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Tag: Capital Hill

They let them in

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The hypocrisy displayed today is not surprising but is too much to stomach. Chuds, fascists, and maga losers didn’t “storm” the Capitol, they were let in.

The armed takeover of the Capitol was explicitly white supremacist, violent, and not based in any truth or justice. Their sense of entitlement has been seeded by the disproportionate response they continuously get from the state, the police, the right, and the left establishment. This is just another reminder that in this settler, corporate-owned “democracy”, people in power will do nothing in the face of white supremacist violence and the disintegration of our collective social structures. If this was #BlackLivesMatter… There has already been so much violence towards our comrades for so much less — like literally walking down the street and being Black.

Republicans are reacting with surprise after decades of anti-Black racial agitation and Biden is feebly responding with empty messages of “unity”. We do not want unity without accountability and we do not want peace if there is no justice.

There’s going to be lots of bullshit coming in the next few days. White supremacists and fascists will be more emboldened. People in power and veneered talking heads will point blame and try to justify what happened. The establishment democrats will put out toothless and aesthetic responses and limply hold people accountable. That’s why we need to keep building and mobilizing our power to get everyone free by continuing to root our work in anti-racist principles and collective liberation and chasing fascists the f**k out of town.

Biden said today, “This is not America”… But this is EXACTLY what America is: White supremacy colonizes and reigns. The democratic establishment is not interested in justice. And the state will never protect or respond in the interest of the people.

Our communities and comrades keep us safe. We keep us safe.

Please support any or all of these D.C. groups doing the work to build, mobilize, and protect communities against racism and fascism in the U.S.:

If you can’t donate and have social media, please follow the accounts above and amplify their messages.

Lastly, Cori Bush just put up a petition demanding the resignation of the Republicans who supported the attempted coup today. Who knows what will happen, but it may be worth adding your name to the chorus of people demanding accountability. Keep in mind that Cori Bush and her coalition will send you emails after you sign it.

Here for the fight always, Rising Tide North America

PS: If you’re at a State House or a demo, reply to this email with anything you want us to amplify on our social media channels.

 

Sticky Situation: Extinction Rebellion Activists Superglue Themselves to the Capitol

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellionDC/

Click for photos and video

UPDATE | 1:30 AM : Eight activists were charged with resisting arrest due to not being able to rip their hands free from the doors and doorframe, instead requiring an acetone solution to dissolve the glue. They are being held overnight and will be seen in court tomorrow July 24th:

H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse, 500 Indiana Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

UPDATE | 11:30PM : U.S. Capitol Police confirm 17 arrests from the Rayburn and Cannon House office buildings. For over two hours, climate activists glued themselves to the House Office buildings, blocking passage to the US Capitol before a vote in the House Chamber in order to demand that Congress declare a climate emergency. All 17 were charged with “crowding, obstructing, or incommoding”; 15 of the 17 were charged with defacing public property, and eight were charged with resisting arrest.

UPDATE | 10:30 PM Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez thanked the activists for the action outside the building as they were being put in the police wagon. According to one demonstrator, Rashida Tlaib said to her that the blockade was more important than her job. Other members of Congress, including Maxine Waters and Elisha Cummings, celebrated the action in the House Office building as it was going on.

UPDATE | 7:00 PM The police have blockaded the Cannon rotunda, designating it a crime scene so that bystanders and support could be moved out of sight of those glued to the doors and doorways.
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Washington, D.C., July 23 – Following the weekend’s “heat emergency” and a slew of flash floods in D.C., the climate group Extinction Rebellion (XR) brought business-as-usual to a halt in Congress Tuesday with an unprecedented act of mass civil disobedience. Activists used superglue to physically attach themselves to key passages in the House Office buildings, blocking members of Congress just before a vote in the Capitol building.

The climate activists demanded the speedy passage of the climate emergency resolution, which is currently sitting idle in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

One demonstrator, Wesley Boccardo, explained, “I’m a farmer and I’m here because I want to have places to farm.”

Stephen Leus, who chose to superglue his hand to one of the entrances to the underground tunnel to the Capitol building, said of his decision that “it would be crucially irresponsible for us to not act in the limited amount of time we have.”

The U.S. Congress is not treating the climate emergency legislation with the urgency it deserves. The existential threat that climate change poses to our economy and to the health of all Americans should make this resolution Congress’ top priority. Extinction Rebellion activists are calling on both chambers to recognize the truth of the emergency we are in and to pass the resolution as a first step to acknowledging the severity of the crisis.

On July 9, the concurrent resolution for the U.S. to declare a climate emergency at the federal level was introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) with six co-sponsors in the Senate and 49 co-sponsors in the House. The resolution would need 51 Senate and 218 House votes to pass through Congress.

Earlier this summer, New York City declared a climate emergency, the largest city in the U.S. to do so. The city council cited the direct action coordinated by XR NYC as a driving force behind the declaration. With increasingly dire predictions about the effects of climate change, the DC chapter of XR is taking action to demand the same at the federal level.

The U.K. Parliament has also declared a climate emergency due to mass civil disobedience actions by Extinction Rebellion (XR). In April 2019, XR activists in the U.K. successfully brought London to a standstill by gathering thousands of people for an 11-day blockade. In only a year, the movement has spread to include hundreds of thousands of people around the world in part because Extinction Rebellion communicates the grave seriousness of the climate emergency we face and asks people to act accordingly. It’s working.

The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of XR also held a simultaneous protest in coordination with the D.C. chapter today. Climate advocates gathered at noon PST at the steps of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in downtown San Francisco for a symbolic Die-In. Those entering the building had to step over the bodies of the climate victims.

Extinction Rebellion US is one of 45 countries that form Extinction Rebellion International. XR US has four demands. They include net zero carbon emissions by 2025 and the creation of a Citizens’ Assembly to oversee the bold and swift changes that our fossil fuel-corrupted government has been unable to make.