A group of activists involved with a climate change group reportedly vandalized a statue of Andrew Jackson on Monday and descended upon the White House with warnings directed at President Joe Biden.
As Fox News reported:
The Build Back Fossil Free coalition took to the DC streets Monday with their five-day-long protest’s aim to spur action by the Biden administration against climate change, mainly by declaring a national emergency and ending projects involving fossil fuels.
Siqiñiq Maupin, director of coalition core member the Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic, told Fox News in a Monday email statement that the protest was happening because they believe Biden needs to follow through on his campaign promises.
“People are dying right now from the pollutants, the toxins, the climate catastrophes that are happening — and we have to stop the harm,” Maupin reportedly wrote. “Biden’s election was riding on climate change; his entire election hinged on turning out people of color and Indigenous people.”
“But when it really comes to what matters, our lives are still being sacrificed for oil and gas,” Maupin went on. “That’s why we’re here today.”
The group’s website included a direct message to Biden, stating:
Joe Biden, you must live up to your promises and take executive action to deliver healthy communities, millions of good-paying jobs, and a better life for people on the frontlines of fossil fuel racism, pollution, and the climate crisis.
It also laid out specific action items, stating that Biden “should use all the tools at your disposal to avert further climate devastation while helping people recover from the pandemic. That means using your executive authority from Day One” in order to “Stop approving the fossil fuel projects fueling climate chaos” and “Declare a climate emergency.”
One of the activists in Washington, D.C., on Monday was reportedly handcuffed by law enforcement and yelled, “I don’t want to die!”
🎶 we stand to protect the land, one people hand in hand, one struggle ‘til we heal us all 🎶
Climate protesters are singing outside the White House as U.S. Park Police stand by. Police said those who do not disperse will risk arrest. pic.twitter.com/TDsEmC8Kz2
— Ellie Silverman (@esilverman11) October 11, 2021
Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich tweeted a picture of a vandalized statue of former President Andrew Jackson in Washington, D.C., with the words “EXPECTUS” spray-painted on the stone. Heinrich reported that protesters were chanting, “respect us or expect us” as they gathered.
Jackson statue in front of White House vandalized – protesters chanting “respect us or expect us” pic.twitter.com/ifj1UG6I3w
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) October 11, 2021
The “Build Back Fossil Free” group is supported by several organizations, including the ice cream brand “Ben & Jerry’s.”
Earlier this year, the company promoted a petition for the organization, and stated in part on its website, “Communities of color are getting hit harder than anybody else. Why? Environmental racism. The same racist federal, state, and local laws that have allowed and even encouraged polluters to target those communities for generations have made them more vulnerable to climate change.”
Ben & Jerry’s has also pushed far-Left policies in the past and promoted certain progressive lawmakers, including “Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), a leading proponent of the unpopular ‘Defund the Police’ movement,” per The Daily Wire.
The company created a new short-term flavor in honor of Bush called “Change is Brewing.”
NBC News reported that the flavor is intended to promote the People’s Response Act, which was introduced by Bush and would replace police officers with social workers who would respond to mental health incidents.