BAE Systems, the military weapons manufacturer which sells weapons to Saudi Arabia, virtue-signaled its “ethical principles” and support for “cultural diversity” this week, declaring that diversity is the company’s “strength” and that it condemns “racism” and “violence.”
“At BAE Systems, we embrace cultural diversity and condemn racism, bigotry and violence,” declared the company on Twitter in response to an employee accused of assaulting a police officer and posting “anti-immigrant fliers.”
At BAE Systems, we embrace cultural diversity and condemn racism, bigotry and violence. We are aware that one of our employees may have been involved in an incident involving Boston police. We take these allegations very seriously & are investigating them with the utmost urgency.
— BAE Systems, Inc. (@BAESystemsInc) February 19, 2019
“Over the weekend, one of our former employees was arrested by the police following an incident in East Boston. We reviewed the details of the event, which allegedly involved assault on a police officer and the posting of anti-immigrant fliers. We took the allegations very seriously. This individuals behavior does not align with our ethical principles, and we’ve terminated his employment,” the company proclaimed. “At BAE Systems, our strength is derived from the diverse experiences, talents, perspectives and cultures that each employee brings to our organization.”
An official statement in response to the recent incident in Boston: pic.twitter.com/T3B2IdicoY
— BAE Systems, Inc. (@BAESystemsInc) February 20, 2019
BAE Systems was mocked for its attempt to virtue signal “ethical principles,” with social media users pointing out that the company profits from war.
“Thank you…[checks notes]…BAE Systems for condemning violence,” joked one user, while another added, “Yes the ethical principles of BAE systems, bomb brown people in foreign countries, just not here.”
Other users asked, “Is war profiteering an ethical principle?” and, “your values? don’t you literally make weapons to blow people up?”
“The irony is, you don’t see anything wrong with manufacturing weapons used to murder innocent people,” posted one user. “Try looking in a mirror – BAE Systems’ weapons prop up murderous regimes and you suck up the profit.”
In 2016, Amnesty International warned that BAE Systems was profiting off Saudi Arabia bombing civilians in Yemen.
Oliver Sprague, Amnesty International’s arms trade director, declared that shareholders “need to realise that a large part of the company’s profits is coming from the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia at the very time Saudi’s military coalition in Yemen has killed thousands of civilians.”
“There is strong evidence that that the present weapons sales to Saudi Arabia are not just ill-advised but actually illegal,” Sprague expressed.
According to its own website, BAE Systems sells “armoured fighting vehicles,” aircraft, warships, and “nuclear submarines,” as well as missiles, artillery, torpedoes, ammunition, and drones.
This month, it was announced that BAE Systems will be the primary sponsor of Gay Pride in Surrey, England, in August.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter, or like his page at Facebook.
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