HOLD YOUR GROUND
IOV Anti-Capitulation Campaign
WHAT IS “HOLD YOUR GROUND”?
Hold Your Ground is an IOV campaign developed to communicate with businesses, institutions and other public facing entities to encourage them to hold their ground and not capitulate when threatened by the Trump administration. Our goal is to make them see that there will also be a cost if they do capitulate.
When faced with unreasonable or even unlawful demands from the Trump administration, some choose to capitulate and accede to the demands rather than stand on principle and fight for what is right.
Why do they capitulate? Invariably the leaders of these businesses and institutions explain that the Trump demands constitute an “existential threat” and that the risk presented by resisting is too great and far outweighs any reputational harm or other cost of simply “rolling over.” We don’t envy the dilemma facing these leaders – Trump has placed them in a very difficult position.
IOV has developed sample letters that can be used as examples to be modified or simply inspiration for different scenarios including entities that have capitulated and those that have thus far held their ground. There are also letters for companies that rely on legal services from capitulating law firms, and for State Bar organizations overseeing law firms that have capitulated.
We will continue to add resources to this page including names and contact information of capitulators (and potential capitulators) as we get them.
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WHO IS CAPITULATING?
Contact info for a few of the capitulating companies you can write letters to or boycott:
Amazon . com, Inc.
Andy Jassy, President & CEO
Jeff Bezos, Executive Chair
410 Terry Avenue North
Seattle WA 98109-5210
ajassy@amazon.com
jeff@amazon.com
Home Depot
Ted Decker
President & CEO The Home Depot
2455 Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta, GA 30339
ted_decker@homedepot.com
Target
Brian Cornell
Chairman and CEO
Target Corporation
1000 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis MN 55403
brian.cornell@target.com
Walmart
Carl Douglas McMillon
President & CEO Walmart Corporation
702 SW 8th Street
Bentonville AR 72716
doug.mcmillon@walmart.com
Companies that have watered down their DEI commitments in public facing documents:
Accenture
BofA
Citigroup
Constellation Brands (Spirits, Beers)
Disney
Ford
Goldman Sachs
Google
IBM
Lowes
McDonald’s
Meta
Molson Coors
Paramount
Pepsi
United Health
Victoria’s Secret
Warner Bros
CNN published this article about Trump Ballroom Donors
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LETTER WRITING WORKS!
Discourage capitulation using our sample letters to modify with your concerns and your relationship to their company and in your unique voice. Download or copy and paste our samples to use as is or edit as you see fit. When writing letters it’s best if they are simple and to the point, setting forth the reason for the letter followed by a statement of any particular relationship or “standing” you have with the entity, e.g. shareholder, customer, alumni, etc., followed by a specific “ask” or demand with a statement of consequences for capitulation, e.g. “Should you choose to capitulate to Trump’s bullying, your reputation for integrity and independence will be lost and I, and others like me, will take our business elsewhere.”
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ABOUT ICE RAIDS AND DETENTIONS
FedEx – Send an Email urging FedEx to stop working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) . View or download the email verbiage.
Home Depot – Concerned about ICE raids at Home Depot? Write to their board and tell them! View or download the letter.
AT&T – Letter to AT&T from a concerned customer scrutinizing their IT and network services contract with ICE and urging execs to terminate these contracts and their involvement with ICE. View or download the letter.
Comcast – Letter to Comcast executive leadership asking them to live up to their stated values by ending their existing business relationships with ICE and to commit they will not renew ICE’s internet services contracts. View or download the letter.
Lowe’s – Sample letter to Lowe’s CEO asking them to stop using automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in their parking lots and stop sharing the data with ICE. View or download the letter.
Dell – Letter to Michael Dell urging them to immediately end their businesss relationships with ICE and CBP. View or download the letter.
Motorola – Write to Motorola about their complicity in ICE’s abuse by providing the radio gear they use and let them know this is unacceptable! View or download the letter.
UPS– Letter to UPS who has business relationships with ICE including package delivery contracts. View or download the letter.
ABOUT DEI
Target – Sample letter urging Target to re-consider if they have a backbone and possibly restore their tarnished reputation. View or download the letter.
TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Members of Congress – Sample letter to a member of congress demanding they reign in and investigate ICE for their multiple abuses including use of indiscriminate and deadly force against protestors, defund them, and impeach Kristi Noem. View or download the letter.
Member of Congress about Venezuela – Write to your congressional representative and ask them to stop abdicating their authority and take action to stop the senseless and less-than-legal military action in Venezuela. View or download the letter.
ABOUT LAW FIRMS
Apple – Letter requesting they consider integrity when choosing outside law firms. View or download the letter.
General Motors – Sample of a strong call to action for GM to not work with capitulating law firms. View or download the letter.
New York State Bar Association – Letter to the NY State Bar about blatant quid pro quo corruption. View or download the letter.
REACH OUT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Regents of the University of California – Sample letter asking them to hold firm to their values. View or download the letter.
Defend the core values that make higher education a cornerstone of American democracy. Sign the UC Unbowed petition.
Through the Council of University of California Faculty Associations you can send personalized emails to the UC President’s office and the Regents with a brief reason why they should not capitulate. Send your message!
❤️ NON-CAPITULATORS ❤️
Costco – Here’s a sample letter to Costco who remarkably has NOT capitulated! View or download the letter.
“Stand for something or you will fall for anything. The mighty oak is but an acorn that stood its ground” —Rosa Parks