At least seven protesters climbed a construction crane in northwest D.C. Wednesday in response to President Donald Trump.
The incident took place on 15th St. between L and M Streets, just blocks away from the White House. All seven protesters, four females and three males, came down from the crane around 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
Greenpeace said the seven climbers are part of their non-government environmental organization that aims to expose global environmental problems. The group said they are sending a message to Trump that will be visible at the White House ellipse.
Protesters put up a 70-foot by 35-foot banner with the word "resist" written on it.
Greenpeace said that "activists from around the country are still in place, calling for those who want to resist Trump’s attacks on environmental, social, economic, and educational justice to contribute to a better America."
Greenpeace released the following statement:
“People in this country are ready to resist and rise up in ways they have never done before,” said activist and Greenpeace Inc. Board Chair Karen Topakian. “While Trump’s disdain and disrespect for our democratic institutions scare me, I am so inspired by the multigenerational movement of progress that is growing in every state. Greenpeace has used nonviolence to resist tyrannical bullies since 1971, and we’re not going to stop now.”
The Greenpeace USA activists say they are prepared to stay in position throughout the morning to reach as many people as possible through live broadcasts on Greenpeace USA’s Facebook page, tweets from the activists’ twitter accounts, and media interviews.
“The sun has risen this morning on a new America, but it isn’t Donald Trump’s,” said Pearl Robinson, one of the activists who unfurled the banner. ”I fear not only the policies of the incoming administration, but also the people emboldened by this election to commit acts of violence and hate. Now is the time to resist. We won’t stand rollbacks on all the progress the people have made on women’s reproductive rights, LGBTQIA rights, the heightened awareness of state-sanctioned violence on black and brown folks, and the progress we have made on access to clean and renewable energy, an issue I have personally worked on my entire adult life.”
The action this morning comes after days of sustained protests against Trump, including the four activists who disrupted Rex Tillerson’s confirmation hearing with “Reject Rex” signs earlier this month, the veterans arrested in Senator John McCain’s office last week, and the hundreds of thousands of participants in Women’s Marches across the country over the weekend.
Since Trump has taken office, his administration has removed all mentions of climate change and LGBTQ rights from the White House website, taken steps to bring back the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines, and issued a press gag order on all employees of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture."
D.C. police continues to monitor the situation.
