Anti-capitalist climate activists blocked traffic to Burning Man Sunday, bringing traffic to a standstill for miles on a major road in Nevada — before rangers arrested them at gunpoint for “trespassing on tribal land.”
A video posted online showed about half a dozen protesters from Seven Circles blocking a rural road in a trailer they locked themselves, surrounded by banners reading “BURNERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!,” “ABOLISH CAPITALISME” and “GENERAL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE.”
The group said the protest was designed to draw attention to “capitalism’s inability to address climate ecological damage” and was intended as a protest against “the popularization of Burning Man among rich people who do not practice Burning Man’s stated values, resulting in the commodification of the event.”
Seven Circles specifically claimed that the annual arts and counterculture festival’s goal of becoming carbon-negative by 2030 was “inadequate to address the pressing crisis.”
Anti-capitalist climate activists blocked traffic to Burning Man on Sunday, angering many motorists.FNTV
A female protester chained herself to a trailer and would not move, even when the driver tried to drag the trailer away.FNTV
It argued that Burning Man’s apolitical stance “undermines its claimed values, especially as carbon emissions continue to rise despite government and corporate commitments to cut carbon emissions by more than half by 2030.”
“We don’t have a climate problem, the climate behaves exactly in accordance with the laws of physics,” said Thomas Diocano, co-founder of Rave Revolution in a statement. “We have a problem with the economic system, and that economic system is capitalism.
“History shows that capitalism cannot be reformed. It cannot be changed from ‘within’. Are we really ready to sacrifice everything for an outdated and unequal economic system? The time to grow has come.”
One protester argued in the video that “Every change in society comes from civil disobedience, all of it” when confronted by angry Burners.FNTV
Not long after, some drivers who tried to pass the barrier confronted the protesters. FNTV
Among its demands is that Burning Man’s leadership “support system change at both the political and economic levels” and ban private jets, single-use plastics, “unnecessary propane burning and unlimited generator use” at the nine-day event.
But the group’s protest angered many who tried to go to the annual event in Black Rock City.
A video posted online showed a man in a red, white and blue cowboy hat and sunglasses telling activists, “You are on public property. We have to go through it.”
?#UPDATE This was before the Nevada Rangers arrived as Climate activists chained themselves into it as people stuck in traffic trying to attend the Burning Man festival tried to push back and remove the restrictions pic.twitter.com/TS6GFqkaht
— RAWSALERTS (@rawsalerts) August 28, 2023
He mentioned that he had a child in his truck, and told the protesters, “Sorry, you’ve got to move this mess.”
Protesters, meanwhile, told him to call local authorities as a woman in a sun hat assured the man she “will get” to Burning Man.
He then tied himself to a trailer as one of his fellow protesters got in the other man’s face, saying: “This is democracy, we have the right to protest.”
A tribal ranger crashed his truck through the protest.FNTV
The protest closed the main rural road for several miles on Sunday.FNTV
The woman in the sun hat told the protesters to “lock up and shut up” as she did, but she went on to berate the angry driver saying, “Every change in society comes from civil disobedience, all of it.”
At that point, a line of cars and trucks could be seen lining up behind the trailer trying to get through, as other drivers began arguing with the protesters.
Eventually, the angry driver tried to move the trailer himself, prompting the female protester to shout, “Hey, you hurt me.”
A tribal ranger got out of his truck with his gun pointed at the protesters and urged them to get down on the ground.FNTV
Two rangers are seen in a video from the protest handcuffing the ankles of the protesters together.FNTV
Several protesters were later arrested for their involvement in the demonstration.FNTV
“Well, you tie yourself to it,” a man in a backwards baseball cap and tank top replied.
Another woman also told him it was a “stupid move.”
Soon after, a second video showed a tribal ranger crashing his truck during a protest, telling activists “You better move” as they shouted.
?#SPLIT: Nevada Rangers have rammed their truck through climate protesters as they tried to shut down the Burning Man Arts and Music Festival
?#Black stone | #Nevada⁰Climate activists are trying to stop the important music and art festival known as Burning Man, which is… pic.twitter.com/ormnHYIPgy
— RAWSALERTS (@rawsalerts) August 28, 2023
The woman wearing a sun hat then began to cry, “We are not violent,” before a ranger came out with his gun drawn and ordered the protesters to “get down, on the ground now.”
He can be seen pushing one of the female protesters to the ground with his gun still pointed at her head. He was then seen straddling the woman as another ranger handcuffed her ankles.
Meanwhile, protesters wearing sun hats continued to cry, “We have no weapons at all. We are environmental protesters.”
At that point, another ranger can be seen visibly saying they are “trespassing on tribal land.”
Several protesters were later arrested for their involvement in the demonstration.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
