Twenty-one climate activists associated with the youth-led Sunrise Movement were arrested at President Joe Biden’s campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday.
Around 100 people from across the country gathered at the 1000 block of West Street to urge the president to declare a climate emergency and stop funding Israel in its war in Gaza.
Police arrived on the scene a little before 9:45 a.m., and protesters were captured on video being taken away in plastic handcuffs by Wilmington officers. Demonstrators wore shirts with the printed message “Declare a climate emergency” and held yellow signs reading “Fund climate not genocide.”
“There are dozens of actions Biden could take tomorrow to protect young people and people of color,” the Sunrise Movement said on X. “He could ban evictions and guarantee healthcare after climate disasters hit. He could end the fossil fuel era by refusing to approve a single oil or gas well in this country.”
The climate change policy advocacy group, which has around 7,000 members and hundreds of organizing hubs in the nation, has protested at various elected officials’ offices and events. Last month, members called out Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) during a campaign event in Iowa, blasting the then-presidential candidate for taking money from the fossil fuel industry.
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Stevie O’Hanlon, Sunrise communications director, told the News Journal that security at Biden’s campaign headquarters allowed protesters to enter the elevators, and dozens made their way to the eighth floor of the private building. Wilmington police said 21 protesters were contained by noon and charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.
While Biden has passed a historic climate deal, delivering funding through the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, environmentalists have called on the president to take his green agenda a step further by declaring a climate emergency. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Jared Huffman (D-CA), and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have called on Biden to make such a declaration.
