Founded in 2010, Upstate Drone Action also known as The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars, is a decentralized, informally-organized grassroots organization, primarily composed of upstate New York activists representing a diverse assortment of Peace and Justice organizations in different cities.
We seek to educate the public and Hancock Air Base personnel about the war crimes perpetrated in Afghanistan with the MQ9 Reaper drone piloted from Hancock Air National Guard Base, on the outskirts of Syracuse. It is also our mission to illuminate the perversity of a society that chooses war over all other solutions.
We also seek to educate the public about drone proliferation and the danger of blowback, as well as the surveillance and civil liberties threat the Predator, Reaper and other military robots pose domestically.
Drawing legitimacy from International Law and from the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Upstate Drone Action members heed our consciences and the Nuremberg mandate to expose and impede our nation's war crimes. Committed to nonviolent direct action as well as other forms of public education, members periodically endure arrest, trial and even incarceration.