PRESSURE ON PALANTIR

Denver Anti War Action (“DAWA”), a local group dedicated to preventing investment into killing technologies, celebrated a major win on February 17th, also markedly the beginning of the Chinese New Year, ushering us into the Year of the Fire Horse, well known for being a period of monumental progression. Planatir announced they no longer intend to place their national headquarters in the Cherry Creek Financial House. DAWA attribute the move to their extensive efforts over the past two years to make it clear to Palantir leadership that Denver was not interested in playing host to war technologies. On January 31st, DAWA held its most attended march outside the newly proposed location in the Cherry Creek Financial House. DAWA leader and spokesperson, Julia Swezy, announced at a similar event that DAWA intended to inform Cherry Creek Financial Center that, “there would be no peace until (the community) knew that they were backing out of the deal they made with Palantir.”

Palantir is a data analytics company that contracts with many government/military organizations including I.C.E to provide data that assists in identifying victims for the unlawful detainments happening around the U.S. Advertising on the Palantir site promotes four softwares that, “automate operations, from the factory floor to the front lines, achieve AI-driven combat superiority, and autonomously deploy, monitor, and manage software across any environment.” Although applications of their technology often expose the extent of AI’s high rate of error, leading to false detainments, and even misplaced missiles. Denver locals may be familiar with Palantir’s technology in use to synthesize data from Flock Cameras, aid in DOGE’s IRS information tracking, and in the Immigration OS, a system currently used by I.C.E. to identify undocumented citizens.

DAWA organizers are proud of their efforts, which they believe were instrumental in driving Palantir out of Colorado. Originally, Palantir intended to house operations in the downtown Tabor center, however DAWA successfully organized multiple “sit-ins, marches, and militant operations.” On May 15th, 2025, in honor of the Nakba or “catastrophe” for the Palestinians who were forced from their homes by Israeli settlers and the British Mandate of 1948, DAWA organized a protest at the Tabor Center, the initial proposed site for Palantir’s headquarters, where they were able to infiltrate the building and protest the proposal internally. Their efforts undeniably led Palantir to seek the potential move to the Cherry Creek Financial house through a contract with We Work.

Technology developed by Palanitr has been used extensively in the Israeli Invasion of Gaza, proudly announced by CEOs Peter Thiel and Alex Karp, who according to Bloomberg in January of 2026, were finalizing negotiations with Israeli military leadership to continue using advancing Palantir tech to target aid organizations, journalists, and other prominent figures in Gaza, and potentially the broader Middle East. Keeping the pressure on Palantir, as Swazey points out, may continue to include disruptions including rallies, pickets, and internal operational disruptions. Swazey highlights that DAWA’s efforts will be a reflection of Palantir’s; if Palantir intends to continue operations in Denver, DAWA will prevent them through acts of disruption. As Palantir retreats, a new front for DAWA emerges, promoting, “legislative restrictions on AI software development companies to prevent them from being able to engineer weapons of war and deportation.” As a grassroots organization, Denver Anti War Action seeks to recruit more people who care enough to make protesting political issues part of their daily lives. Swazey quotes, “the masses of people are the makers of history” a founding principle of Marxism.