Mar 8

Mar 8 Palantir

Chicago, Demonstrations, Donald J. Trump, Performance, Protest, Public Declarations

Following the International Women’s March and Rally this morning, I headed to Jane Byrne Plaza (the site of Chicago’s historic Water Tower) for a 2:00 PM demonstration against Palantir Technologies, a major data analytics firm co-founded by Alex Karp and billionaire Peter Thiel, who is a Jeffrey Epstein business partner. The company licenses four major operating systems: Palantir Gotham, Palantir Apollo, Palantir Foundry, and Palantir AIP.

Palantir licenses its technology to government agencies, the military, and defense contractors, which makes Palantir the present day equivalent of Dow Chemical, a munitions manufacturer associated with the Vietnam War. The Trump Administration has used Palantir’s software to consolidate government databases, raising additional concerns that Palantir’s technology is being used to surveil citizens.

Since 2011, the U.S. Immigration Control and Enforcement Department (“ICE”) has contracted with Palantir for data analytics supporting ICE’s surveillance and deportation operations. Palantir also provides the government with case management tools, permitting ICE to target people for arrest and deportation.

Adding fuel to the fire, Israel’s Ministry of Defence entered into a contract with Palantir in January of 2024 for technology that assists Israel in “war-related missions.” Israel has used Palantir’s technology to produce targeting lists for its Gaza operations.

Not surprisingly, Palantir has drawn the attention of many Americans who are concerned about government surveillance, particularly after Elon Musk’s stint with the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”). Many were outraged when Musk and his young minions were rummaging through and copying government databases containing information about individual Americans.

Today’s demonstration raised all those issues and concerns. Unfortunately, it was poorly attended, with no more than 30 people taking part. Based on my observations, it was organized largely by a group of elderly women. If I were a betting man, I would wager that the organizers got their first taste of activism back in Vietnam era.

Much to their credit, the organizers relied heavily on song and hymns. While several people delivered informative speeches, the singing dominated the event.

Given the sparse attendance, I only stayed for 45 minutes. After four demonstrations this weekend, I was demonstrated out. I left with one criticism percolating in my head. I have no doubt that the organizers of the Women’s Rally and March are not fans of Palantir. Why, at the end of the Women’s March and Rally, did the organizers not announce to the hundreds standing across the river from Trump Tower that in an hour there would be a nearby demonstration against a government and military contractor? Based on my experience, the anti-Trump forces make no effort to coordinate their efforts.

In that same vein, a number of photographers I spoke with over the course of the weekend complained that several demonstrations overlapped. While I don’t expect the organizers to take photographers into account, the overlap dilutes attendance at any given demonstration by forcing demonstrators to make choices.

As I noted, yesterday’s anti-Iranian war demonstration, also held in Jane Byrne Plaza, was poorly attended. Why didn’t the organizers of the Palantir demonstration and the anti-war demonstration consolidate the two events? Undoubtedly, those who attended one of the demonstrations are concerned about the issues addressed by the other one.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]