When eco-protesters set up a blockade blocking the road to Burning Man in Nevada, rangers from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police Department drove their truck straight through the blockade, breaking up the impasse that had gridlocked traffic for miles; roughly 150 vehicles were reportedly backed up.
The protesters had blocked the road with signs attached to a trailer. Angry drivers failed to move the blockade with their own efforts until the rangers intervened. One woman had chained herself to the trailer. Some of the signs read, “General Strike for Climate” and “Abolish Capitalism.”
“We’re non-violent!” one demonstrator yelled as police handcuffed her. “We’re environmental protesters,” screamed another. When one protester told a ranger, “You’re going to hurt someone,” the ranger fired back, “I don’t care… there are people with medical problems here and you are causing them to be in the f***ing hot sun.”
The rangers meant business; one got out of his truck with his weapon drawn, ordering, “Get out now! On the ground! All of you on the ground now!”
Much of social media applauded the action of the rangers.
“What makes this extra amusing is that the ‘Rangers’ are Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police, and the backed up traffic is for Burning Man,” pundit David Burge wrote. “Native American cops busting up a standoff between two tribes of white progressives is straight up comedy gold.”
Seven Circles, a coalition that organized the protest, issued a statement asserting, “This action follows a long history of nonviolent civil disobedience as a tool for societal change, such as sit-ins during the civil rights movement and traffic obstruction by women suffragettes. The purpose of the blockade is to draw attention to capitalism’s inability to address climate and ecological breakdown. The blockade is also in protest against the popularization of Burning Man among affluent people who do not live the stated values of Burning Man, resulting in the commodification of the event.”
The group insisted that Burning Man “Admit that infinite growth is incompatible with sustaining the Earth’s systems and that the green transition is a lie perpetuated by those in power,” “Formally issue a call to action to the Burning Man community, urging Burners to actively participate in direct action and support general strikes to initiate system change,” and “Ban private jets, single use plastics, unnecessary propane burning, and unlimited generator use per capita at the nine day event in Black Rock City, Nevada.”
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