LADSON - On Tuesday, March 17th, 2026, at 2:30 pm EST, 8 people were assembled at Elbit Systems in Ladson, SC to protest Elbit Systems for its manufacturing and supplying of munitions to Israel, whose forces have used Elbit’s weapons in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and in recent strikes on Lebanon and Iran.
Elbit Systems is a privately owned Israeli weapons contractor that provides 80% of Israel’s ground equipment and 85% of its drones. Its Ladson-based “Ground Combat Vehicle Assembly and Integration Center of Excellence” was constructed with several tax incentives granted by Charleston County.
At about 2:40 pm, protesters observed as a police helicopter belonging to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office appeared overhead. Under the call sign N430CC and equipped with a camera, the helicopter circled the picket twice before disappearing over the tree line. As the vehicle descended to nearly 50 ft above the protest, protesters witnessed a North Charleston Police Department officer pointing out the vehicle to Elbit security.
Christopher Newhard, a photographer at the protest, said, “I initially thought it was a coincidence, but I later accessed the public flight logs on a website called FlightRadar24 (see image above), and it was clear that the helicopter went out of its way from whatever mission it was executing to circle the protesters. The more I look at it, it’s increasingly obvious to me that the officer requested the helicopter to do a fly-over.”
This behavior comes as the North Charleston Police Department receives numerous complaints over the behavior of officers stationed at Elbit. Protestors witnessed officers refuse to identify while threatening to arrest community members for what protesters say are false charges. In a bench trial relating to such an arrest in mid-September, Officer B. Searles stated under oath that she was privately employed by Elbit as off-duty security for a $60 an hour. Police stationed at Elbit have also been photographed wearing their official class-C uniforms and driving the department’s official patrol vehicles.
According to NCPD policy and procedure manual A-23, “off-duty employment” is “Any employment, requested by an outside source, in which the actual or potential use of law enforcement powers will be exercised.” In the same document, however, it also states, “Personnel working off-duty employment are bound by agency policies and procedures and the laws of the State of South Carolina applicable to off-duty employment.”
Newhard elaborates, saying, “Policy and Procedure A-36 and A-26 clearly says they have to give their name and badge number when asked, and I’ve had circumstances where the officers will refuse to give their name and badge number even when someone reads those points directly out of their own manual.”
To date, there have only been two known arrests at the facility. In January 2024, an unarmed protester was arrested for trespassing after crossing the facility’s property line to pass a flyer to Elbit’s security detail. The second arrest comes from a protester who was arrested for tampering with a vehicle, but was acquitted of all charges following a bench trial.
An official complaint against the unidentified off-duty officer has been filed with the North Charleston Police Department, but the department has not yet responded.