About 30 demonstrators rallied outside the Virginia Retirement System headquarters on Nov. 13, demanding the fund divest from companies they say are involved in the Gaza war. The No Pensions for Genocide campaign says VRS holds nearly $300 million in weapons and logistics firms tied to the conflict. 

Chants of “We will not stop, we will not rest! VRS, divest, divest!” echoed along Main Street as participants denounced the pension fund’s investments in Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Maersk and similar companies. 

Almost $300 million has been invested in these companies, according to the results of a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the campaign, which also called for VRS to revise its policies to bar weapons production or transport investments. 

Campaign partner groups including the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Virginia Coalition for Human Rights and the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality helped organize the rally, which included VRS members who objected to the organization’s decision and use of their pensions. 

“I refuse to sit idly by in a country that is funding the apartheid and genocide of the Palestinian people,” firefighter and VRS member Te’Shaun Cleckley said, “while my pension funds are being invested in the facilitators of slaughter, cruelty and colonial oppression.” 

Cleckley had previously attempted to deliver campaign petitions objecting to the investment to VRS leadership during a Board of Trustees meeting in September, only to be pushed and arrested by Virginia Capitol Police. out of the meeting room, pinned face down 

Despite the experience and potential impact of divestment on their retirement funds, VRS members present were steadfast in their criticism and urged other members worried about their pensions to follow their example. 

“I challenge you to reflect on why they stake our retirements, our ability to take care of our families once we’re done working, on the systematic and brutal erasure of people who are just like us,” Cleckley said. 

Other statements directed at the VRS board from VRS members, including working and retired teachers, state employees and public utilities workers, were read during the event. 

In a statement, VRS said its many investments are chosen and reviewed carefully and are necessary for the safety and growth of the Trust Fund and the long-term benefit of its “more than 850,000 members, retirees and beneficiaries.” 

“VRS’ investment policy is based on our fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of members, retirees and beneficiaries and to maximize returns for a given level of risk,” VRS officials said. “Limiting investment choices interferes with those fiduciary requirements, which are set in the Virginia Constitution and the Code of Virginia.” 

The No Pensions for Genocide campaigners are also working to spread knowledge of their efforts and goals throughout the community, and members say more events and gatherings will be held in the future. 

“We’re not going to rest until full liberation is achieved and full divestment is achieved,” Palestinian Youth Movement member Sereen Haddad said. 

 Te’shaun Cleckley, a Virginia firefighter and pension plan holder, speaks at a news conference Thursday outside the Virginia Retirement System building on E. Main Street. The event, organized by the No Pensions for Genocide campaign, urged the fund to divest from companies the group says are connected to the war in Gaza. (Julianne Tripp Hillian)