Yesterday, August 28th, 2023 was a good day when eco-protesters set up a blockade blocking the road to Burning Man in Nevada, rangers from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police Department drove their truck straight through the blockade, breaking up the impasse that had gridlocked traffic for miles; roughly 150 vehicles were reportedly backed up.
And I , Salty Vixen agree with the Tribal Police Department! Don't do this on Tribal lands! Period. And don't block traffic, period. Protest fine. Do it the legal way, not the "I woke up this morning and spin the globe, throw a pin and wherever it lands is where the protest will be " that isn't how it works. You have to file paperwork, get a permit.. etc.. there are steps to be made.
The protesters had blocked the road with signs attached to a trailer. Angry drivers failed to move the blockade with their own efforts until the rangers intervened. One woman had chained herself to the trailer. Some of the signs read, “General Strike for Climate” and “Abolish Capitalism.”
“We’re non-violent!” one demonstrator yelled as police handcuffed her. “We’re environmental protesters,” screamed another. When one protester told a ranger, “You’re going to hurt someone,” the ranger fired back, “I don’t care… there are people with medical problems here and you are causing them to be in the f***ing hot sun.”
The rangers meant business; one got out of his truck with his weapon drawn, ordering, “Get out now! On the ground! All of you on the ground now!”
🚨#BREAKING: Nevada Rangers has rammed their truck through climate protesters as they attempted to shut down the Burning Man Arts and Music Festival
📌#Blackrock | #Nevada
⁰Climate activists attempted to halt a significant music and arts festival known as Burning Man, which is… pic.twitter.com/ormnHYIPgy— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) August 28, 2023
Much of social media applauded the action of the rangers.
“What makes this extra amusing is that the ‘Rangers’ are Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police, and the backed up traffic is for Burning Man,” pundit David Burge wrote. “Native American cops busting up a standoff between two tribes of white progressives is straight up comedy gold.”
What makes this extra amusing is that the "Rangers" are Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police, and the backed up traffic is for Burning Man. Native American cops busting up a standoff between two tribes of white progressives is straight up comedy gold https://t.co/YQzvVmTuo2
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) August 28, 2023
Seven Circles, a coalition that organized the protest, issued a statement asserting, “This action follows a long history of nonviolent civil disobedience as a tool for societal change, such as sit-ins during the civil rights movement and traffic obstruction by women suffragettes. The purpose of the blockade is to draw attention to capitalism’s inability to address climate and ecological breakdown. The blockade is also in 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.”
