A video went viral on social media where Nevada rangers were seen ramming their pickup truck into a blockade set up by climate activists on the road that led into the Burning Man festival Sunday.
The video showed half a dozen protesters from Seven Circles blocking the road, causing a stand-still spanning several miles in Nevada. They had blocked the rural road using a trailer that they locked themselves onto. Banners put up by the group read “BURNERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!,” “ABOLISH CAPITALISM” and “GENERAL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE.”
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Here is the video that went viral:
According to the group, the protest was designed to draw attention to “capitalism’s inability to address climate’s ecological breakdown.” The group was protesting 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.” According to them, Burning Man’s goal of being carbon-negative by 2030 is “insufficient to tackle the pressing crisis.”
The group demanded that Burning Man’s leadership “advocate for system change on both political and economic levels” and ban private jets, single-use plastics, “unnecessary propane burning and unlimited generator use” at the event which goes on for nine days.
The group’s protest angered many trying to get to the event at Black Rock City. The video showed a tribal ranger ramming his truck through the protest, telling the activists “You better move.”
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“We’re not violent,” said a woman in a sunhat, who started to cry. “We have no guns at all. We’re environmental protesters.”
A ranger came out of one of the trucks with his gun drawn and yells at the protesters to “get down, on the ground now.” He was also seen pushing one of the female protesters and dragging her along the ground with his gun still drawn at her head. He appeared to straddle the woman as another ranger handcuffs her ankles together.
Another ranger was seen telling the protesters that they are “trespassing on tribal land.”