NORTHAMPTON — “Peaceful” and “theatrical” is how organizer Timmon Wallis described the latest demonstration against what he described as an “eyesore” in the city.

About a dozen of the almost 50 demonstrators on hand late Tuesday afternoon at the L3Harris plant in Northampton were dressed in white hazmat suits to protest the company’s role in the nuclear armaments industry. Placards on the hazmat suits read “treaty compliance unit,” referring to Article 1A of the 2017 United Nations treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons — specifically the development, production and stockpiling of nuclear weapons.

The demonstration began by reading a cease-and-desist letter composed by the Northampton-based Massachusetts Warheads to Windmills Coalition, which organized the demonstration. The letter accuses L3Harris of “perpetuating the nuclear arms race and endangering all life on earth.”

“We have nothing against you personally and our goal is for the government to fully fund whatever it takes to transition this facility and your job into ones that help save the planet rather than risk its destruction,” the letter continued.

Headquartered in Florida, L3Harris is a defense contractor that manufactures a wide range of products and technologies for military use. The company did not respond to request for comment on Thursday.

When the letter was being read aloud around the company’s sign near the entrance to the facility, an unarmed security guard patrolling the parking lot approached Wallis and asked the group to move off “private property.” After the letter had been read, protesters complied, moving along the sidewalk of Prince Street. Wallis was thanked for his cooperation.

Lasting just over an hour, voices were calm and civil throughout, attracting no law enforcement attention or community concern.

Brother Kato and a member of the New England Peace Pagoda played drums. Occasionally the former pastor of Northampton’s Edwards Church, the Rev. Peter Kakos, would start up a chant of “L3Harris you can’t hide; you’re committing genocide,” and other similar chants or song adaptations.

While L3Harris’ Northampton division is not directly responsible for nuclear arms development, it contributes toward manufacturing parts toward weapon delivery systems, such as submarines. L3Harris as a corporation is, however, responsible for the manufacturing of weapons used internationally.

“They,” speaking of L3Harris, “make submarine periscopes, and I don’t personally have anything against submarine periscopes. But, they could be making the submarines that are gonna go and save the Arctic Ocean or something,” said Wallis, coordinator of the Massachusetts Windmill to Warheads Coalition.

Wallis, who holds a doctorate in peace studies from Bradford University, has led extensive peace-building projects, and his book, “Disarming the Nuclear Argument: The Truth about Nuclear Weapons” played a role in the 2017 negotiations around the United Nations Nuclear Ban Treaty.

“We need to be working on what they could be doing instead of weapons,” he said.

The Northampton location has been the site of several protests in recent months. In June, four demonstrators with Demilitarize Western Mass were arrested after using two tons of concrete to secure their arms to a pickup truck that blocked the company’s shipping and receiving gate.

Nick Mottern, of Demilitarize Western Mass, demonstrates at the L3Harris site early every Wednesday morning to inform employees about their complicity in global warfare, especially due to L3Harris weapon shipments to Israel.

“L3 is deeply involved in the slaughter and misery of Palestinian people. They supply parts for F-35 Israeli Air Force use. They supply parts for bombs that are killing on a daily basis. They supply shells for tanks. They provide guidance equipment for ships.

“And so this is a very dark, dark place right here, and the more we let people know about it, the better,” said Mottern in a short speech to protesters.

Many voiced their camaraderie with the cause by honking, or waving signs out the window as they drove by the protesters.

“Stop arming genocide,” read one protester’s sign and another, “L3Harris is nuclear holocaust.” One pictured a bipedal dinosaur with the caption “extinction sucks, trust me.”

Among the sign bearing protesters was Myra Lam, a third grade teacher who came to, “show solidarity with people experiencing genocide in Palestine and people experiencing occupation and imperialism around the world, as well as young people dying from the climate crisis and people whose quality of life is severely impaired by military contract industries.”

She’s concerned for the mental health of her students, and that living in the shadow of current global crises “makes it hard for kids to learn their multiplication tables.

“They just go on TikTok, and you can see these kids whose parents are all dead. It’s so accessible,” she said.

Similar demonstrations took place Tuesday outside a L3Harris facility in Clifton New Jersey, one of 50 demonstrations expected to take place across the country at various companies and locations in light of International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, observed on Sept. 26.

According to the Arms Control Association, there are currently 12,400 nuclear warheads internationally. Some protesters shared that while they understand the role of the United States with nuclear energy had been one of domestic security, they do not understand why this necessitates increased armament production in the future.

The Massachusetts Warhead to Windmill Coalition expects to gather again on Monday at 4:30 p.m. at the roundabout at the Shell gas station on Pleasant Street in Northampton.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com