKN's operations, near homes and schools, and establish a clear process to phase out existing operations.

3. Moratorium Now

   1. The City must immediately adopt a moratorium on permits for new and existing military manufacturing facilities while it reviews each facility’s regulatory compliance and implements permanent zoning regulations governing safety, environmental and labor regulations.

Coalition:

Palestinian Youth Movement LA-OC-IE

VietRISE

Harbor Institute

Orange County for Justice in Palestine