In an uncompromising show of force caught on video, Tribal Rangers in the Nevada desert over the weekend took a no-nonsense approach to handling a group of left-wing agitators blocking the road. A viral video posted online shows a ranger smashing through their barricade with its sirens and lights sounding and officers quickly arresting the activists at gunpoint.
Anti-capitalist climate activists blocked traffic heading to the Burning Man event in northwestern Nevada on Sunday, leading to a vehicle backup that reportedly stretched for miles. Video and photos posted on X show activists setting up the trailer to block the road.
A long line of vehicles on the way to Black Rock City prevented from passing through, some people came out of their cars and are trying to reroute traffic around the blockade pic.twitter.com/N3or9hdgQZ
— michelle lh࿊࿊q (@MichelleLhooq) August 27, 2023
There were about half a dozen agitators in all, some of whom locked themselves to the trailer. Others passed out fliers to motorists explaining their purpose.
The activists adorned the road with banners with signs that read “BURNERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!,” “ABOLISH CAPITALISM,” “GENERAL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE,” and “Ban Private Jets.”
The demonstration was meant to raise awareness about “capitalism’s inability to address climate and ecological breakdown,” according to a statement from Seven Circles, a coalition of activist organizations who organized the protest.
“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,” Seven Circles said. “The group emphasizes the current existential crisis and importance of honesty when social collapse is at risk.”
Burning Man is an annual event held in Black Rock City, Nevada that is focused on self-expression, and the rejection of corporatism and capitalism.
Video footage shared on X show motorists clashing with the activists.
“I am a working class person trying to go to work!”
People held up by the #BurningMan road blockade clash with activists who claim they are also fighting for the working class pic.twitter.com/u3qOAqMQO2
— michelle lh࿊࿊q (@MichelleLhooq) August 27, 2023
“Burners called the police to report the road blockade within minutes of the protest happening,” wrote Guardian journalist Michelle Lhooq. “A climate activist handed out flyers explaining why they are protesting Burning Man, but the Burners are pissed off and not interested.”
A climate activist handed out flyers explaining why they are protesting Burning Man, but the Burners are pissed off and not interested pic.twitter.com/GTtdafM3Zs
— michelle lh࿊࿊q (@MichelleLhooq) August 28, 2023
According to LHooq, a Ranger told her they were dispatched to the protest after the department received a call claiming “someone in the crowd was going to shoot the activists.”
When Rangers from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police Department of Nevada appeared on the scene, they wasted no time in restoring order.
Video posted online shows an officer in a white pickup truck broadcasting a message over the vehicle’s PA system telling demonstrators, “This is a state route,” and “Everybody will be arrested” if they don’t disperse and get off the road.”
The officer added: “Thirty seconds, send your leader to my vehicle, let’s talk, get off the f— road.” Next, the clip shows the ranger’s truck blasting through the barricade. “I’m gonna take all of you out, you better move,” the officer warned over the PA system.
The officer then gets out of the truck with a gun drawn and orders the protesters to “get down now.”
The agitators can be heard shrieking in horror and sobbing that “we’re non-violent” as the officers cracked down.
NEW: Nevada tribal rangers ram through a group of climate protesters with a truck, drag them off the road, and then arrest them all after the group created miles of traffic on a busy single lane road.
Well done.
The climate protesters were attempting to shut down the Burning… pic.twitter.com/6ZSYKYwYaT
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 28, 2023
“Words fail. Words utterly fail,” wrote “Climate Defense,” a “youth-led” eco group. “Today a police truck PLOWED INTO a peaceful climate blockade. These are the people “entrusted” to keep us safe. These are the people we have granted a monopoly on the use of force. How is this ok?”
Words fail. Words utterly fail. Today a police truck PLOWED INTO a peaceful climate blockade. These are the people “entrusted” to keep us safe. These are the people we have granted a monopoly on the use of force. How is this ok?
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) August 28, 2023
At least a dozen activists were taken into custody for “trespassing on tribal land”
It would have been much better if the eco-terrorists were shot.
They were not January 6th protesters so no one was beaten or shot.