Indigenous activists come to D.C. with a message for Biden
Climate emergency declaration demanded
Hundreds of protesters, led by Indigenous people from across the country, marched to the White House on Monday demanding that President Joe Biden stop approving fossil fuel projects and declare a national climate emergency.
The protest was largely peaceful, with a few minor scuffles. The demonstrators sang, danced and prayed holding signs that said “Water is alive” and cardboard cutouts of fish and birds. At about 10:15 a.m., U.S. Park Police warned the group that they would be arrested if they did not disperse from Pennsylvania Ave.
While most of the group began moved north into Lafayette Square, about 100 remained on the sidewalk outside the White House and risked arrest. Police appeared to escort those remaining protesters to a nearby tent before issuing citations for failure to disperse.
About 40 minutes after protesters were told to move away from Pennsylvania Ave., Secret Service officers converged on Erica Jones, 41, an enrolled member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe who lives in Ramsey Minn., as she cried out for help.
They handcuffed her and she fell to the ground, crying out that she was a mother and didn’t want to die. Shortly after, police released her on the sidewalk, and she cried on the shoulder of another protester. Jones said in an interview that she had thrown an orange toward police and believes that incited the arrest.
Protesters frequently pushed against metal fences and yelled at the Park Police and Secret Service officers across from them.
Leaders and members of Native American tribes from across the country came to Washington for five days of protests that began Monday. The demonstrations are part of People vs. Fossil Fuels protests by a coalition of groups, known as Build Back Fossil Free, who are demanding that the Biden administration take more extreme actions to curb carbon-producing fossil-fuel projects at a time when scientists say the world needs to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions.