WASHINGTON (TND) — Climate protestors poured red powder on the case holding the U.S. Constitution Wednesday at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C.
Donald Sepeda and Jackson Green, members of the Declare Emergency civil disobedience group, reportedly performed the stunt to direct attention toward the federal government’s purported theft of environmental constitutional rights.
Officers arrested the protestors within minutes.
“The National Archives Rotunda is the sanctuary for our nation’s founding documents. They are here for all Americans to view and understand the principles of our nation,” U.S. Archivist Dr. Colleen Shogan said. “We take such vandalism very seriously and we will insist that the perpetrators be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
The Constitution was unaffected by the powder, although the rotunda will remain closed Thursday for a cleaning.
Declare Emergency vandalized a National Gallery of Art exhibit in April when two of its members smeared paint on a 19th-century Edgar Degas statue. They sought to pressure President Joe Biden into declaring a climate emergency and ceasing fossil fuel production on federal and indigenous lands.
A day earlier, the group blocked rush-hour traffic on the George Washington Parkway in Virginia. Declare Emergency argued its “disciplined” and “protracted” roadblock was the best way to create systematic change.
The group has also impeded traffic on I-395 and I-495, leading to several of its members landing in jail. One of the convicted disruptors, Michelle Wehner, denounced Washington, D.C.’s Superior Court for its perceived complicity in abandoning Americans.
grrrrrrr if i was there i'd make them lick it up now the security guards will have to check all who come in!
glad they got aressted they should be fined heavily for vandalism like i mean 1000's of dollars.
WE have had climate problems for i dunno how long.
should have went to NRA offices and protest the guns allowed that are killing innocent people all over the USA
wonder if these are trumpsters if so fawwwkkk every republican or voter every where,
