Protesters joined by a grassroots congressional candidate from Dayton gathered outside the college’s downtown campus to voice their opposition to the policies of Representative Mike Turner and a number of companies. The representative of Ohio’s 10th District was due to receive an award alongside many military experts during a gala event in Building 12.
Independent candidate and Daytonian, Michael Harbaugh, owner of the Wild Banana Food Truck, was joined by activists representing several organizations. They were united by their opposition to the ongoing conflict in Israel, a two-party system they derided as corrupt, and the need to reinvest taxpayers dollars typically spent on war into the American people.
“I turned in over 4,500 signatures to get on the ballot. Independents have to get 2,800 signatures, while Republicans and Democrats only have to get 50. It was a high threshold, but I chose to do it because I’m sick of the two-party system we have,” said Harbaugh.
“They’re corrupt, sellout to the war machine, and I’m done with it. I think people want a real true grassroots candidate they can trust,” said Harbaugh.
Harbaugh was accompanied by activists from the Dayton Peace Coalition and other groups. In addition to a Palestinian flag, the group also carried prominent signs and boards.
“I think people need to understand that our tax dollars could be much better used for infrastructure, healthcare, education–that would really save lives,” Harbaugh said.
“What they are currently doing is taking our tax dollars, telling us it’s to keep us safe, when in reality they are killing us through lack of investment and dropping bombs on people all the way across the world,” he added.
Harbaugh stated that, if elected, he would not vote for any military budget unless reforms were made to the process. He also stated his belief that the contract system needed to be reformed.
“I believe in paying our active duty troops more and paying our veterans more because they’re getting the shaft,” he said.
“Pay our troops more, pay our veterans, take care of them more, but we have to go after the corrupt contract system that is gutting the American taxpayer,” Harbaugh added.
He also expressed strong views about Representative Turner’s policies. They represent, in the eyes of Harbaugh and his fellow activists, a tendency toward warmongering, which he finds disturbing.
“He’s never met a war he hasn’t liked–Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria. He’s all for destroying Ukraine, he wants to send more money to fight China in Taiwan. It’s just war, war, war. We’re out here to voice a vocal protest to that,” said Harbaugh with regards to Turner’s views.
Alexandra Nunez, representing the Party for Socialism and Liberation, shared Harbaugh’s opposition to Turner as well as the Dayton Regional Israel Trade Alliance (DRITA). The conglomerate, she explained, was part of a vicious cycle that harms rather than benefits the people of Dayton. DRITA, she stated, facilitated the creation of aerospace jobs and surveillance systems that further fueled the ongoing refugee crisis around the world.
“Our concern is that tax dollars are being sent to this conglomerate to facilitate these contracts where people are employed to create weapons of destruction, to further surveillance so police can brutalize people here and across the globe better. We are creating refugees by proxy in other countries and are in turn accepting them to the city of Dayton because we have a human rights commitment where we will then employ these same displaced people in a facility that potentially made the very thing that displaced them. It’s very nasty business,” Nunez said.
She, like Harbaugh, believes the solution is in doing research, reaching out to local politicians, and raising opposition to policies they believe are against the people of Dayton.
“Right now, they take about $26,000 a year for our taxes towards facilitating these contracts. It may not be a lot of money, but we have other issues here such as the homelessness problem, the gentrification of the city, and the third spaces that are being taken from us. There are serious issues going on in Dayton and it seems like the city and Montgomery County are focused on attracting the right kind of people and unfortunately the people that already here aren’t the ones they are looking at,” she added.
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Organizations like DRITA, Nunez explained, may seem to only impact other countries when in reality they are having an affect locally as well. She cited the example of a recent contract for license plate readers, saying, “This technology that we are renting our bodies to make, is also being used to brutalize us.”
Like Harbaugh, she opposes DRITA and would like it disbanded. Of no less important to both, however, was the war in Gaza. The grassroots candidate best summarized their views on the issue.
“What’s going on in Gaza is war crimes. Our government is hand over fist helping the Israeli government commit genocide there and Mike Turner is all for it. He wants to send more money for weapons to Israel, he wants to have a war with Iran, he doesn’t want us in any sort of nuclear agreement. He’s all for the kind of maximum pressure that has brought our world to the precipice of world war three,” he said.
“In Congress, I’d be voting to stop backing Israel. I personally created the ceasefire pledge, that’s www.ceasefirepledge.com and I’ve gotten over 20 congressional candidates nationwide to endorse it. And what that means is, as members of Congress, we will not support any funding to the state of Israel unless they let all humanitarian aid in, implement a permanent ceasefire, and end the military occupation they have of the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Gaza, as well as not accept any money from AIPAC,” Harbaugh added.
Ismael David Mujahid, Executive Editor