Five climate activists arrested after sit-in at Trump’s Phoenix office

Five out-of-state climate activists were arrested on trespassing charges in Phoenix during a sit-in at former President Trump’s campaign office. The Sunrise Movement, an environmental group supporting the Green New Deal, hosted a training event for the activists, who were in their 20s and from North Carolina, Missouri, and Idaho.

Five climate activists arrested trespassing

The demonstration occurred Monday at a campaign office near 32nd Street and Bell Road, where activists refused to leave despite warnings from the property manager and Phoenix police. Officers arrived around 11 a.m., issuing multiple warnings before taking action. According to a police statement, the arrests were made “after ample time” for the activists to vacate.

Adah Crandall, an 18-year-old activist with the Sunrise Movement, highlighted that the protest aimed to alert the public to the consequences of a second Trump presidency, particularly his promises to reverse progress made under the Biden-Harris administration on climate change. According to Crandall, the protest responded to Trump’s May pledge to oil executives: if they donated $1 billion to his campaign, he would roll back Biden’s climate policies and block further regulation or taxes on the oil and gas industry.

“A group of my five friends were arrested after staging a sit-in at the Trump campaign office. They were protesting Trump’s connections to Big Oil and highlighting how he serves billionaires, not everyday people,” Crandall told The Copper Courier. We want the public and voters to understand that Trump is a billionaire and the target of other billionaires’ purchases. Ultimately, he’s willing to let people in Phoenix suffer from extreme heat.”

The arrested people, Nate Scofield, 20, Amanda Thompson, 20, Riya Kumar, 21, Nick Koeing, 25, and J.M., 27—were released without bail and will appear in court on November 18.

Phoenix court records show each activist faces a misdemeanour charge of third-degree trespassing.

Campaign worker argues with activists

A video of the incident online shows a frustrated campaign worker telling the activists to leave. In one exchange, an activist expressed concern about bringing children into the world due to the climate crisis, to which the campaign worker retorted, “I hope you don’t have a kid in this world!”

According to reports, Trump allegedly offered to exempt oil and gas executives from regulations in exchange for $1 billion for his campaign. Activists brought a fake $1 billion check and $1, to “buy him back.”

On the same day, Sunrise Movement activists camped outside Vice President Kamala Harris’ Brentwood, California home, calling for stronger climate action amid wildfires. Two activists were arrested after placing a burned couch salvaged from an Orange County fire in front of Harris’ residence.

Dolce emphasized that while Trump has shown little interest in advancing climate policies, Harris, though supportive of fracking and some oil-and-gas projects, faces pressure to take more decisive action on the climate crisis.

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