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Police in Nevada broke through a protest near the Burning Man festival and arrested protesters. This happened on the first day of Burning Man 2023, a music and art festival. Climate activists blocked the road, asking for a ban on private jets and plastic. A ranger then drove a police car through the blockade.
Rangers arrested the activists at gunpoint for "trespassing on tribal land" after they caused a stand-still spanning several miles on a major road in the state by blocking traffic into the event on Sunday.
Videos posted online showed around six Seven Circles protesters using a trailer to block a rural road. They had locked themselves onto the trailer and had banners around them. The banners said, "BURNERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!," "ABOLISH CAPITALISM," and "GENERAL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE."
The group claims that they designed the protest to draw attention to "capitalism's inability to address climate's ecological breakdown" and intended it as a 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."
Seven Circles specifically claims that the annual arts and counter-culture festival’s goal of being carbon-negative by 2030 is “insufficient to tackle the pressing crisis.”
Drivers sought rangers amid protester arguments
Motorists called rangers to the scene due to heated arguments with protesters. The rangers then handcuffed activists from Seven Circles group and Extinction Rebellion at gunpoint.
After telling protesters they were going to “take all of you out,” rangers smashed through a metal barrier erected by the activists before starting to arrest the group at gunpoint, ordering them to “get down on the floor.”
At one point in the ruckus, the footage captures a woman from the group of activists tearfully pleading with the rangers: “Please... we are environmental protesters and have no weapons at all.”
Before the rangers arrived, the group handed out flyers to cars in the long traffic line. They talked about environmental problems with drivers, many of whom had stepped out of their vehicles.
Footage shows the protesters holding placards with slogans including “abolish capitalism” and “burners of the world”.
Rangers got 911 call amid protest
The rangers told Guardian journalist Michelle Lhooq, who was on the scene, that they had received an emergency 911 call stating that someone in the crowd was going to start shooting at the activists, who were demanding a ban on private jets and an end to single-use plastics.
Lhooq posted on X (formerly Twitter) that "Burners'" - attendees of Burning Man - showed disinterest. Protesters, part of activist coalition Seven Circles, blocked to highlight capitalism's climate inaction and Burning Man's commodification.
The group aims for Burning Man to embrace a political stance on climate change, urging protests and banning private jets, single-use plastics, and excessive burning and generators during the nine-day event.
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