Greenpeace protesters scaled a 270-foot crane just blocks from the White House on Wednesday morning, ultimately attaching and unfurling a “RESIST” banner. The protesters told police they're conducting a “First Amendment action,” though protesters were not authorized to enter the site and are therefore, protesting illegally.
The crane is located at 15th and L Street NW, and according to Greenpeace spokeswoman Cassady Sharp, was chosen because it was near the White House and “to send a message to the people who are feeling discouraged after just a few days of Trump's administration.”
Sharp specifically noted Trump's approval of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines. President Trump signed executive orders on Tuesday reviving the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, and signed another to maximize the use of U.S. steel in their construction. Trump has also placed a gag order on the EPA, causing a great deal of alarm among environmentalists.
DC Police released a statement condemning the stunt, writing that the protesters have engaged in “dangerous behavior.” The police decried the actions as “extremely dangerous and unlawful,” and the actions of the protesters have led to streets being blocked and traffic disrupted by emergency response at the scene.
One hardly sees the point to such a needless stunt; protesters have jeopardized the lives of themselves, others, and first responders. Cranes are disaster prone behemoths, and crane accidents killed several trained workers in New York City in 2016 alone. In Saudi Arabia, a crane collapse in 2016 killed 107 people.
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