Declare Emergency / Scientist Rebellion climate activists block roads, lock on to White House fence

TK News Over the past couple weeks, a handful of climate activists supporting the Declare Emergency and Scientist Rebellion movements have been a thorn in the side of the police, and some Washington DC commuters. The group’s primary message was that President Biden must declare climate change a national emergency and stop drilling for oil and erecting pipelines in Indigenous Lands. News2Share first encountered the group on April 6, outside the White House. Rose Abramoff is a scientist who studies the effect of global change on biogeochemical cycling in soils. The group attached themselves to the White House fence to bring attention to their demands. Police forcefully cleared the street outside the White House, and then the adjacent Lafayette Park. Ultimately, five were cut out from the fence and arrested. Two days and three misdemeanor charges each later, the same group returned, this time to block a highway. Drivers were furious as the protesters placed themselves into the highway. Police initially turned traffic around to begin making arrests. Rose Abramoff fell limp, and an officer handcuffed her before lifting her up. Once the protesters were off the road, police were able to let traffic flow on all but one lane until taking the activists away to jail. The following week on April 12, an apparently similar stunt was inadvertently prevented when the activists’ bus – the “cool bus” – broke down on the road. Several police units responded. Officers first questioned the bus’s documents, since it was registered on Indigenous Nation land rather than at a DMV. They then subjected it to a full “DOT inspection” and say they determined that it is a commercial vehicle, even though it’s registered as an RV. Ultimately, the officers wrote a $1000 ticket for illegally parking, and said that an affirmative defense would be that the vehicle broke down. He added that since the vehicle was broken down, they’d have to tow it. Instead, the owner of an adjacent apartment building offered to let them push it into her parking lot, and the police allowed it. The “cool bus” was later fully repaired and towed out of the city to avoid further issues with DC police. The following day, April 13, the activists returned (without their “cool bus”) to block the highway one last time during the morning rush hour. Again, drivers were furious, one even claiming that the protest was preventing him from attending the birth of his child. When police arrived, they immediately removed activist organizer Jon, who they say was violating a court order not to continue civil disobedience following a previous demonstration. After they pulled him off the road, he crawled right back on. Officers managed to arrest the remaining three, with two having left the road willingly to avoid being taken away. While Biden has taken some steps favorable to climate activists such as rejoining the Paris Climate accords, many say it isn’t enough. Biden has continued to resist calls to declare a climate emergency. Produced by Ford Fischer / News2Share, for Activism Uncensored, a collaboration with TK News